We’re officially in fall (despite the fact that the weather has been less than cooperative about it) and so I’m working to finish getting my fill of summer fruits and veg. Lucky for all of us, plums sort of cross that line and fresh varieties are still working their relevance through the start of October. That means that plum recipes are still good to go, and I’m doing just that with this spiced plum crumble.
The idea for this actually came about because of some ice cream that I made: a nice, rich, creamy molasses ice cream with pralines (from my favorite ice cream cookbook) and somehow the idea of a fruit crumble to pair with it seemed…right. I also just happened to have some fresh plums from my friend’s dad’s farm and well, it was fate.
I’m not one to ignore the dessert fates that come my way.
You might recall that I’m not all that enamored with fruit desserts, but I may, in my old age, be coming around. I still prefer cookies and cake and ice cream to satisfy my sweet tooth, but even I can appreciate a good crumble to ring in these fall times.
Especially when paired with ice cream. Especially when paired with this ice cream.
As for the fruity mix, there isn’t much added sugar- time and temperature bring out the natural sweetness of the plums, and I kept the cornstarch out because frankly I didn’t want this to feel in any way gooey. With the spices, I figured that chai spices would go just perfectly with the rich molasses tasting ice cream, so in went cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom and ginger. Plus, a pinch of salt to make the sweetness shine.
Reuse and repeat with apples or pears which would be just as lovely and tasty and hard to resist.
Spiced Plum Crumble
Spiced plum crumble utilizes the best fresh plums spiced with chai spices, and covered with a crispy crumble topping and served with creamy molasses ice cream.
Ingredients
- For the ice cream:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 3 TB powdered milk
- 1 TB cornstarch
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 TB light brown sugar
- 2 TB molasses
- 1 TB unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- For the crumble topping:
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 4 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- For the fruit mixture:
- 5 cups fresh plums, chopped
- 3 TB granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
- Step 1 Make the ice cream: Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and molasses in a 4-quart saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes.
- Step 2 Mix about 2 TB of milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a slurry. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium high heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
- Step 3 Gradually add the hot milk/cream mixture into the powdered milk. Add the salt and mix until all is well incorporated.
- Step 4 Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cold, preferably overnight (which will allow the flavor to really develop).
- Step 5 Make the pralines. Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine the pecans with the light brown sugar, molasses, unsalted butter and salt. Toss well to coat. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Stir and bake for another 5 minutes, careful to not let the nuts burn, but the mixture should be bubbly. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Break up into small pieces. Set aside.
- Step 6 Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy, adding the pralines just before it has finished churning.
- Step 7 Make the crumble:
- Step 8 In a small bowl, mix together the flour, almond flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a fork until crumbly. Set aside.
- Step 9 Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Step 10 Add the plums, sugar and spices to a 6 or 8″ cast iron skillet and mix well. Place over medium heat and let sit until the plums are soft and the juices all run, about 20 minutes. Cover the plum mixture with the oat mixture thoroughly.
- Step 11 Bake for 22-26 minutes until the top is golden brown and the fruit bubbles. Serve warm with the molasses ice cream.
