A Fruity Autumn Tart

Not one my strong points pastry but after having a fab meal at the Gilbert Scott restaurant last week I thought I'd have a go at the pudding I had there.

I used Nigel Slater's recipe (though I added a little vanilla in the frangipan mix).

Even if I say so myself it came out looking rather good!

Hope Liz is not late tonight otherwise it might all be gone!

Plum Crumble

I don't make many puddings as I don't have the time after coming home from work. During the week pudding is either a pot of yoghurt or some canned fruit. Puddings are normally saved for entertaining. However the veg box from Abel and Cole recently has had a lot of plums hence this pudding. Serves 2.

Ingredients
For the filling:
6 large plums, quartered and stones
1 tablespoonful of black current gin (optional)
1 tablespoonful of vanilla sugar
1/2 teaspoonful of mixed spice

For the crumble topping:
150g plain flour
80g brown sugar
100g butter

Stone and quarter the plums and layer in a oven proof dish. Sprinkle over the gin, sugar and spice. Make the topping by rubbing the floor and butter together to make a breadcrumb like texture and mix in the sugar. Loosely sprinkle the topping over the plums and bake in a 180C oven for 40 minutes or until the topping is golden and crunchy and the plums are bubbling through. Serve with cream, yoghurt or ice-cream.

Gooseberry Scrumble

I had some left over fruit scones from yesterday's afternoon tea and half a tub of clotted cream. What to do? I asked myself and so the Scrumble was born!


Ingredients (for two individual scrumbles)
1 punnet of gooseberrys
2-3 fruit scones (crumbled)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 knob butter

Put the gooseberries in two ramekins and sprinkle over the sugar. Crumble the scones and sprinkle on top of the gooseberries. Dot the top of t scrumble with the butter and bake in a oven (150-180C) for 30 mins or until the top is golden and crunchy and gooseberry juice is oozing out. Serve with a dollop of clotted cream or ice cream.

Pear and Cardamon Crumbles

I made these in individual large ramekins to use up a glut of pears from our Abel and Cole vegetable box. Serves 5.

Ingredients:
5 or 6 pears depending on size
75g plain flour
10g porridge oats
85g butter
75g vanilla sugar plus a little to sprinkle on top
6 cardamom pods (seeds only, ground)

Work the butter and flour and oats together until a breadcrumb texture is achieved. Add the sugar and cardamom. Dice the pears and share between the individual ramekins or in a single dish. Loosely spread the topping on top sprinkle a little extra sugar on top then cook for 20-30 minutes in a 200C oven until the top is browning. Serve with custard or ice-cream.