Plum and chocolate brownies

plum brownie

This recipe is based on Nigel Slater's chocolate damson cake, but mine was more of a brownie than an actual cake. This is probably because I mixed it in a food processor instead of a food mixer, so it didn't really go 'light and fluffy'. It still tasted great though.

I used the preserved plums I'd made from some of this year's plum harvest instead of damsons. This meant I missed out the step of cooking them in sugar, since I'd already done this to preserve them. I had a slightly smaller quantity than the recipe stated.

I also used different types of sugar than Nigel, as I didn't have any light muscovado.

Plum and chocolate brownie ingredients

• 250g dark chocolate
• 250g butter
• 125g caster sugar
• 25g dark muscovado sugar
• 100g light brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 60g self-raising flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 320g preserved plums, drained

How to make plum and chocolate brownies

1. Line a 22cm square cake tin with baking parchment.
2. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
3. Break up the chocolate and place in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water.
4. Turn off the heat as soon as the chocolate starts to melt, but leave the bowl over the water.
5. Cut the butter into small dice and add to the chocolate.
6.  Stir gently till the butter melts.
7. Separate the eggs. 
8. Put the yolks in a food processor (or mixer if you have one) with the sugars and beat till combined (or 'light and fluffy' if you're using a food mixer).
9. Add the sugar and egg mixture to the chocolate and butter, and stir to combine.
10. Add the flour and cocoa; stir to combine.
11. Whisk the eggs in a clean bowl till they form soft peaks.
12. Fold this into the cake mix with a large metal spoon. 
13. Put the cake mix into the baking tin.
14. Pour the plums over the cake mix and gently swirl through with a spoon.
15. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes.

Plum chutneys

Plums, before

Plums, after

Our plum tree is getting too big for us to be able to harvest all the fruit. We picked what we could reach, and there's still about 3/4 left. This year tried a couple of different things as well as the usual chutney.

Spicy plum chutney ingredients

• 1.5kg stoned weight plums
• 150 ml rice vinegar
• 350ml red wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons nam pla
• 800g granulated sugar
• 200g muscovado sugar 
• 5 teaspoons crushed dried chilli flakes
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 6 crushed garlic cloves
• 100g ginger, grated
• 2 teaspoons salt

How to make spicy plum chutney

1. Put everything in a very large pan - preferably a preserving pan
2. Bring to the boil then simmer for about 3 hours, till the chutney is thick
3. Turn off the heat and allow the chutney to cool slightly
4. Pot into sterilized jars while still warm

Not so spicy plum chutney ingredients

1kg plums, stoned weight
500g onions, roughly chopped
350g light brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons salt
pinch cayenne pepper
500ml cider vinegar

Cook as for spicy plum chutney above.

I also made 3x70cl plum gin, which will be ready for Christmas, a tangy plum sauce which I had in crispy duck pancakes, and some preserved plums, which I used in plum and chocolate brownies.

Plum chutney

Polish fruit picker (Stasio)

Yesterday Barnaby and Stasio helped Ollie harvest the cherry plums from our tree and so today is chutney making day. This year we have a bumper crop, so I'm quadrupling the recipe. I'm also mixing and matching several recipes as I want to include plums, cooking apples, Spanish onions and raisins. This means that, according to one recipe, I have accidentally added double the amount of sugar I need, although, according to another recipe, I should be OK. I am also slightly dubious about the amount of vinegar I am supposed to use, so have reduced this. I may end up with burnt, sour toffee. Ollie asked what I'd do if it turned out wrong. My response was that Kerry will eat it anyway.

Hubble bubble

Plum chutney ingredients

• 4kg plums, de-stoned
• 1.4 kg cooking apples
• 1.1kg Spanish onions
• 1.4kg raisins
• 1.4kg soft brown sugar
• 1.25 litres cider vinegar

Chutney spice mix ingredients

2 cinnamon sticks
6 dried red chillies

6 teaspoons allspice berries

2 teaspoons cloves

6 teaspoons coriander seeds

4 teaspoons black peppercorns

How to make plum chutney

1. As you de-stone the plums, chop them roughly.
   This is an extremely tedious job that takes forever. I have tried leaving the stones in and removing after the chutney is cooked, but, on balance, I think de-stoning before cooking is quicker. At least you can do this while you sit in front of the TV.
2. Put the stoned plums in a very large preserving pan. 
3. Peel, core and chop the apples and add to the pan. Don't worry if they go brown before they get in the pan as everything will turn to a brown mush as it cooks anyway.
4. Peel and roughly chop the onions and add to the pan.
5. Add the dried chilies and cinnamon sticks to the pan.
6. Place the rest of the spices in a piece of muslin and tie together. Add this to the pan.
7. Bring everything to the boil, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
8. Reduce to a gentle simmer, and cook till thick, stirring regularly to prevent burning. 
9. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN STIRRING! The chutney will be very hot and have a tendency to bubble. It’s actually a bit like stirring a cauldron. I usually reduce the temperature right down before giving it a stir to avoid getting splashed with the boiling goo.
10. Once the chutney is thick, leave it to cool and pot into sterilized jars while still warm, remembering to fish out the cinnamon sticks and dried chilies.
    Sterilizing jars is easy - if you have a dishwasher then just put them through a cycle and leave in the dishwasher till dry. If you don't, like me, just wash in very hot soapy water, rinse in hot water and then place upside down in a cold oven. Switch it on and heat to 100 degrees, then switch off. Leave the jars in the oven till you are ready to use them. Wash lids in hot soapy water, rinse, and leave on a rack to dry.

Toil and trouble

The chutney should take about 3 or 4 hours to reach the right consistency. However, I started cooking mine at about 1pm today and it is still not ready at 6.30pm. In fact, I don't think it has reduced at all in the last hour. Maybe it was a mistake to add that extra 250ml vinegar halfway through. I think I need to increase the temperature or I will be up all night. 



I still have 2 large bowls of stoned fruit to use up and another bowl yet to be stoned. I think the jam I intend to make will have to wait for tomorrow night. I found a recipe which involves sprinkling the sugar over the plums and leaving overnight. I have no idea what this is supposed to do but think I will give it a go.

Potting chutney is a sticky business that takes longer than you think. Invariably some dribbles down the site of the jars which need wiping clean before labelling and storing. Leave the chutney for at least a month, longer if possible, before eating. I actually don't give out unmature chutney anymore as some people don't wait till its ready before they eat it (you know who you are).