“Life’s a pudding full of plums.” – W.S. Gilbert
My parents have an old plum tree in their garden at the bach*. It’s right by where we play the odd game of afternoon croquet on the lawn. It has an old-worldly feel about it. Quite lovely, really.
And, it is almost always dropping fruit when I visit at Christmas time.
It must be said that I’m not the only one who enjoys the spoils of my parent’s fruit trees – the blackbirds are fond of taking a decent peck out of random plum offerings, too.
This Christmas just past, my Mum poached some of the plums for us quite simply in some vanilla.
Sometimes the simple things are the best
When I was picking up a few bits and bobs at the local grocer, I spotted a whole lot of old-fashioned blood plums. I was immediately transported back to my recent trip across the ditch and inspired to whip a little plum concoction to remind me of home.
You know how much we love gummies around here, so that bit was a no-brainer!
But… Isn’t there always a but?
I realised that you lot up there in the northern hemisphere don’t have such eay access to fresh plums at this time of year. Nor does the temperature lend itself to summer sweet-treats. So I’ve added some AIP-friendly spices to the babies, in an effort to make them a more seasonally ambiguous!
You can make them with fresh or frozen or tinned plums (just remember to check the ingredients if they’re tinned).
Let me know what you think?
- 400g fresh, frozen or tinned plums (about 4 medium fresh plums) *if using tinned, measure 400g drained plums
- ½ cup water, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1-2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ¼ cup gelatin
- Wash and roughly chop your plums, removing the pit. Place into your blender.
- Add ¼ cup water and cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. Whizz on high until the mixture is pureed and you no longer see plum skins.
- Pour remaining ¼ cup water into a small bowl. Sprinkle over gelatin and allow to bloom for 3 - 5 minutes.
- While your gelatin is blooming, pour the plum mixture into a medium saucepan. Add honey and coconut oil and stir over a medium heat until it comes to a simmer (do not bring to boil).
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the bloomed gelatin until free of any lumps.
- Pour into molds or into a glass/ceramic dish (for cutting into portions when set). Pop into the fridge until set.
E N J O Y !
*New Zealand holiday home
My gelatin is in leaves – How much do you add in grams please? Dry?
Mocha – it has been a long time since I cooked with leaf gelatin. According to a very quick Google search, 1 tablespoon of powdered gelatin equals 4 sheets of gelatin. (This doesn’t specify ‘Titanium’ or ‘Gold’ strength, though. One package of gelatin is enough to jell 2 cups of liquid.
Hope this helps!