River Cottage

You will already have your Brownies and Independent Crumble mix made up. Recipes below.

Put your plums onto a roasting tray, drizzle with honey and sprinkle star anise. Place into the oven preheated to 180c for approx 10mins (until soft). Turn off the oven but keep plums in the oven to keep them warm.

Whilst the plums are roasting, whip the double cream with the natural yoghurt.

When the plums are done and you’ve whipped the cream and yoghurt, take the plums from the oven, drain the juices from the plums into a pan and reduce further.

You are then ready to assemble the desert.  Starting at the bottom, layer as follows:

Plums
Brownie
Plums
Cream/Yoghurt
Crumble
Syrup

BROWNIE RECIPE

Grease a shallow baking tin, approximately 20 x 25cm, and line the base with baking parchment.

Put the butter and chocolate in the heatproof bowl.  Set the oven at 180c/Gas Mark 4 and put the bowl in it for a few minutes until the chocolate and butter start to melt.  Stir, then put back into the oven for a few more minutes to melt completely.  Of course, you could melt them together in the traditional way, over a pan of hot water, but it seems a shame not to exploit the warming oven.

Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until combined, then beat the melted chocolate and butter until smooth.  Combine the salt with the flour, sift them over the chocolate mixture, then gently fold in with a large metal spoon.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth the top with a spatula.  Bake for 20-25mins; when the brownies are done, a knife or skewer inserted in the centre should come out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.  Don’t be tempted to overcook them or they will be dry.  Remove the tin from the oven and leave on a wire rack to cool before cutting into squares.

INDEPENDENT CRUMBLE

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl (or food processor).  Add the butter and rub in with your fingers (or pulse briefly in the food processor) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the sugar, oatmeal and ground almonds, if using.  Squeeze a few handfuls of crumble in your fist to make lumps – it’s nice to have a ‘rocky’ crumble rather than a fine, even-textured one.

Spread the mixture out in a baking tin and bake in an oven preheated to 190c/Gas Mark 5 for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and crumbly, taking it out a couple of times to give it a good stir.  Leave to cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge, or in a cool larder; it will keep for a couple of weeks.