ageing alcoholic plums
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at 08:05 
last august i made plums in orange-spiced calvados. ridiculously, a large tub of them has been sitting in the fridge, getting ever more potent as the months have passed. however, they are now (almost!) finished and were a fantastic boozy contribution to these little orange cakes.
now i just need to find a use for the leftover plummy calvados liquour that needs using up. any ideas?!?
plum and orange cakes (serves 6)
150g stewed plums
100g butter, softened
100g golden caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
75g self raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
50g ground almonds
grated zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons orange juice
preheat the oven to 180c.
butter six small ramekins (9cm diameter)and line the base of each with a circle of greaseproof paper. divide the plums between the ramekins, covering the base with one layer of fruit.
cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. add the eggs gradually, beating well after each addition. fold in the flour, baking powder, ground almonds, orange zest and orange juice.
divide the cake mixture between the ramekins, covering the plums. in the centre of each, make a slight dip in the cake mixture so it rises evenly. bake for 25 minutes, until the sponges are springy to touch.
leave to rest for a minute or so then run a knife around the edge of each cake and then turn them out onto a plate. drizzle with any leftover plum juices and serve with crème fraiche or mascarpone.
Reader Comments (4)
so far i've discovered that it works well if added to a glass of champagne, in the same way that you'd make a kir royale... maybe we should drink that with our cream puffs!
I have 2 large jars of ginny damsons left over from my damson gin(I know ginny damson sounds like a character from an angela brazil jolly hockey sticks school novel) i use them in crumbles and muffins. They also work well in a creamy sauce with chicken or game.