Banana bread – the sequel

Remember “Banana Bread – the photos and what the critics had to say” - I promised I'd let you know what the cake was like from the freezer.

It's Bank Holiday weekend and a teatime treat is called for - the perfect excuse. For once I remembered and took the cake out of the freezer in the morning, ready to slice with a cuppa later that afternoon.

Truth be told I'm not that bothered about cake but, in the interests of research – I'm sure you understand - I felt it only right that I should sample it and report back.

First up the consistency of the cake when cut was as good as it was when baked.

As for my Chief Taste Tester – he said, “beautiful”. Praise indeed!

Even I enjoyed it – the hits of chocolate were delish and above all the cake remained moist – I hate dry cake. The plain chocolate drops I used instead of milk kept their shape – a definite addition to the “here's one I made earlier” collection.

What on earth did we do before we had the luxury of freezers?!

A winter treat

Damson vodka

*600g damson plums

2 tsps cinnamon

250g soft dark brown sugar

Roast the damson plums, then freeze in two portions :

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Wash the fruit, remove the stones and place halves in a

deep roasting tray – lined with baking parchment if not

using a foil tray

Add the cinnamon to the sugar and sprinkle

over the fruit

Bake for 30 minutes – check after 20 – fruit

should be soft and cooked.

You could pass through a sieve before freezing if

preferred

I should point out that I am just the help in this recipe. I'm providing the damson element!

I have it on good authority from my Editor (who is my Nephew, Lucas) that the following recipe is the one he uses – once again it's only fair to share!

You will need :

**300g fresh fruit of your choice – or you can

use frozen fruit from the supermarket if this is more

convenient, defrosted

450g sugar

1 pint water

1 bottle of vodka 75cl

a potato masher

sieve

bottles for decanting

large saucepan

Sterilise your bottle, use sterilising tablets or powder.

**Place the fruit, sugar and water in a large saucepan and heat gently until the fruit softens and releases its juices. Cool and then strain through a sieve.

If you've roasted and frozen your fruit as above, then defrost it and strain through a sieve.

Add the sieved syrup to the vodka and water and decant into bottles.

You can if you wish pour the liqueur through a coffee filter after a week or so to remove any pips or pulp that escaped!

Leave your liqueur alone for three months if you can – i.e. September ready for Christmas – you'll be glad you gave it a chance to mature a little.

You have three fruit options – roasting the damsons as marked * at the beginning or as marked ** fresh fruit of your choice or frozen and then defrosted.

In the interests of quality control there will be a tasting later on in the year and full and frank feedback given!

Fiddling around …with plums and damsons

What's to come?

My idea using the Asian plum sauce is beginning to take shape in the form of an Asian/Italian fusion. Not everyone is fond of duck so I'm going to try a chicken breast stuffed with an Italian cheese – I'm going to use Taleggio which melts very well, topped with sliced damson plums and wrapped in pancetta. Roasted and served drizzled with the Asian plum sauce – hold that thought!

I did warn you that I was going to bore the pants off.

Have you ever fancied a plum pizza? I suppose a lot depends on whether you like the combination of sweet and savoury but hey, this could be a learning curve – what's the worst that can happen?

Who fancies a Croque Pruneau?

In the meantime :

A different Crostini topping anyone?

Remember, you can make Crostini as small or as large as you like. A smaller version is ideal for a canapé and sliced baguettes are perfect, part baked or toasted. You could use larger slices of soda bread or sour dough – sliced and toasted for a snack, lunch or supper.

The world really is your lobster here but, here are my first thoughts :

Bake slices of prosciutto or serrano ham or smoked

bacon if you prefer – you want crisp and flat!

Line a baking tray with baking parchment, then lay

the slices, add another layer of parchment and then

another baking tray on top.

Bake in a hot oven – 180fan/200c/Gas 6 -

check after 15 minutes. May need another 10

minutes – depends on the thickness of the slices.

Set aside to cool and then snap into small pieces.

Box and fridge.

This element can be made ahead.

Damson plums from your open freezing stash, defrosted,

sliced and sautéed lightly in a frying pan with a knob of

unsalted butter (25g) – be gentle, you want the slices

to keep their shape. Set aside.

This element can be made ahead.

Assembly

Use tapenade to spread on the base of your

Crostini

Add cheese of your choice - Goats' cheese, cubed or sliced

Parmesan or Pecorino - grated – Mozzarella, torn or

Taleggio sliced

Add your sautéed plums

Cook in a hot oven until golden and crispy – 3-4 minutes

at 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Sprinkle with the baked “bacon” pieces and serve

with a drizzle of the Asian plum sauce that you've

pulled from your freezer and defrosted – warmed if you

prefer.

If I had one suggestion to make it would be don't overload with toppings – less is more and you don't want one flavour to obliterate another.

Use ingredients that you love and enjoy or may be live dangerously and try something new!

The last kilo …

I have all sorts of ideas floating around - one in particular uses a classic Asian plum sauce, traditionally served with duck.

So, using 400g, here it is :

Asian plum sauce

400g plums, stoned and quartered

50g demerara sugar

75ml (3fl oz) white wine vinegar

pinch of chilli flakes

1 whole star anise or ½ tsp of ground star anise

Cook for 20/25 minutes until the plums are soft. Leave to cool and then pass through a sieve – reserve the sauce. The recipe will give you 200ml of sauce. I have frozen it.

Here are two photos – the beginning and the end, before passing through a sieve.

How luscious does it look?!

Moving swiftly on, I now have 600g of plums left so I'm going to “open freeze” the plums – like I did previously in “Share the spoils” it's always helpful to include a method.

Open freezing plums/damson plums

Wash them and pat dry. Halve the plums and remove the stones. Place them on a shallow tray – try and make sure they aren't touching and then place in the freezer. Leave them overnight – you'll then finish up with perfect frozen plums, to use whenever the mood takes. Bag the frozen beauties and pat yourself on the back.

It's so satisfying.

You do realise that I'm going to bore the pants off you with all sorts of recipes using plums and damsons for the foreseeable future!

Share the spoils!

1kg down, 5kg to go – I gave 1kg to my mate Shirl and another 1kg to another friend. It's only right that you share the harvest!

I'm going to roast the remaining 2kgs and then separate the roasted fruit from the syrup and then freeze both.

The tree is still loaded and I refuse to waste the fruit – another 4kg today!

I ask Shirl if she'd like any more – I know she's already made jam. Shirl is juggling stuff that would put circus plate spinners to shame – you know what I mean, where they spin plates on poles and the object is not to let them fall. 30 portions of shortbread – 50 cheese biscuits plus a panna cotta – that's apart from routine meals I might add! So, have offered to open freeze 1kg in halves – my good deed for the day!

1kg down, 3kg to go and I decide to follow suit for myself. The great thing about open freezing is it takes no time at all – I am going to save some for our friend who has arrived from the USA this week and is due to visit this afternoon. I know how much he misses puddings like crumble and so reserve some fruit for him to take home in the hope that his Daughter will transform into just that!

A good days work.

The damson jam photo guide

The beginning.

The scum is easy to identify and easy to remove.

You can see the wrinkling on the right hand side of the “set”.

The end product - definitely worth all the effort!

My damson plum harvest …

Just for those who may not know, damsons are tiny sour plums too bitter to eat like you would a plum - but they do make great jam and other stuff too.

Delightful damson plums – I have never seen so many in all the years I've had this tree – not that old really – 20 years or so. Have a look at these :

You have to be quick – those that fall - “windfalls” are easy prey for the wasps - the first yield weighs 6kgs! There's only so much jam you can make – I think a little more thought is required.

Here's the jam recipe I used, taken from GoodtoKnow :

Damson jam

1 kg damsons

300ml water

1.3kg jam sugar

Wash the damsons and remove any stalks. Place them in a large wide pan with the water and simmer gently until the fruit is soft. Press the damsons against the side of the pan as they cook to help the fruit give up the stones. Use a slotted spoon to remove the stones from the pan.

Simmer the jam until it has reduced by approximately half.

Add the sugar, stir until dissolved. Bring the jam to the boil and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until the jam sets when tested.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes then remove the scum with a slotted spoon. Pour into warmed sterilised jars, fill right to the top then cover immediately with waxed discs and cellophane tops or lids.

To test for a setting point you can be fancy and spend money if you like and buy a sugar thermometer, boiling the jam until it reaches 105c or, the old fashioned way, place a saucer in the fridge. When the jam has boiled for 5 minutes place a teaspoon of jam on the saucer and return it to the fridge. After a couple of minutes, run your finger through the jam, it should wrinkle and feel thicker. If it's runny then continue boiling and test again. Don't continue to cook the jam whilst testing – you can overcook it, so turn the heat down as low as it will go.

The jam will keep in a cool, dark place for up to a year – if it lasts that long!