Baked plums

Give these baked plums a try for a rich, fruit based desert.

‘Plums go beautifully with a little hint of spice. These baked plums are quick to make and hugely popular with all my family,’ says Davina McCall. ‘The cardamom seeds add a fragrant flavour, but if you don’t have any, the plums still taste good without them.’

Ingredients (serves 4)

25g butter, plus extra for greasing

8 ripe plums, halved and stones removed

25g honey

75g ground almonds

25g flaked almonds, plus extra to garnish

Seeds from 3 cardamom pods, ground

¼tsp ground ginger

Pinch of cinnamon

To serve

1tbsp honey (optional)

150g crème fraîche or yoghurt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Grease an ovenproof dish with a little butter. Place the plums, cut side up, in the dish.

Put the honey with the butter in a small saucepan and warm them over a gentle heat until they’ve melted together. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir the almonds and spices into the butter and honey. The mixture should be quite crumbly, but it should clump  together when squeezed.

Spoon about a dessertspoon of the mixture into the centre of each plum half. Bake the plums in the oven for about 15 minutes or until they have completely softened and the topping is golden brown.

Whisk the honey, if using, into the crème fraîche or yoghurt. Serve the plums with dollops of the sweetened crème fraiche and a few more flaked almonds as a garnish, if you like.

Recipe courtesy of Davina’s Smart Carbs by Davina McCall (£16.99, Orion Books)