Plum Crumble with Cardamom Cream

It's springtime! And you know what that means: time for asparagus, avocados, fennel, spinach, strawberries, rhubarb, plums... oh yes! I love spring fruits and vegetables. This will be the first of many posts taking advantage of the seasonal produce.

This plum crumble is a perfect balance of sweet but slightly tart and a little bit of crunch. You can make this an adults only treat by adding two tablespoons of rum to the filling ;-)

Plum Crumble with Cardamom Cream
Makes: 4 servings

Filling:
5 -6 medium plums
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp orange juice
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange

Topping:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 tsp salt

Cream:
1 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom

• Rinse the plums. Leaving the skin on, cut them in half, remove the pit, then cut them into a 1/2" dice.
• Toss the plums with the sugar, flour, lemon juice, orange juice, lemon zest, and orange zest.
• Transfer to either a large glass baking dish or four individual sized ramekins. If you choose to use ramekins, you can place them all on a baking sheet. This makes it easier to remove them from the oven when they're hot.
• Make the topping. In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer on medium, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the egg and vanilla and stir until combined.
• Add the flour, almonds, and salt. Mix until just combined. The texture will be dry and crumbly, almost like the texture of bread crumbs.
• With your hands, sprinkle the topping evenly over the plum filling.
• Bake at 350° F for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling.
• Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
• Make the cardamom cream. This comes out best if you chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 30 minutes first. In an ice cold bowl, whip the heavy cream on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 - 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and cardamom, mix until combined.
• Serve the cardamom cream on the warm plum crumble.

If you're egg free, either due to allergy or other dietary restriction, you can leave out the egg with out any real impact to the recipe. It just helps the topping stay together a bit better.

If you're wondering why this recipe, like many fruit recipes, calls for lemon juice and orange juice, it's because the acid helps to bring out the flavor. Think of it like salt; it makes food taste more like itself.

And for my final note, if you don't have cardamom, cinnamon will work well too. Though I really do recommend cardamom. It's absolutely delicious and you can find it at any grocery store. It is a little bit pricey (around $10 - $15) but if you need an excuse to buy it, check out my recipe for Cardamom Chocolate Lava Cakes. If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will!