Tags
Christmas, dessert, Drunken Aunties' Plum Trifle, Family, Jared Ingersoll, Maggie Beer, New Zealand, Plums, Recipe, Summer, Trifle
Like many Australians, I’m a little bit in love with Maggie Beer. She’s warm and unpretentious. She’s got a great way about her. And, her recipes work. Even if she is a wee bit too addicted to verjuice!
I like her food philosophy, too: “Seasonal produce, picked at its peak of ripeness, is the basis of everything I do – it’s all about the flavour. Taste and quality are paramount … I hope I can share my love of a good food life with you all.”
Her sultana cake is one of my go-to baking recipes. Seriously good.
This week I’ve got my Mum and Dad visiting from New Zealand. We’ve been talking all things Christmas and planning the family time that is fast approaching in a week or two. We’ll be spending some time at their beach-house while we’re all together. There’s a big plum-tree in the garden and it is heavy with fruit at this time of year.
Last year, I made Jared Ingersoll‘s Drunken Aunties’ Plum Trifle. It was most yummy, if somewhat labour intensive. This year, I thought we might be a little less ambitious…
Dad, this one’s for you.
Maggie Beer’s Plum Cobbler
500g blood plums (cut in half, stone removed)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp verjuice
Topping
1/2 packet ginger snap biscuits (blended to a fine crumb)
2 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
1/2 cup almond flakes (toasted, to serve)
Runny cream (to serve)
Preheat a fan forced oven to 180C.
Place the plums into a baking dish and dot each plum half with the a little butter, sprinkle with two tablespoons of brown sugar and drizzle with two tablespoons of Verjuice. Place the plums into the pre heated oven to cook for 15 minutes.
While the plums are cooking combine the remaining ingredients for the cobbler topping into a mixing bowl and rub through the butter until it looks like coarse bread crumbs.
Once the plums have been in the oven for the 15 minutes remove, top with the cobbler mixture and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with almonds and serve warm with runny cream.
Maggie Beer has a number of cook books (my favourite is Maggie’s Kitchen). If you’d like to learn more about her, check out her website here. She has a recipe for a Dutch Ginger Cake that might just be next on my list to try…
birdcagedesign said:
Yummo, I am liking the sound of the ginger cake too…… We always laugh that practically every Maggie Beer recipe has Verjuice!!
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This Sydney Life said:
I have a most excellent Nigel Slater ginger cake recipe which I’m happy to send through if you’re interested, BCD
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birdcagedesign said:
Yes please
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This Sydney Life said:
okey-doke – will dig it out for you, my sweet
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birdcagedesign said:
Thank you! Yum look forward to making it
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whatimeant2say said:
Thank you very much for hyperlinking Verjuice. I have not heard of that, or of Maggie Beer for that matter. Or of blood plums. That will be my next Google, I suppose. I hope I’m not in for any nasty surprises.
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This Sydney Life said:
THAT is my pleasure! I promise there will be no nasty surprises. 🙂
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EverydaySparks said:
I think your Dad’s going to love it, TSL – even if Mags hasn’t presented it to best advantage in that photo… A friend once told me that my mum looks like Maggie Beer, so I feel especially close to her, even though I don’t care for her verjuice evangelism (Maggie’s, not my real mum). Enjoy your time with your lovely family! 🙂
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This Sydney Life said:
Sparks! You’re back! We missed your smiling face here in blog land. Did you have a fab’ trip?
Ma + Pa TSL left this morning. We’ve had a lovely time together AND it’s now only 9 sleeps until LM & I head to NZ for a few days over Chrissie. Can’t believe it’s here already…
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paintlater said:
Her recipes are just wonderful, what a coincidence tonight I picked up a Maggie Beer ice cream as a desert treat – dark choc orange-lovely & I’m not one for choc ice cream. Plums are so Xmas! Yum. Cheers.
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This Sydney Life said:
YUM! I LOVE Maggie’s Dark Choc & Orange (I’m salivating). Sometimes a dairy-free existence is no bloody fun!
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lickingtheplateagain said:
Yum! Did I see her on some random episode of Australian Masterchef that I stumbled across a few months ago?! There was some guest chef teaching the contestants a recipe and she seemed to be obsessed with this verjuice! I had never heard of it before and had to Google it!
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This Sydney Life said:
Yes! That’s Maggie – she’s just lovely. 🙂
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crazytraintotinkytown said:
I love the sound of the Drunken Auntie, in fact my nieces would argue that they already know one!
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This Sydney Life said:
Nothing wrong with that, Crazy! I reckon drunken aunties sound like the most fun…
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twoblackdoggies said:
Yum! Haven’t had cobbler for years and that one sounds delish! I love blood plums, my Nanna in NZ grew them in her back yard and made the best jam, as kids we would almost make ourselves sick eating them straight off the tree.
Happy Holidays TSL!
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