Baked plums with chai spiced cashew cream and maple sea salt hazelnut seed crunch

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My local greengrocer had a glut of British plums that were going soft. He let me fill my bag much to my glee. I love baking plums when they are on the turn. The squishiness makes them all the better. The chai cashew cream has a beautiful warmth to it from the spices that pairs perfectly with the slight tang of the fruit. I like to top mine with something crunchy. My maple sea salt nut and seed crunch is perfect for this. It makes for a very good snack too. Any leftovers can be stored in a glass jar for a few weeks. You may even want to double the recipe with this in mind. The cashew cream will last for about three days in the fridge. I call this a pudding but have been known to eat it for breakfast.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

  • 10 plums (I like victoria or president)

  • 150g cashews, soaked in cold water for 40 mins

  • 1 tea bag

  • 100 ml water

  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon

  • ½ tsp ground ginger

  • seeds from 2 cardamom pods

  • 1-2  tbsp maple syrup

for the crunch

  • 50g hazelnuts

  • 40g sunflower seeds

  • 30g pumpkin seeds

  • 3 tbsp maple syrup

  • 1tbsp olive oil

  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes

  • Method

  • Preheat your oven to 180° fan setting and line two trays with parchment paper.

  • Halve and de-stone your plums and arrange over one tray. Bake for 20-25 mins until soft with juices running. Allow to cool completely.

  • Whilst your plums cook make the hazelnut seed crunch. Place the hazelnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds in a medium sized bowl. Add the maple syrup and olive oil and stir to combine. Spread evenly over the parchment lined tray and bake in the oven for 15 mins tossing half way through.

  • Remove from oven and sprinkle over sea salt right away. Leave for a few minutes and toss again.

  • Boil the kettle and brew the tea bag with just 100ml of water. Remove the teabag and whilst still hot stir in the spices. Allow to cool slightly.

  • Drain your cashews and place into a high speed small blender (I use a nutribullet) or food processor. Add the spiced tea mix and maple syrup. Blend until smooth and creamy. Chill until ready to serve.

  • To serve spoon the cream into serving bowls and top with plums. Sprinkle generously the hazelnut, seed crunch. Enjoy.

Breakfast, Vegan, Vegetarian, Sweet ThingsAlexandra Dudley