Plum Crisp with Dried Raisins for KitchenAid Contest (IFBM 2014) | Step by Step Recipe

Tweet

[Updated on 3rd July 2014] This recipe has won the KitchenAid India contest at Indian Food Blogger Meet held at Bangalore. It was an absolute pleasure to be appreciated on such an amazing platform and it gives me that much needed boost to cook, learn and write more. Thank You!.

Let's talk today about an easy dessert recipe using plums. Remember this Homemade Fruit at Bottoms I posted sometime last year? Well, I thought there was no better way to enjoy this tart fruit other than with yogurt. It is like match made in heaven: stewed plums + cold yogurt. Today's recipe proved me completely wrong and am so glad it did. :-) Read on to get the recipe for Plum Crisp with Dried Raisins. 

Yes, that's me. Quietly sitting in our balcony, watching the rain and digging into the hot jar of plum crisp.

Holiday Baking Recipes | Mini Plum Upside-Down Cakes

Tweet

I close my eyes and I see a winter coat. Furry, soft, black my favorite color when it comes to coats. The nostalgic dream doesn't end there. We are in a big garment factory and there we are standing in front of aisles of coats. Beautiful ones getting ready to be worn for the upcoming winter. It will be my first winter in US and am secretly praying there will be snow, lots of it so that I could make a snow man.

On that day, after much prodding from my roommates I chose a woolen coat with big buttons but sadly the price was exorbitant. Not something I could afford with my meager salary from working at our University food court. But my heart pleads to go for it...and I did. I was a proud owner of my first ever black furry coat. For many many winters after that, I remember digging my mitten-covered hands into its pockets and walking on snow filled streets. Many coats came later that but the memory of shopping for my first one is always special. :-)

Just like in the 90's, I am still obsessed with fresh or dried aloo bukhara. This ruby colored fruit is from plum/prune family and is a bit tart + sweet to taste. Biting into it takes me back to my grandmom's house where she used to bring home these luscious fruits every time they are in season. Few months ago, a good friend of my dad sent us a bag full of freshly harvested fruit from his backyard. Resisting the urge to eat them right way and making the usual jams or chutneys, I made few upside down mini cakes with them which turned out to be super moist and delicious. :-)

Mini Plum (Aloo Bukahra) Upside Down Cakes

Since the fruit is pre-cooked in the sugar syrup before hand, it becomes slightly mushy once taken out of the ramekins. But it tastes yumm nonetheless and the fine balance of flavors made the effort well worth it. Any other firm seasonal fruit available on hand can be easily substituted in this recipe. 

Makes 6 mini cakes + 3-4 cup cakes

Ingredients:

For the cake batter:

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup softened unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

For the topping:

1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup plum wedges

Preparation:

1. Melt a tbsp of butter, sugar and add plum wedges. Mix well until they are even coated and cook for 2 to 3 mins. Turn off heat.

2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk to combine. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.

3. Beat well for 2 to 3 mins on medium speed using electric mixer or whisk rigorously with hand.

4. Add flour mixture half cup at-a-time and Mix everything until just combined.

5. Preheat oven to 350 F or 180 C. Grease ramekins with butter and place a layer of fruit at the bottom. Top with few spoonfuls of cake batter and evenly distribute it.

6. Place these ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for a 5 to 10 minutes. Gently invert each ramekin and unmould the cakes. Serve.

I had just a few spoonfuls of cake batter and plum wedges left. I applied the same technique of layering the fruit at the bottom, topping with batter and baked for 8 to 10 mins until a tooth pick inserted came out clean.  These upside-down cupcakes I must tell you were too adorable to eat. :-)

This is Recipe 63 added to 2013 Recipe Archive. Check out the rest of the recipes too.

**********************************************

Did you like what you just read. then Subscribe to Cooking With Siri feed  (OR)

Enter your email address and Never miss a post..


Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the first one to know what I am going to post next by "Liking" Cooking With Siri page on Facebook and follow me on twitter.

until next recipe,

{Easy Summer Recipes} Homemade Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt (using Plums)

Tweet

One of the many fun activities during my weekend grocery shopping while I was in US was strolling through the endless rows of products right from cereal to various kinds of sauces to fresh, exotic vegetables. Most of the times, I was on tight budget, so once the contents from my pre-made shopping list are in my cart, all I used to do was gape and make a mental note of stuff-I-want-to-buy-once-I-have-tons-of-dollars. You see, shopping frugally was never my cup of tea. I was desired for more. My sinister heart would coax me to buy much more than I wanted but my rational mind would stop me every single time!.

During such escapades, I discovered these down under yogurt cups from an australian company called Wallaby. I tried once and I was hooked. I never imagined fruit at bottom + yogurt on top can be such a delicious indulgence. From then onwards, I bought atleast 10 of these yogurt cups each week, on an average to eat one every day and rest of the three when I crave for more. This went on for couple of years until I moved out of Virginia in the summer of 2010.

..this was my favorite go-to-snack whenever I am low & need some pep up..and it always worked!

While in California, I did search for these, tried a few other fruit-at-bottom products but nothing came closer to the lusciousness of wallaby. I had to be content with flavored yogurts available at Trader Joes, like this one...

...I miss you Trader Joes...:-(

Now, after almost 2 years, on a whim I longed for my favorite indulgence. One night, I swear I even dreamed about these. Determined to make my dream a reality, I made some fruit-at-bottom-yogurt-jars today. The recipe is so darn simple and it came out perfectly in my very first try. Any combination of firm fruit can be used, if you want to refrigerate and use it over a week or so. I had few plums on hand, so I made of them for today's recipe. TH wants with strawberries next time around and off I am to get some berries tomorrow from our nearby fruit market. :-)

Enjoy..

...plums...oh..you..luscious plums..

..cornstarch water being added to cooked,mushy fruit..

plum compote... I have saved some for my toasted bread in tomorrow's breakfast..

[Updated on 21st July 2014] This is my entry to KitchenAid Contest, open exclusively for participants of Indian Food Blogger Meet 2014 scheduled to happen in Bangalore on August 1st and 2nd 2014. 

{Recipe} Home-made Fruit (Plums) at Bottom Yogurt 

Adapted from Simple Bites

Ingredients:

4 plums, chopped into small pieces or any other fruit
1 tsp of water
1 tbsp honey (or sweeten with 1-2 tbsp of sugar)
a pinch of salt
2 tsp cornflour
2 tsp cold water
1 cup plain yogurt (preferably not sour) sweetened with 2 tsp or more honey (to taste)

Preparation:

1. Making fruit compote: In a small pan, heat very finely chopped plums (or any other fruit), honey (or sugar) and salt. Add a tsp of water and bring it to simmer on low heat, stirring every now and then. In a separate bowl, mix cornflour with cold water. Once the fruit mixture becomes a little mushy, add the cornstarch water. Let it simmer for 5 to 8 minutes on low heat, until it thickens. Remove from heat and cool completely.

2. Whisk plain yogurt/curd with honey. To assemble, add 2 spoons of fruit compote at the bottom and then top with yogurt. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving.

Note: The amount of honey or sugar to be added to plums (or any other fruit especially tart ones) and yogurt can be varied according to taste. To add some crunch, top with granola which becomes a great option for breakfast or whenever you crave for something sweet. When refrigerated, covered this will stay fresh for 1 week (if it lasts that long!).

This is Recipe 19 for my The 100 Recipe Challenge for Year 2013. Check out the rest of the recipes posted so far...

Did you like what you just read. then Subscribe to Cooking With Siri feed  (OR)

Enter your email address and Never miss a post..


Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the first one to know what I am going to post next by "Liking" Cooking With Siri page on Facebook and follow me on twitter.

until next recipe,

Black and White Wednesday: Custard Apples

Tweet

All my childhood I enjoyed savouring on their delightfully sweet flesh. Custard Apples (Telugu: Seetaphal Kayalu) are in season and markets here are flooded with juicy ones....yumm..

 Posted for Susan's Black & White Wednesdays.