Sweet roast plums with five spice

Name: Sweet roast plums with five spice
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 2½ tablespoons light muscovado sugar; Finely grated zest of ½ orange or lemon; 2 tablespoons ground almonds; 40 g (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing; 250 ml (1 cup) crème fraîche; 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger; 1½ teaspoons Chinese five spice; 10 ripe plums, halved and stoned; Handful of flaked almonds; Pinch of fine sea salt; 50 g (1¾ oz) caster sugar

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Whisper of Cardamom

By Eleanor Ford

Published 2024

About

Chinese five spice powder is a blend of contrasts: warm and sweet from anise and cassia, cool and complex from fennel and clove. The five in the name is not in nod to the number of spices, but rather the five principal flavour notes of Chinese cuisine that the mix combines. It also works beautifully with plums.

Ingredients

2½ tablespoons light muscovado sugar
2 tablespoons ground almonds
40

Asia
China
Dessert
Gluten-free
Vegetarian

Method

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan (400°F).

Mix together the sugar, almonds, butter, zest, five spice and salt.

Choose an oven dish that can accommodate the plums snugly, and grease with a little butter. Lay out the plums cut-side up. Spoon a nub of the swe