Mulled Plums With Crème Fraiche -

Mulled Plums With Crème Fraiche

Ingredients

300 ml/10 fl oz soft red wine (e.g. Merlot)
100 ml/3 fl oz ruby port
Pared zest of 1 lemon
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into 2 or 3 pieces
5 cloves
10 juniper berries
2-3 tablespoons unrefined molasses sugar
325g/12 oz dessert plums
3 teaspoons arrowroot

To serve

Crème fraiche
A little ground cinnamon

Details

Serves: 4

Method

Heat the wine and port in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and add the lemon zest, cinnamon sticks, cloves, juniper berries and sugar. Leave to simmer steadily while you prepare the plums.

Wash, dry, halve and stone the plums.

In a small bowl, blend the arrowroot with 2-3 teaspoons cold water until smooth. Pour some of the hot wine over the arrowroot, stirring all the time. Return to the pan and cook until thickened and clear. Pour the hot wine mixture over the plums and leave to cool with all the aromatics. Store in the refrigerator overnight. The juices from the plums will add to the liquid.

Before serving, discard the cloves, lemon zest and cinnamon. The juniper berries can be left in for visual impact if you like. Serve in pretty glasses, with a separate bowl of crème fraiche dusted with cinnamon.

Related food category:

• Dessert