These baked spiced plums are wonderfully easy to make – plus they make the house smell of mulled wine. Good hot or cold, they keep for a week in the fridge, and freeze well too.
Another recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to Cook, I cut back on the amount of honey after making it the first time, as I found the sweetness masked the flavour of the plums. They are delicious served with a spoonful of Barbados cream.
Spiced baked plums
(serves 6-8)
- 1 kg plums, halved and stoned
- 300ml red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 2 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
- 175g honey
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Arrange the plum halves in a single layer – cut side down – in a large, baking dish.
- Combine the wine, bay leaves, cloves, star anise, cardamom and honey in a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Pour the mixture over the plums, and cover tightly with foil.
- Bake for about one hour, until the plums are soft.
- Serve hot or cold with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or Barbados cream.
Ten More Bites 
Whoa… great idea! looks nummmmm
Thanks, Denise!
Should the mixture be thick and sticky? Although these tasted amazing, there was a lot of liquid that I wasn’t expecting.
You’re right, the liquid isn’t thick and sticky. I imagine the plums would break down completely before it reached that point. You could remove the plums with a slotted spoon and then give it a fast boil to reduce the volume, perhaps?