Plum cake

I promised you plum cake and here it is.
No, not the plum pudding of Victorian novels and Christmas past, but a light sponge, studded with pistachios and topped with yellow mirabelles, foraged from a Shropshire hedgerow, as a counterbalance to the sweet cake.

125g butter
125g sugar
2 eggs
1 tblsp plum jam - last year's egg plum jam here!
1 tblsp Greek or natural yogurt
50g shelled pistachios
350 g stewed, sweetened plums - add sugar to suit your own palate.

Gently poach 350g plums and sweeten to taste (Don't overdo it, the tart contrast with the sweet cake is a joy).

Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC and lightly grease a 10" prospector pan.
Cream 125g butter with 125g sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in 2 eggs and then stir in 1 tablespoon of Greek yogurt and another one of plum jam (we used some of the jam from last year's plum harvest), with 50g of chopped pistachios.
Fold in 125g self raising flour.
Spoon the mixture into the prospector pans and level off with a knife. Spread the cooked plums over the top of the mixture and place into the oven.
Cook for 25-30 minutes, until it passes the skewer test.

Serve warm with cream or yogurt.

Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2019 ©

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk

First wild garlic of the year

It's incredibly early this year - I don't think I have ever seen the wild garlic coming up in February, but tonight I picked my first small harvest along the banks of the River Severn.

I've got loads of ideas to try out, but when we posted a video of tonight's dinner on Instagram, the response was phenomenal, so I've decided to share this one straight away.

To be honest, it's not really a recipe, I haven't weighed out the ingredients or meticulously timed anything.
This is just a simple, throw together sauce that's ready in 15 minutes.

Large handful of wild garlic, washed
3 large, ripe tomatoes
2 tblsp olive or rapeseed oil
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tblsp white wine vinegar
50g butter

Put a panful of your favourite pasta on to boil.

Roughly chop the garlic and blanch with approx 100ml boiling water.
Blend to a puree.

Put the oil into a frying pan and heat gently.
Chop the tomatoes and add to the frying pan. Fry gently until starting to soften.
Add the salt, sugar, vinegar and garlic puree.

Simmer until the pasta is cooked.
Strain the pasta.  Stir the butter into the tomato sauce and when it has melted, add as much grated cheese as you fancy - anything you can lay your hands on - I used a mature Cheddar tonight.
Pour over the pasta, mix well and serve.

 © Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2016

www.netherton-foundry.co.uk