Over the last few weeks, I have spent a fair bit of time in Evesham, which is fruit central at this time of year. All along the roadside tree branches are overwhelmed with the weight of their ripe, succulent fruits. They look like they are reaching out, asking you to help lighten their load. Well, my dad and I don’t like to see a tree in distress so we stretched and reached and plucked the delicious fruit from their branches, nibbling a few along the way and filling our arms, delighted with our bounty.

I was going to make a crumble, but stumbled across an ice cream recipe on Delicious Days which I thought was the perfect transition recipe to help us ease from summer into autumn.

It was also perfect because my dad had bought me an ice cream maker, and I have never used it yet. So this recipe is especially for you Dad.

It is indulgent and rich, with a hit of cinnamony christmasness and a whack of juicy autumn plum. Just perfect really.

I have adapted the recipe I found here. Here’s how I made it. You’ll need:

About 400g of ripe plums
400g whipping cream
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon good vanilla essence (please don’t buy vanilla flavouring)
2 heaped teaspoons of ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 200°C. Give your plums a wash - especially if you have picked them like I have, cut them in half and pop out their stones.

Lay them out in a baking dish so they are skin side down, and sprinkle over the cinnamon and a tablespoon or so of the sugar.

Stick them in the oven for 30 minutes, until they look golden and gooey and your house is filled with their delicious spicy scent.

Stick them in a blender and blitz them up into a pulp and I dare you to try not to lick the bowl afterwards. It is A-Mazing!

For your ice-cream base, pour in your cream into a pan, add in the sugar and heat gently whilst stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add in your delicious plum pulp and give it a good stir. until it is all mixed in. You’ll need to put this mixture into the fridge now until it cools down.

Once cooled, pour your mixture into an ice cream maker and let it do it’s thing according to your maker’s instructions. Mine took 35 minutes, and would have been considered a soft scoop! You can either serve it up now, or put into a container and keep in the freezer until you are ready.

You can serve with an extra sprinkle of cinnamon, flaked almonds or alongside a tart or chocolate brownie.

But it doesn’t really need an accompaniment. It stands its own ground pretty well.

Let me know what you think of it if you make some.
Do you have a summer to autumn transition recipe?