Spiced grilled blood plums

MAKES APPROXIMATELY 800G FRUIT AND SYRUP

750g blood plums, still firm, not yieldingly ripe (around 8) 30g demerara sugar

SPICED SYRUP

1 orange

1 lemon

100g caster sugar

40g honey

40ml cold water

4 star anise

2 whole allspice berries few grinds black pepper

1–2 fresh bay leaves (optional)

1 To start the spiced syrup, peel four wide strips each from the orange and the lemon and place into a small, non-reactive saucepan. Set the fruit aside (you’ll add their juice to the syrup later).

2 Add the remaining syrup ingredients to the saucepan. Bring to the boil over a medium– high heat, stirring at first to loosen the sugar. When it boils, turn it down to a simmer and cook for 3–4 minutes until syrupy like maple syrup. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

3 While the syrup cools, heat your grill to High (100%). Cut the plums in half, following their natural seam. Twist and pull apart and remove the stone (if it doesn’t prise out easily, cut around it with a small, pointy knife). Place the plums, cut-side up, on a non-reactive, ovenproof, shallow-lipped tray (or line a tray with foil). Sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly over the plums, then grill for 10–12 minutes, until the cut side has blistered and some have a collar of blackened flesh.

If you don’t have a grill, halve the plums, remove the stones and set in a baking tray. Scatter the sugar on the cut sides and caramelise with a blowtorch until dark brown. If the plums are large and still firm, bake for 10–15 minutes in a 180°C oven until they soften but hold their shape.

Remove the plums from the grill. Squeeze the juice from the orange and lemon into the syrup and pour over the plums. Adding the juice when the syrup has cooled will retain the fresh acidity. Overheated juice loses vibrancy. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, turning once in the syrup. Cool to room temperature before using.