Plum crumble

Serves 4-6 For the stewed plums, you will need:

6 large plums 125g light brown sugar 50ml water

For the breadcrumb crumble, you will need:

100g breadcrumbs 100g light brown sugar

teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional) 75g butter

To serve, you will need:

Softly whipped cream, custard or ice cream 1 First, prepare the plums. Remove and discard the stones, and cut the plums into 1cm-2cm chunks. Put the plum chunks into a saucepan with the light brown sugar and the water, over a medium-to-high heat. Stir as the mixture heats up to dissolve the sugar, then cover the pan with a lid and cook the contents over a low-to-medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until the plums have just softened. Remove the lid, and cook the plums for another 5-10 minutes until the mixture has thickened slightly, and the plums are completely tender. 2 Tip the cooked plums and all their sweet juice into a shallow 1-litre pie dish, or into 4 or 6 individual dishes. 3 Next, make the crumble. Put the breadcrumbs, the light brown sugar and the ground cinnamon, if you are using it, into a mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub them into the breadcrumb, sugar and cinnamon mixture until it is slightly coarse. Tip the crumble mixture over the cooked fruit, and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes — if you are using small dishes, they will take about 5 minues less to cook — until the fruit is bubbling up around the edges and the crumble is golden. It will get deliciously crunchy as it cools slightly. 4 Serve warm, with softly whipped cream, custard or ice cream.