It's plum season! Here are some of our favourite recipes using plums

Purple or yellow, firm or soft, there is a recipe to suit every kind of plum 

Plums or damsons will work well in any of these recipes. 

Plums, and their sister fruit damson and greengages are in season right now. Delicious in crumbles and compotes and jams, William Murray says they are one of his favourite fruits.

"Wild plums can be foraged in hedgerows all over the countryside, like damsons and bullaces," he says. "More exotic varieties are also being imported like greengages, mirabelles and little yellow Italian plums. Of all of the stone fruit, plums are the sweetest, juiciest, stickiest and also probably the ones which work best in savoury dishes as well as sweet."

if you find yourself with a glut of these delicious stonefruits, then here are some of our favourite ways to cook with them: 

Prune and plum tart

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

This is the perfet tart to celebrate harvest season

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Cooking Time

 40 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 55 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• For the pastry:

• 140g butter, chilled and cubed 

• 225g plain flour

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 50g golden caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

• zest of 2 oranges

• For the topping:

• 600g plums, de-stoned and cubed 1 cm in diameter

• 100g soft prunes, roughly chopped

• 30g butter, melted

• 10ml brandy

• 30g golden caster sugar

• 1 tsp ground nutmeg

Method

1. Heat your oven to 180°C and grease and flour an 8in flan tin. It is easiest to use a loose- based tin.

2. To make the pastry rub the butter into the flour until it looks like rough bread crumbs. This is best done quick enough so that the butter does not start to melt and become greasy.

3. Beat the egg, sugar, vanilla and zest together until combined and the sugar has started to melt.

4. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a fork until combined. Bring it together completely with your hands.

5. Wrap the ball of dough in baking parchment and place it into the fridge to cool. Allow the pastry to rest for at least an hour and then roll to about 3mm depth.

6. Lay the pastry into the tin and gently press it down and then cut away and excess. Bake it blind with a sheet of parchment and baking beans for 15 minutes then remove the beans and parchment.

7. Continue baking for a further five minutes or until it is just turning golden.

8. Reroll the excess bits and cut the pastry into leaf shapes for the top of the tart.

9. For the filling, toss the plums and prunes in the melted butter, brandy, sugar and nutmeg. Scoop the filling into the blind-baked case and dot the leaves on top.

10. Bake for 20 minutes or until the leaves are golden and the topping is heated through and caramelising. Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes and gently set it onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Upside-down plum and ginger cake

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

The cake recipe here works well with any stoned fruit, but plums look great and compliment the ginger

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 5 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 200g muscovado brown sugar

• 175g butter, softened

• 130g golden syrup

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 200ml milk

• 300g self-raising flour

• ½ tsp bread soda

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 500g plums

• 10g crystalised ginger, chopped

Method

1. Line a 9inch round cake tin with baking parchment, either a loose base of spring form will work best.

2. Rub butter on to the parchment on the base and sprinkle 25 grams of the muscovado sugar over the butter, set aside.

3. Heat your oven to 180°C.

4. Melt the butter, the rest of the sugar and syrup, in a large pan on a low heat. Allow to cool then stir in the eggs and milk.

5. Sift in the flour, bread soda and ground ginger and stir until a smooth batter is formed.

6. Stone and chop the plums and lay them into the base of the pan (over the butter and sugar) and sprinkle the crystalized ginger on top.

7. Pour the batter over the plums and bake for 50 minutes.

8. Allow to cool in the tin for ten minutes then gently turn upside-down onto a wire rack to cool.

Spiced plum crumble with whiskey cream

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Warm, spicy crumble with seasonal plums and served with a thick, luxurious whiskey cream is a hearty dessert sure to impress your dinner party guests

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 18 mins

Total Time

 38 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 600g fresh plums

• 2 tsp sugar

• juice and zest of 1 orange

• ¾ tsp ground allspice

• 80g plain flour

• 80g sugar

• 60g butter

• handful of amaretti biscuits

• For the whiskey cream:

• 250ml whipping cream

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tbsp whiskey

Method

1. Remove the pits from the plums and cut the fruit into quarters. Pop it into a saucepan along with two teaspoons of sugar, the allspice and the juice and zest of an orange. Bring to a soft boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the fruit softens. You want to the fruit to be soft but to retain its shape, so do not overcook it, about ten minutes should easily do it.

2. Cut the butter into small cubes and pop it into a bowl along with the flour and sugar. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour and sugar until you have a mix with the consistency of breadcrumbs. Crush in half of the amaretti biscuits, reserving the other half for now.

3. Heat your oven to 180°C. Spoon the coked fruit into an ovenproof dish and top with the crumble. Crush the remainder of the amaretti biscuits over the crumble to finish. Bake until the crumble is crisp and golden, and the fruit is bubbling up through the top, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Pour the cream into a large bowl along with the sugar and whiskey. Whisk until it thickens into soft peaks. Serve the crumble warm with a generous dollop of cream.