The plums are out in the shops now. I’m not even going to mention that the autumn fruits are here and we haven’t even had a summer!. I never liked them that much when I was young, as for prunes – would not have even tried them. Ive since discovered how Wonderfully delicious and juicy plums are. The belong to the family which also include peaches, and nectarines and this recipe will work for any of those. The fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C. They are also a very good source of vitamin A and beta carotene, as well as containing abundant health promoting flavenoids which help as scavengers of oxygen-derived free radicals that play a role in aging and various disease process. Keep your ripe plums in the fridge and if they are still hard, out at room temperature where they will ripen in a few days.

.5kg mixed plums
.5 litre sparking wine – I used a mousseux brut from Francois Daubigne which I got from Lidl at a great price – any cheaper bubbles will do, I wouldn’t use the good stuff for this!.
100gr coconut palm sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped loose

Using a small knife cut an x in the bottom of each of the plums
Place the sugar wine, vanilla and seeds in a heavy based saucepan over a low heat.
Stir until the sugar dissolves and then increase the heat to the boil then cook the plums
in batches until the skin starts to peel away
Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl of iced water for a minute to remove the skins which you discard
Cook the syrup for about 10 minutes until it has thickened slightly
Return the plums to the syrup and allow to cool completely before serving.
Beautiful!.