Plum Crumble with Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
Confession: I’ve been a little bit obsessed with those plum tarts we had in the Okanagan. If it were a celebrity, I might be hanging around in my car outside its house after dark, hoping for just a little taste. Every time I see a plum I wonder if I could similarly transform it, realize I probably couldn’t truly do it justice, sigh with discouragement and don’t even bother eating it because why would I want a stupid plum anyway if it’s not wrapped in pâte brisée?
And then there was a pork sale.
Stay with me here, I’m searching for a segue way.
Sunterra had a big ol’ pork sale this weekend in support of Alberta pork producers, who are still feeling the affects of H1N1 (Canada risks losing an additional 25 per cent of its pig herd in 2009) – they pulled a big freezer truck into the parking lot and offered to load 66 lbs of loin chops, roasts and whole tenderloins into the back of my Subaru Outback for the low low price of $139.
Of course I jump into these situations without considering the state of my freezer.
So when I got home from the dog park (which is right beside Sunterra), having tortured Lou by making him ride home in the back with all that pig, I had to make way for it in my freezer, which meant jettisoning anything that took up too much space – namely the frozen insert for my ice cream machine.
See? I told you there was a connection. Of course that meant I had to make ice cream while it was good and frozen, seeing as I won’t be able to freeze it again for at least 2 pork loin roasts. And I did promise you another batch of burnt sugar ice cream. And I couldn’t rightly eat burnt sugar ice cream all on its own – it really does need to melt a little bit over sweet-tart fruit, preferably with a crunchy, buttery pastry of sorts, like a peach-blackberry pandowdy. Or a plum tart. Sniff.
So I settled on a plum crumble, attempting to mimic the buttery pastry with a plain topping devoid of oats, nuts or anything grainy. It was good enough, but it was no plum tart. The burnt sugar ice cream (made without the espresso) made up for its absence. Or did it make me miss it more?
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You had me until Subaru Outback. When?!?!
Oh an old one, same vintage as the Accord- just bought it from a friend. Good car, safe and has a space just for Lou!
OH GOD please let me move in with you.
um….my clock says it’s 10pm
Very weird.. I’ll look into that!
MMM Burnt Sugar Ice Cream TY for the recipe! Where were you when I made Plum Browned Butter Bliss the other night? 😉
It was your description of that tart that got me on a plum kick to begin with heh… I searched the usual for a recipe and still haven’t found one using custard. I did however find a use for some of that pork – Cumin Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Plum Chutney: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1036064
OMG, what’s not to like!!!! YUM YUM
Julie you are not helping me loose weight with all these amazing looking desserts.lol. I am on the quest to loose 30lbs .So far so good. I love reading about your adventures keep up the good work. Give lou a scratch from all his fans too. Is he going to Jasper. Just over a month away. How can that be its nearly Xmas. Feels like hello winter its so chilly this morning.
Pauline, I hear you about the weight loss. Every time Julie blogs about something like this, I shed a little tear. I’m on a big weight loss journey (35 lb lost so far, about 20 lb to go!) and if I make something like this, it’s just too hard to have one small piece. =( Maybe I should ask for an ice cream maker for Christmas to use in the new year! 😉
Hey Julie, loved the recipe for the ice cream…somewhat grateful I don’t have an ice cream machine 🙂
I checked out your “a year ago today” and found the dark fruitcake. Can I bake that in a couple of loaf pans? If so, how long would I bake them?
Can we discuss for a moment the fact that you have freezer room for 66 lbs of pork? I picture one of those coffin-sized freezers and am filled with jealousy. Pork sales: reason #287 to move to Canada. (#286 is that I’d get to see the new Kids in the Hall movie sooner.)
Hi Everyone – posting this as a word of caution. Please be very careful when browning anything past the point of melting. I’m recovering from very bad burns that occurred nearly 5 weeks ago when I was browning 1/4 c butter for cookies. I not only lit myself on fire, I could have burnt the house down. A reminder that if something is burning, put a lid on it. DO NOT ADD WATER!!!
Way to go Lisa 35lbs so far. You must be so proud of yourself. I am proud of my 10lbs. I am an all or nothing person one bite leads to the whole thing if its something I love. Once I got of the sugar train, the cravings have gone so its all good. Do you want to check in here say on October the 28th and we can see how we are doing. Julie do you mind. This is after all your blog.
Yum! I don’t have an ice cream maker…but I’m thinking about maybe burnt sugar creme brulee? You wouldn’t need the burnt sugar topping – although, truth is that really is the best part about creme brulee.
Pauline & Lisa – of course not!! The more conversation the merrier, I say!
Andrea – YOU ARE BRILLIANT.
Yum! I love the sound of the burnt sugar ice cream =D.
Plum desserts are my favorite! This one looks delicious.
This looks delicious and I love knowing that you can freeze it! Thanks for sharing!
Hey! We have a freezer full of Sunterra pork too! We even got free bacon!
Free bacon?? Is there such a thing? With the $10 voucher?
Colleen – for sure! I’d go for about an hour? Until they are peaked and springy to the touch on top, so that they don’t sink in the middle. Mmmmm dark fruitcake…
Heard you on CBC this morning, using a slow cooker for ever so many things. Do you suspect it would work for fruitcake?
It probably would! And give it more of the texture of plum pudding.. most people put loaf pans in the crock pot, wrap in foil and add a bit of water.. Google it!
Further to our (my) and Erica B’s quest for the approximation of the Joy Road Plum Tart…I found a post from Recipegirl.com that seems somewhat close, intriguing anyway and worthy of a try, just substituting plums for the apples.
http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/09/18/caramelized-apple-brown-butter-custard-tart/
Think I will try this and report back.
Great combo!
I’ve been on a crumble kick all summer long. My fav combo was wild blueberry and peach but now I’m on to apple. Good but not as good. I use oats in my crumble topping[ http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2009/08/14/produce-panic-part-two-basic-crumble-topping ] but yours looks so great I may give it a try!
I wish I’d had one of those plum tarts you mentioned. They must be pretty darn good!
We only got a $5 voucher, but I think you ordered twice as much as we did. We made BLT salads with tomatoes from my Mom’s garden!
Haha I LOVE how you describe your obsession with plum tarts. Burnt sugar ice cream sounds so good.