Delia Smith Plum Crumble Recipe

Delia Smith’s plum crumble recipe uses halved plums with cinnamon and demerara sugar under her standard crumble topping. It bakes at 200°C (400°F) for 30 to 40 minutes, and the plums hold their shape better than apples do, giving you distinct fruit halves sitting in a pool of dark, syrupy juice.

I make this plum crumble in late August when Victorias are cheap and everywhere. Delia pairs plums with cinnamon rather than the cloves she uses on apples, and the difference is obvious: cinnamon rounds out the tartness instead of sharpening it.

More Crumble Recipes:

• Apple Crumble
• Rhubarb Crumble
• Crumble Topping

Why Cinnamon and Not Cloves

Delia uses cloves on apples because they intensify the apple flavour. Plums are different because they are already deep and wine-like, and cloves would push them too far into mulled wine territory. Cinnamon keeps them warm without overpowering the fruit.

I add a full teaspoon and so does Delia, which sounds like a lot for 900g of fruit, but plums can take it. The cinnamon bakes into the juice and stains the crumble topping where it bubbles through, which is how you know it is ready.

Plum Crumble Ingredients

For the filling:

• 900g (2 lb) plums, halved and stoned
• 110g (4 oz) demerara sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the crumble topping:

• 175g (6 oz) plain flour (all-purpose flour), sifted
• 110g (4 oz) cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 75g (3 oz) demerara sugar

How To Make Delia Smith Plum Crumble

1. Heat the oven: Set it to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6).
2. Prepare the plums: Halve each plum and remove the stone. Place them cut-side up in a shallow ovenproof dish.
3. Season: Sprinkle the demerara sugar and cinnamon over the plums.
4. Rub the topping: Sift the flour, add cold butter, rub until coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the demerara sugar without rubbing it in.
5. Top and bake: Sprinkle the crumble loosely over the fruit. Do not press down. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden and the juice is bubbling dark and thick around the edges.

Do You Need to Stone the Plums?

Delia says you can leave damson stones in for the diners to deal with, but for plums she halves and stones them. I agree, because plum stones are big enough to crack a tooth on, and halving the plums means they sit flat in the dish and cook evenly.

If the plums are very ripe and soft, the stones twist out easily. Firmer plums need a sharp knife run around the seam. Either way it takes five minutes for the whole batch, which is faster than peeling apples for the apple crumble.

Can You Mix Plums and Apples?

Yes, and Delia lists it as one of her variations. Use half plums and half Bramleys and you get two textures in one dish: the apple breaks down into fluff while the plum halves hold their shape.

Keep the cinnamon and drop the cloves when you mix the two. I found that cloves fight with the plums while cinnamon works with both fruits. The blackberry and apple crumble uses the same half-and-half approach with a different fruit.

Cream or Custard?

Delia suggests crème fraîche or thick cream for plum crumble, not custard. The plums are less tart than rhubarb so they do not need the sweetness of custard to balance them. Cold cream against the hot, cinnamon-stained fruit is the best combination I have found.

Leftovers keep in the fridge for 3 days and reheat best at 180°C (350°F) for 15 minutes. You can freeze the whole dish unbaked for 3 months and bake from frozen with an extra 15 minutes.

Nutrition Facts

• Calories: 360 kcal
• Fat: 15g
• Carbohydrates: 54g
• Fibre: 3g
• Protein: 3g

Nutrition is estimated per serving based on 6 servings.

FAQs

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