Stewed Fruit!

It has been several years ago that I was invited to an “open house” party….where the lady of the house was an incredible cook and hostess.  The table was laden with beautifully presented food; a feast for the eye as well as one’s palate…

Among the many dishes there was one bowl that contained something dark and seemed like a meat. I wanted to taste it because it had a fruity aroma wafting around it which heightened my curiosity of how this “meat” was cooked.  My first bite was a surprise which was followed by sheer delight…it was sweet and tasted fresh and extraordinarily delicious.  It was fruit, all kinds of dried fruit that was cooked in a sauce….the sauce was the special delight and I could not decide what it reminded me of.

I quickly caught my friend’s, the hostess’, attention and asked her about this special dish, when she told me it was…..Stewed Fruit! “Stewed in what?, I asked…when with a twinkle in her eyes she said: “In wine’ of course!”  Aha…this was the delightful little ingredient that made all the difference.

As I was saying my “good byes” at the end of the party I whispered to my friend that I would call her soon for the recipe of her “stewed fruit” dish….she whispered back…”Find it in the latest issue of the Southern Living Magazine”

And so it is here that I want you to have this recipe of this delightful dish, and I know you will be making it often…because you can eat it with a sandwich to a beef roast, with yogurt, with ice cream, as a salad, and at breakfast, as a dessert when served with whipped cream or pudding and I could go on and on…..

I changed the recipe in some places, and you will find the changes in red letters.

1 – 12 oz box pitted prunes

1 – 6 0z pkg dried apricots

1 – 20 oz can  pineapple chunks – undreained

1 – 11 oz Mandarine oranges – well drained

1 – large can Del Monte peaches – sliced and well drained

1 – can cherry pie filling

Manishavitz Cherry wine…..I use a bottle of Port or a Medium Sherry.

I also often substitute or add to the ingredients above, fresh apples cut into chunks, fresh plums, cut into chunks, or fresh Raspberries and/or Blueberries.

Layer all ingredients  in large  3 quart Pyrex baking dish then pour the Port over the fruit and bake it at 350 F uncovered for 1 hour.

Serve this Stewed Fruit warm or at room temperature!

It will be one of the most enjoyed dishes on your buffet table….

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Copyright:

Maria Reisz Springer

Maja’s Kitchen LLC….

http://www.majaskitchen.com

maria@majaskitchen.com

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Unauthorized use, distribution, and/or duplication of proprietary material without prior approval is prohibited. If you have any questions or would like permission, I can be contacted via email at: maria@majaskitchen.com   Feel free to quote me, just give credit where credit is due, link to the recipe, and please send people to my website, http://www.majaskitchen.com

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The beautiful Plum and it’s irresistible juicyness!

The beautiful plum and its irresistible  juicyness makes it the perfect fruit to create a wonderful jam or dropping it into a dough for a perfect ending…

When the plums ripened in the late summer at my grandparent’s orchard in Croatia…life around the house became very busy. Every morning the maids had to go and pick up all the plums that had fallen off the trees and gathered them in large buckets.  Then my grandfather hired men from the village to set up the still just outside the barn and the process of making Slivovic was started.  Sliva is the word for plum in Croatian and Slivovic is the brandy that comes from plums.

I cannot describe the process of making Slivovic, all I remember I was watching the men sitting around this contraption (still) talking and tasting the drops that came out of a small tube/hose.  One afternoon I found all four of the  men snoozing in their chairs.  I gathered up my courage to taste the next drop that was hovering at the end of the tube to drop into the container below.  I put my finger under the drop and when it fell onto my finger I stuck it into my mouth and to my horror it had a terrible flavor.   At this point one of the men woke up and I had just enough time to escape his reaching hand that was going to let me know that I was not to be where I was.

I was about 6 or 7 years old….

You see, my grandfather had an Inn  that was a part of the big house called Bela Villa.

And while the Sliovic was brewing, my grandmother was busy making a Plum Cake – Pita od Slive, but not just one, she usually made several cakes to be sold as dessert at the Inn.

Here is my version of a Plum Cake which is translated from my mother’s recipe.

Plum Cake

3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

zest of  1 to 2 lemons – depending on the size of the lemons

1 tsp Vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup milk

and

2 lbs of any kind of Plums

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Set the oven at 350 F

Prepare a 10 inch tart pan with a removable bottom, by greasing and dusting it with flour.

Remove the stone from the plums by cutting them in half and slice each half into 2 quarters.

With an electric mixer or hand mixer beat the butter and sugar until very light in color, and very fluffy.  Add the eggs  one at a time.  Add the zest of the lemons and Vanilla.   Mix the flour with the baking powder.  Add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar and eggs alternating with the milk.   Mix well until it becomes a smooth, soft dough. Transfer the dough to the tart pan and smooth it with a spatula.

Add the cut plum sections, skin down, on to the dough.

 

Bake the cake at 350 F for about 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Cool the cake on a rack completely then transfer it onto a serving platter.

Serve with softly whipped heavy cream sweetened with powdered sugar before serving.

 

Or… just dust it with powdered sugar and serve it with Coffee or Tea!

Everyone loves this cake in my family especially with a big serving of ice cream!

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Do you have a Plum Cake or Tart recipe?

 

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Unauthorized use, distribution, and/or duplication of proprietary material without prior approval is prohibited. If you have any questions or would like permission, I can be contacted via email at: maria@majaskitchen.com   Feel free to quote me, just give credit where credit is due, link to the recipe, and please send people to my website, http://www.majaskitchen.com

Find me on Face Book! LinkedIn and Pinterest!

http://www.culinaryhalloffame.com

http://www.iacp.com

http://www.majaskitchen.com

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