Roasted Plums with Orange and Sumac

Roasting the Plums Turns Them Into a Mouthwatering Topping.

This seems to have been my Summer of Plums. Well, and cantaloupes, but we’ll get to that another time. I’ve had such good luck with many different types of fantastic plums and pluots that I’ve been eating them in all sorts of ways. I already posted my favorite plum cobbler and it’s so great I’ve made it multiple times.  But I also came up with the idea of simply roasting them and using them as a topping for yogurt, ice cream, simple pound cake, etc. 

I’ve done this a few times now, using different flavorings, and this is, by far, my very favorite version. I discovered that orange peel adds a gorgeous floral citrus element  and using a vegetable peeler to remove the peel in strips couldn’t be easier. I also added a half teaspoon of something called Fiori di Sicilia, which translates to flowers of Sicily. I ordered a bottle from King Arthur a while ago and have been using it a lot in my baking. The flavor is a blend of citrus, vanilla, and floral. It is glorious. But no worries if you don’t have any on hand because a half teaspoon of vanilla will also work here.

Once again, I’m using sumac that I’ve ground myself from whole dried sumac berries .* And yes, you can use regular pre-ground sumac, but if you’ve got the urge I highly recommend getting your hands on some of these whole dried berries .* The flavor is much more complex, with deep umami notes, compared to the packaged pre-ground sumac. But again, these plums will still be delicious, no matter which type of sumac you use. The sumac brings out the bright tartness of the flavor of the plums. 

This is a simple recipe. Pit and slice some plums, put in a baking dish, stir in sugar, salt, sumac, orange peel, Fiori di Sicilia or vanilla, and a couple grinds of black pepper. Cover with foil, bake, let cool and then taste these babies. 

Whoa, mama!! These plums are kind of jammy, but still retain a fresh taste that are wonderful eaten all alone. But they’re particularly good spooned on top of something creamy and dairy and topped with a few sliced toasted almonds. I really love them with plain Greek yogurt. And ice cream is a no brainer. But they’re also great on rice pudding, panna cotta, and slices of simple pound cake. Plus, they’re so easy to whip up that I don’t think twice about making them on the spur of the moment. 

All in all, simply another great new way to enjoy all of the delicious summer plums before they’re gone for the season.