DAILY DINNERS

You need a round baking dish approx 22cm in diameter, lightly buttered.

Set the oven at 180C/Fan 160C/gas mark 4. Open the cardamom pods using a heavy weight, then extract the brown seeds. Crush the seeds to a powder in a spice mill or using a pestle and mortar. Mix the ground cardamom with the cinnamon, mace, ginger and mixed spice.

Halve the plums and discard their stones. If the plums are hard you could cook them on top of the stove for 5-10 mins, then toss the fruit and caster sugar together and pile into a buttered baking dish. Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, blend in a food processor. Stir in the muscovado sugar, ground spices and almonds, then sprinkle lightly with a tbsp of water. Shake the bowl back and forth until you have crumbs of different sizes, then scatter over the fruit.

Bake for about 50 minutes until deep golden brown and the fruit is bubbling through the crust.

Note: This spiced crumble is just as good cold as it is hot, even after a night in the fridge. It is worth grinding the cardamom fresh – ground cinnamon and mace keep their magic, it tends to disappear from cardamom rather more quickly.