Prep time:

Cooking time: 1 hour

Total time:

Serves: 4

1kg Plums

2 Red Onions

5cm Piece of Ginger

2 Apples

2 Red Chillies

1tsp Chinese Five Spice Powder

1tsp Paprika

1tsp Coarsely Crushed Black Peppercorns

1tsp Salt

400ml Cider Vinegar

450g Granulated Sugar

Caroline Cowan and Sarah Bristow from Plum Tree Catering share three crowd-pleasing dishes for an irresistible autumnal picnic...

  1. Halve and stone the plums, then chop them into quarters.
  2. Peel and coarsely chop the onions, ginger and apples, chop the chillies, with seeds, and tip all into a heavy bottomed pan.
  3. Add the spices, salt, vinegar and sugar. Bring all to the boil. Simmer until the mixture takes on a jammy consistency, stirring regularly to avoid sticking.
  4. Spoon into warm, clean, sterilised jars and label.

  • pictures: David Merewether

You may also like

Daisy cupcakes

These are an indulgent treat after the fasting of Lent. Change the amount of buttercream if needed – the ratio is twice the amount of icing sugar to butter, which makes it easy to adjust.

Cheesy chicks

Almost too cute to eat, these are surprisingly easy to make and have gone down well with my testers, as the main ingredients are cheese and potato.

Flowerpot carrot cakes

These little carrot cakes are made in paper cake cases, then popped into tiny flowerpots for a seasonal twist. They were made using standard muffin cases and 6.5cm diameter terracotta flowerpots, but they will taste the same in straightforward cupcake...