Perpetually Preserving Plums

Marrying preserved and fresh stone fruit for dessert

NOTE: We’re doing the second class in our Back to Basics series tomorrow, August 5th, at 7pm EST! CLICK HERE for tickets (which give you access to all previous classes, too).

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Being an avid fermenter provides you with so many opportunities to enjoy food and cooking, since there’s always a wealth of preserves to tap into no matter what time of year it is. Creating combinations with what’s popping up seasonally leads to the most delicious adventures that you will never create again. It becomes especially wonderful when you collaborate with friends who share that interest. Your skills, knowledge base and experiences expand exponentially when you open yourself up to the possibilities.

I know that I will always eat something great and super interesting when I hang with Peter. Our alignment on how we compose flavors by understanding fundamentals and riff on them with whatever we have on hand is a beautiful thing. The plan for the afternoon was to make tasty snacks and pizzas for a gathering of fermentation friends. When I landed to help with prep, he had me taste this wonderful pastry cream to be used in a parfait with a rhubarb compote. The cream was hopped up with a lemon rind miso that I could have sworn was just the right amount of preserved lemon. We ended up outside chatting for a while as we got the tables and chairs set up. Upon returning to the kitchen, we smelled rhubarb burnt sugar and knew immediately the compote was toast.

Of course, I volunteered to whip up something that would match just as well. Peter handed me three peaches, three plums, and two apples, knowing it would be something great (with at least a dozen ingredients) and that I’d somehow strike the right balance. I found a Meyer lemon in his fridge along with some really nice honey and maple syrup in the cabinets. I happened to bring fitting complimentary ingredients for sweet things: homemade umeboshi and juniper branches with berries. I was off to the races.

[NOTE: Rich demonstrated his easy umeboshi recipe in last month’s video lesson. Your ticket gives you access to all past classes, so join us!]

I diced the peaches and apples, knowing they’d go into the compote. Into a medium saucepan went the peaches, a few ounces of maple syrup, and five umeboshi with a few tablespoons of the brine and a bit of the shiso. I brought it all to just under a simmer and let it go for about ten minutes to soften the peaches. Next, a half a dozen basil stems along with the zest and juice from a Meyer lemon went in. I let that cook for about five minutes and cut the heat. I added the diced apples at the end so they’d still have a bite, along with a few grinds of the pepper mill.

As the compote was simmering, I sliced thin wedges of plum and warmed up a quarter cup of honey with a splash of Matchbook Distilling’s Day Trip Strawberry Amaro. Plum wedges went into the syrup with a healthy sprig of juniper & berries. I brought that to a bare simmer and cut the heat.

While snacks were savored and pizzas slung, these sweet layers sat…

When it came time to assemble the parfaits, Peter suggested we use the most adorable etched espresso cups handed down from his grandfather. The sequence was lemon miso pastry cream, peach compote, and another pastry cream layer. The top was bejeweled with a ruby red slice of resiny candied plum then rained with chiffonade strands of anise hyssop and mint from the garden. Indescribably delicious!