Peach or Plum Sauce

INGREDIENTS
6 lb plums or peaches, stoned if freestone, otherwise cook whole.
3 lb sugar, 
6 lb vinegar (cider vinegar complements the peaches well) 
and assorted spices which I vary from batch to batch. 

The original recipe suggests 1 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1 tbs cloves, 3 dessertspoons salt. I usually skip the salt, and for one batch I used cinnamon, ginger, cardamon and lemon verbena; the batch on the stove at the moment I've substituted star anise for the cardamon hoping for a slightly more "Chinese" flavour.

METHOD

Simmer fruit in vinegar until soft. Cool a little and push through a metal colander to remove any stones and any larger bits of skin. Return to saucepan, add sugar and spices, boil gently until thickened. (Could take a while.) Bottle in sterilised bottles, filling all the way to the rim. As it cools it will shrink down a bit.

I've made this using whole fiddly little cherry plums and also with stoned freestone peaches. The slight resulting difference in fruit quantity doesn't seem to matter. Out of curiosity I weighed some freestone plums and the stones I'd removed from them. 1 kg stoned plums had 125 g of stones. Not really major.

Plum Cordial and Icecream

PLUM CORDIAL

Pick a large saucepanful of plums. Just barely cover with water and stew gently. Strain the juice- I put the pulp through a colander first to get out the stones and skin, then put the rest through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Measure the juice into a saucepan, and for every two cups add two cups of sugar and a teaspoonful of citric acid. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 15 mins. Bottle, store in fridge unless you can sterilise it in a Fowler's kit or similar. Fairly strong, use at about 1:6 concentration or to taste.  

Keep the pulp for other recipes- jam, sauce or icecream. 

PLUM ICECREAM

Whip 300ml. of cream. Separate 4 eggs, beat the whites until stiff and add the yolks to the pulp with sugar to taste- probably 2-3 tablespoons. Combine whites, cream and fruit mixture. If you have an icecream machine use according to instructions. I just put it in a container in the freezer and stir it up every hour until set. 

RAW EGG WARNING: If you're pregnant or for any other reason worried about listeria, you can heat up the fruit mixture gently until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, then cool and proceed with final steps. Can't do anything about heat treating the whites though. The raw egg method is no more hazardous than chocolate mousse made with raw eggs, but use your own judgement as to whether you feel safe with this recipe (or ask a doctor).

Both recipes also good made with other fruits.

Shearer's Cake

INGREDIENTS 

1 cup sugar, 
125g butter, 
1 egg, 
1 cup apples, hot stewed and not too soggy (OR substitute peach or other stewed fruit. I've used feijoas, plums, pears, kiwifruit...peaches...etc...) 
1 and 2/3 cups plain flour, 
approx. 2-4 tsp mixed spices (recipe says equal parts cinnamon and ginger), 
1 heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda, 
3/4 cup sultanas (OR other dried fruit. Again I've tried all sorts- crasins, dates, figs, apricots etc. Pick something that will complement the cooked fruit.) 

METHOD- 
Mix the butter and sugar into the hot apples, then lightly beaten egg. Sift and add dry ingredients, dissolve the bicarb in a little milk or reserved juice. Add more milk or juice if the mixture seems too stiff. (Fruit pulp can be variable in moisture levels.) Bake in a moderate oven for about 3/4 hour, test with skewer to see if the middle's cooked properly. Use a 20cm round or square tin.