I ran into this man who reminds me of a sort of hybrid version of my two Grandpas. He likes to tell me about the produce and today he introduced me to Elephant Heart Plums. Elephant Heart Plums. I looked Elephant Heart Plums up at Specialty Produce and they call them “the wildest and sweetest of all Summer fruit.”

Heart-shaped with mottled dark reddish-crimson colored skin, the rich firm flesh of the elephant heart plum is, of course, blood red and very juicy. One of the best tasting of all plums, it offers an extremely sweet flavor. This flavorful Japanese variety has a nice just-right balance between sweet and tart. These plums are clingstone fruits, that is, their flesh clings to the pit.

Plums are high in both vitamins A and C. They run about 55 calories per fruit.

The Elephant Hearts are easier to find at Farmer’s Markets than supermarkets. This is due to their thin, delicate skin. They are larger than the average plum. The Hybrid Grandpa held them up and showed me how they are heart shaped, with a pointy end. Such a charming old guy. He also explained that Cling Peaches are called “cling” because the fruit’s flesh holds onto the pit.

Image credit: Michelle Smith

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Elephant Heart Plums

This video by chef Philip Anderson takes the fruit dessert a bit further by cooking a plum and berry crisp on an outdoor grill.

Using plums, blueberries, blackberries, and the usual crisp ingredients like oatmeal, flour, butter and brown sugar, he creates a delicious, perfectly summery treat in just thirty minutes.

He pre-bakes the fruits with some brown sugar over indirect heat from the grill by turning on the burners on one side while leaving the burners over the casserole dish off, which, as he explains, creates a kind of convection oven effect.

After about ten minutes he adds the crisp mixture with the oatmeal and butter and lets it cook for another twelve or so minutes.

Plum and Berry Crisp

1 1/2 pounds plums, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
1/3 packed light brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into bits and softened
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

~ Toss together the plums, berries and sugar in a 2-quart shallow baking dish and place over the indirect heat, cover, 10 minutes.

~ Meanwhile, blend together oats, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl with your fingertips until butter is evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.

~ Stir fruit filling, then sprinkle oat mixture over it and bake until topping is crisp and golden, about 30 minutes.

Post from: Blisstree

Plum and Berry Crisp

My son and I have already baked two cakes, but we’ve still got kilos to “get rid of”. I’m cleaning up my jars to make plum marmelades and jams, but aside from that, can you recommend any other recipes or dishes I can use these fruits on? Or do you maybe know a good jam combo? Unfortunately, these fruits are still hard and a bit unripe, or I could have juiced them.

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Picking Autumn Fruits, Call for Recipes