Recipe

Spiced Plum Cheese Round

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Spiced Plum Cheese Round

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by Kitchen Butterfly

Spiced Plum Cheese Round

Photo 2 of 4
by Kitchen Butterfly

Spiced Plum Cheese Round

Photo 3 of 4
by Kitchen Butterfly

Spiced Plum Cheese Round

Photo 4 of 4
by Kitchen Butterfly

  • This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Recipe for Plums
    This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Maple Recipe
  • A&M's Testing Notes: I'm a sucker for tart fruit, creamy cheese and something crispy. So this dish really fit the bill for me. The spicing on the plums was subtle enough to work in sweet (like in a fruit tart...

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  • Chef

    Kitchen Butterfly's Notes: Ever since I discovered a Middle Eastern homemade yogurt cheese recipe aka Labneh, I've made batch after batch. The smooth, creamy hung yogurt, flavoured with a touch of sel de gris forms...

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Serves 4

Spiced Plum Cheese Round:

2 tablespoons maple syrup Ask a question about this ingredient

1 tablespoon ginger wine or 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger Ask a question about this ingredient

1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon orange zest Ask a question about this ingredient

Pinch of cayenne pepper Ask a question about this ingredient

2 plums (I used red plums), stoned and cut into eights Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves Ask a question about this ingredient

1 portion Labneh (recipe below) Ask a question about this ingredient

thyme sprigs, for garnish Ask a question about this ingredient

flaked almonds, for garnish Ask a question about this ingredient

  1. Preheat your oven to 250 deg C. Mix the maple syrup, ginger wine or grated ginger, cardamom powder, orange zest and pinch of cayenne pepper. Toss the plum eights in the maple syrup mix and place in a bowl that just contains the mix so they plums 'stew' in the juices while they bake.

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  2. Place the plums in the centre of the oven and bake 15 - 20 minutes or until soft.

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  3. Remove from the oven and stir in the fresh thyme leaves, then leave to cool.

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  4. When the plum mixture is cold, spread the Labneh halfway into the base of a 5-6 cm ring or use a ramekin and top the other half with the spiced plums. Return to the refrigerator till ready to serve.

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  5. Serve with toasted flaked almonds and thyme sprigs

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Labneh - Yogurt Cheese:

3/4 cup Thick Greek or Turkish yogurt (not Greek-style) Ask a question about this ingredient

Pinch of salt Ask a question about this ingredient

  1. Stir the yogurt well and season with a pinch of salt. Taste and adjust. You want a hint of the sea and not a gulp. The salt helps draw out the whey (think of cucumbers& aubergines).

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  2. Place the yogurt in the centre of a muslin/cheesecloth folded 4 times (or line a sieve with coffee filters). Gather up the ends of the cloth and tie up tight, gently forming a ball. The whey will begin to drip as soon as you begin.

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  3. Pass a skewer through the tie/knot and hang over a deep bowl. and refrigerate overnight.

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  4. The next morning, much of the whey will have drained out leaving you creamy yogurt cheese. Keep the whey in the fridge and stir into your breakfast cereal, smoothies or back into yogurt or find out a myriad other ways to use it – it is rich in protein. Remember Little Miss Muffet?

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4 Comments on Spiced Plum Cheese Round

Chocolate_peppermint_truffle_cookies_032 Reply

This looks amazing! I've saved and will definitely make this one soon!

Ab_sum Reply

Very nice recipe! And very beautiful.

Reply

Gosh, all of a sudden I can't see any photos on any recipes all of a sudden! Wonder if it is my computer or the larger system. Oh well.

Img_1958 Reply

This looks so delicious - I think I will start making the yogurt cheese right now! I am out of plums but will try this when I get some more. Until then I have a mango that I am going to experiment with using the yogurt cheese.

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