“On and off, all that hot French August, we made ourselves ill from eating the greengages.”
The Greengage Summer by Rumer Gooden.
Have you ever heard of a greengage plum? Prized in Europe, these small plums the color of a Granny Smith apple, are still very obscure in America. But ask a English person about greengages or ask a French person about Reine Claude plums, and you will hear about their luscious honey-like flavor, firm yet tender texture and floral aroma. Some say that greengages are the finest dessert plum there is.
A few lucky souls, mostly in New York and California, will find them at their farmers market in late summer or early fall. For the rest of us, however, our best bet for finding greengage plums is to look for those imported from New Zealand in late February and March. Although I seek out locally grown fruit whenever possible, greengages are so special that it is worth making an exception.
When it comes to sourcing hard-to-find fruits and vegetables, there is no better friend to have than Frieda’s Produce. Since 1962, Frieda’s Produce has been bringing unusual and exotic fruits and vegetables to store shelves. If you have ever eaten a kiwi, you have Frieda’s to thank for it. If you have bought sunchokes, Asian pears, habanero peppers or purple potatoes at the supermarket, again, thank Frieda’s.
When I needed a large quantity of greengage plums for a new project I am working on, I turned to Frieda’s Produce and they hooked me up. It’s a little unfair of me to even tell you how delicious and fragrant these plums are because when I do, you are going to want to buy some and you are not going to be able to find them easily. But you never know! Keep an eye out and you may just get lucky.
Most of the greengages I had became jam — and greengage jam is a traditional English favorite — but I couldn’t have all these gorgeous plums in my house and not let me family enjoy a few of them. So I selected a few of the most ripe fruits, which would not have been ideal for making jam, and made a small greengage plum crumble.
In truth, what I made is probably better described as a greengage crisp, because the topping contains oats, but crumble sounds more British. And greengages are just so British.
This is a small little crisp, perfect for four people to polish off in one sitting or for two people to enjoy after dinner and still have some to reheat for breakfast the next morning. If you are lucky enough to find greengages, you probably will only be able to buy a quart or two, so I wanted this recipe to work for a small quantity of plums.
Of course, you can make this crisp or crumble with any kind of plum. And I hope that you will. But I also hope that now you know about greengages, you will be on the lookout for these rare and old-fashioned green plums, at the farmers market, in the grocery store, or even in the pages of an obscure novel.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Pinch nutmeg
- 6 oz butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups greengage plums, halved, pitted and sliced
- Juice 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 TB cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg and stir to combine.
- Pour the melted butter and vanilla over the flour mixture and stir with a fork until all the dry ingredients are moistened.
- Place bowl in refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.
- Place the plums and lemon juice in the bottom of a small, baking dish.
- In a small bowl, pinch together the sugar and cornstarch and sprinkle it over the plums. Stir to combine.
- Cover the fruit with 2 1/2 cups of the topping, reserving the rest for another use.
- Bake for 50 minutes until browned on top and the filling is oozing.
- Serve warm with ice cream. (Cover any leftovers with a clean tea towel and leave on the counter.)
