Serves 8
1. Begin by making the sorbet, which you should do at least 12 hours ahead of when you want to serve it. Preheat the oven to 200°c/Gas Mark 6.
2. Wash, halve and stone the plums and put them in a roasting tin. Split the 2 vanilla pods down the centre, chop them into a few pieces each and add to the tin, along with the sugar and 250ml water.
3. Roast in the oven until the plums are really soft and slightly blistered around the edges. Rub the plums through a sieve into a bowl. Taste the plum puree. You want it to be quite sweet, as it will taste less sweet when frozen, so add more sugar if you think it needs it.
4. When the puree is cold, churn it in an ice cream machine until very thick, then transfer to the freezer to set solid. Alternatively, put the puree in a shallow container and place in the freezer. Take it out every hour or so and beat it, to distribute the ice crystals throughout the mixture.
5. Continue until the mixture is thick and semi-frozen right to the middle, then leave in the freezer to set solid.
6. To make the brownies, preheat the oven to 170°c/Gas Mark 3.
7. Butter a small, deep baking tray, about 20cm square, and dust it with flour. Put the chocolate, butter and salt in a large bowl, sit it over a pan of simmering water and allow it to melt – make sure the bowl doesn’t actually touch the water. Stir until smooth and leave to cool slightly.
8. In a large bowl beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla together with an electric whisk until thick, pale and fluffy (this will take several minutes).
9. Add the melted chocolate and the sifted flour to the egg mixture, adding them bit by bit, and folding them in carefully with a large metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for about 30 minutes, or until cracked and firm on top, but gooey in the middle.
10. Serve the brownies straight from the oven, accompanied by scoops of ice-cold sorbet.
© River Cottage
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