Honey baked plums with toasted pistachio & sweet saffron labneh

Recipe and photograph – Dr Joan Ransley

Fruit based puddings are generally lower in fat and sugar than cake and cream based puddings which can help everyone manage their weight better. Body weight is important to gut health, as research has shown that people who are overweight tend to have a more permeable gut and an altered gut microbiome. Including fruit in each meal of the day can help to improve the range of healthy bacteria in the gut and mange body weight at the same time. Labneh is simply strained Greek yogurt which makes it thicker and more spreadable.

Make the labneh the day before.

Method
Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Gas mark 6.

Place the plums cut side up on a baking tray or bun tin and drizzle with honey. Place the tray of plums in the oven for 10 minutes and cook until they are soft and their juice bubbles from the skins.

Finely grind the saffron. Mix with a teaspoon of freshly boiled water and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods, discard the husks and finely grind the seeds.

Fold together the labneh, ground cardamom, icing sugar and cooled saffron water.

To serve; divide the plums among 4 serving bowls. Top with the saffron labneh and sprinkle with the ground pistachio nuts.

Cook’s tip
To make the labneh
Line a large bowl with a square of clean muslin (or cheese cloth). Place yogurt in the centre and wrap the muslin around the yogurt and tie up with string.
Suspend the muslin and yogurt over a deep mixing bowl and place somewhere cool. Leave the labneh to drain for at least 4 hours. This will make approximately 350g labneh.

Variations
If you do not have time to make the labneh use thick greek yogurt instead.
Other ripe fruits such as apricots and peaches can be baked and served with flavoured labneh or Greek yogurt.
Baked rhubarb is a low FODMAP alternative to bake plums and is equally delicious.