Plum and Cinnamon Oat Slices

This is really an all-fruit recipe – it's exceptionally good with plums, but I love it with fresh or dried no-soak apricots, or apples, raspberries and blueberries; in fact you can add whatever is in season. It's wonderful served warm as a dessert with cream – you'd make it in a round 9 inch (23 cm) springform tin, in which case it can be cut into 8-10 wedges and served warm from the oven. It can also be served cold with ice cream, instead of cake with tea. It's also a great recipe for children to make, as it's so easy.

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This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book Two.

Method

Start by cutting all the plums in half, around and through their natural line, give a little twist to separate the halves and remove the stones, then cut them into thin slices. Now place them in a bowl and toss them around with the cinnamon. Next mix the flour and porridge oats together with the salt in a mixing bowl, then melt the butter and sugar in a small saucepan over a fairly gentle heat, stirring from time to time until the butter has melted. Now mix the melted butter and sugar with the oat mixture, starting with a wooden spoon but finishing off with your hands so you end up with a lump of dough. Now halve the dough and press one half of the mixture into the baking tin, pressing it firmly all over the base with your hands like a wall-to-wall carpet. Next scatter the plums evenly over the surface, then top with the remaining oat mixture, again pressing down firmly.

Now place the tin on the centre shelf of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or a bit longer if you like the top really crispy. Then remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before marking into 15 squares – to do this make 2 cuts lengthways, then 4 cuts widthways, and don't worry if they're not all even. Unless you want to serve these warm, leave to cool completely in the tin.