“A great dessert for impressing your guests at a dinner party” 

Ingredients

10 South African plums, halved and pitted

100g caster sugar

100g butter

2 star anise

4 sheets of filo pastry

250g ricotta cheese

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp of date syrup (honey is a good alternative if you can’t find this)

50g pine nuts

20g poppy seeds

Icing sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 200º C, fan oven 180°C, Gas Mark 6.

Put the halved plums into a medium saucepan with 4tbsp water, the sugar, 25g of the butter and the star anise. Cook on a medium to low heat until the plums are poached, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool. Melt the remaining butter.

Place the spring-form cake tin on the baking tray and brush the tin and baking tray below it with melted butter. Drape the first sheet of filo pastry over and into the cake tin. Brush the surface with melted butter. Do this with the other three sheets, criss-crossing them so that the entire inside of the cake tin is covered, but you have enough hanging over the sides to eventually cover the filling. Brush each layer with melted butter as you go.

Mix the ricotta with the vanilla, date syrup (or honey) and pine nuts. Spread over the bottom of the cake tin. Remove the star anise from the plums, then spoon them into the cake tin, arranging them in an even layer. Cover the top of the pie by bringing up the hanging-down sides of filo and overlapping it on top of the pie. It doesn’t matter if it is crinkly and folded, as this is all part of the charm. Brush with melted butter.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, then carefully remove the spring-form tin and sprinkle the poppy seeds on top. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool briefly. With a spatula (or two) remove the pie from the baking tray and place on a decorative plate for serving. Sprinkle the top with a dusting of icing sugar, if you like.

Recipe created by Kerstin Rodgers, aka Ms Marmite Lover