The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam Soufflé

From Champion Preserve to The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam Soufflé

How The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ inspired an original chef dessert for A Taste of the West Country.

A Taste of the West Country, celebrating Taste of the West award-winning chefs and producers.

Some of the loveliest pieces of The Artisan Kitchen’s history are tucked away not just in award certificates and old photographs, but in books.

This particular feature followed an important moment for The Artisan Kitchen, when The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ was named Champion Preserve at the Taste of the West Awards.

Following that recognition, The Artisan Kitchen was featured in A Taste of the West Country, a collection bringing together Taste of the West award-winning chefs and producers from across the region and celebrating exceptional West Country ingredients through original recipes.

For the book, The Artisan Kitchen was paired with Robert Cox, then Head Chef at Tudor Farmhouse Hotel in Clearwell, Gloucestershire.

Robert created an original dessert around The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™: The Artisan Kitchen’s Blaisdon Red Plum Jam soufflé with plum ripple ice cream.

A Taste of the West Country

Copies of A Taste of the West Country are available directly from The Artisan Kitchen shop.Shop A Taste of the West Country

The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam Soufflé with Plum Ripple Ice Cream

An original recipe by Robert Cox, then Head Chef at Tudor Farmhouse Hotel, Clearwell, created using The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™.

The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam soufflé with plum ripple ice cream. Original cookbook photography © David Griffen Photography.

The Recipe

Recipe by Robert Cox, Tudor Farmhouse Hotel, originally published in A Taste of the West Country.

For the Crème Pâtissière

250ml milk
½ vanilla pod, seeds scraped
40g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
15g plain flour
8g cornflour

For the Plum Ripple Ice Cream

600ml milk
400ml double cream
4 vanilla pods, seeds scraped
10 egg yolks
40g glucose syrup
200g The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™

For the Soufflés

75g The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™
75g crème pâtissière
200g egg white
50g caster sugar

4 soufflé ramekins, buttered and sugared
Ice-cream machine

Method

Crème Pâtissière

Place the milk and vanilla in a saucepan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow the vanilla to infuse for around 30 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar, then mix in the plain flour and cornflour until smooth.

Strain the infused milk and gradually whisk part of it into the egg mixture. Return everything to the saucepan with the remaining milk.

Cook over a medium heat, whisking continuously, until thickened. Pass through a fine sieve and cover the surface while cooling to prevent a skin forming.

Plum Ripple Ice Cream

Bring the milk, cream and vanilla to the boil.

Whisk together the egg yolks, glucose syrup and sugar, then gradually pour over the hot milk and cream while whisking.

Strain the mixture back into the saucepan and heat gently to approximately 84°C, stirring until lightly thickened. Cool completely.

Churn in an ice-cream machine, then gently ripple The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ through the finished ice cream and freeze until required.

Soufflés

Heat the oven to 190°C / Gas Mark 4.

Mix The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ with 75g of the prepared crème pâtissière until evenly combined.

Whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Add the caster sugar and continue whisking until the meringue is smooth and holds its shape.

Fold the egg white gently into the plum mixture in several additions, taking care to retain as much air as possible.

Spoon into the prepared ramekins, level the tops and run a thumb around the inside rim to help the soufflés rise cleanly.

Bake for around 8 minutes, until well risen, and serve immediately with the plum ripple ice cream.

From Champion Preserve to a Chef’s Dessert

The cookbook feature was a wonderful continuation of the recognition already received by The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ from Taste of the West.

After The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ was named Champion Preserve, it became the inspiration for Robert Cox’s original dessert, taking a Gloucestershire fruit preserve from the jar and into a restaurant-style soufflé and plum ripple ice cream.

It was also a lovely demonstration of the versatility of the fruit. Its balance of rich plum flavour and natural acidity allows The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ to work beautifully not only as a preserve in its own right, but as an ingredient in pâtisserie, ice cream and plated desserts.

A Gloucestershire Collaboration

The collaboration had a particularly local feel. Tudor Farmhouse sits in Clearwell in the Forest of Dean, while The Artisan Kitchen was working with Gloucestershire heritage plums sourced from orchards close to the banks of the River Severn.

At the time, I described the heritage plums used in my preserves as some of the finest local fruit available, handpicked from Gloucestershire orchards and brought into the kitchen to be turned into preserves within hours of picking.

The book captured something that has remained central to The Artisan Kitchen ever since: seeking out exceptional fruit and preserving it in a way that allows the character of the ingredient itself to remain at the heart of the finished jar.

A Published Record of The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™

The feature followed the recognition of The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ as Taste of the West Champion Preserve and shows the preserve being celebrated not simply as an award-winning jar, but as a distinctive Gloucestershire ingredient worthy of inspiring an original chef recipe.

An early jar of The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam, photographed for A Taste of the West Country. Original photography © David Griffen Photography.

Today, The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ remains one of The Artisan Kitchen’s signature preserves and continues to be made from this remarkable Gloucestershire fruit.

Over the years, The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ has gone on to receive further national recognition, while archive pieces such as this cookbook capture an earlier moment in the preserve’s story as it was happening.
Explore the history, provenance and awards of The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™?

The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ is a preserve made by The Artisan Kitchen using the rare Gloucestershire Blaisdon Red plum. You can read more about its history, provenance and awards on
The Artisan Kitchen’s dedicated Blaisdon Red Plum page
.

Why was the Blaisdon Red Plum Jam soufflé created?

The chef recipe followed the recognition of The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ as Taste of the West Champion Preserve and formed part of the subsequent A Taste of the West Country feature.

Who created the soufflé recipe?

The recipe was created by Robert Cox, then Head Chef at Tudor Farmhouse Hotel in Clearwell, Gloucestershire.

Where can I buy A Taste of the West Country?

A Taste of the West Country is available directly from
The Artisan Kitchen shop

Recipe Inspiration

Try our

The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ Macaron Recipe
,a delicate almond macaron filled with our signature Gloucestershire plum jam.

 

The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ — History, Provenance & Awards

From The Artisan Kitchen Archive

Award: Taste of the West Champion Preserve — The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam Publication: A Taste of the West Country Featured preserve: The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ Recipe: Robert Cox, Head Chef, Tudor Farmhouse Hotel, Clearwell Producer: Sarah Churchill, The Artisan Kitchen, Gloucester Photography: © David Griffen Photography Publisher: We Make Magazines Ltd Publication copyright: © We Make Magazines Ltd / © Taste of the West Ltd

Written and curated by Sarah Churchill, chef-owner and producer at The Artisan Kitchen, Gloucester.

This article forms part of The Artisan Kitchen archive documenting the history, recognition and culinary use of The Artisan Kitchen Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™.

Blaisdon Red Plum Jam™ is a trade mark of The Artisan Kitchen.