Tinned black doris plums are a thing of wonder! Not only are they the most wonderful colour, but they also have the most delicious sweet, yet slightly tart flavour. Summer in a can! They are the star of this recipe which can be thrown together in no time at all and yet result in a pretty fancy breakfast! Who would have thought you could make something so flash with just 4 ingredients?!

Tip the syrup off the tinned plums into a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or so or until the syrup begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and pour into a little jug to cool.

Slice or roughly chop the plums, removing the stones as you go. Warm the pancakes as per packet instructions and arrange between 4 or 6 plates (depending on whether or not you want 2 or 3 pancakes per plate). Top with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, scatter over the plums then pour over the plum syrup. Lastly sprinkle with the dark chocolate.

If left too long your plum syrup will turn to jelly. If this does happen, don’t panic! Simply heat until it thins down, adding a little boiling water if required.