For the spiced red-wine glaze, place all the glaze ingredients in a large saucepan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Turn up the heat slightly and leave to boil moderately until the liquid has reduced by just over half, about 15 minutes. Drain through a sieve into a bowl, discard the spices and leave the syrup to cool.

For the tarte tatin, heat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/mark 6. Pour the melted butter into the tart dish and sprinkle over half the sugar. Arrange the plums, cut side up, in the dish making sure they are tightly packed but still in one layer. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove and leave to cool for 15 minutes. This will prevent the pastry from melting on contact with the hot plums.

Cut out a circle of pastry about 2-3cm wider than the base of the dish. You may need to roll out 2 edges of the pastry to form a squarer shape as the sheets tend to come in rectangles. Drape the pastry circle over the plums, tucking in the edges. Make a large slit in the centre to allow steam to escape. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Place a large serving plate over the dish and flip over. Lift off the dish and mop up any excess juice. Serve in slices with a tablespoon or two of the spiced red-wine syrup drizzled over.