Thursday, September 8, 2016

Plumberry Pie

I am not a lover of pies. In fact, I have been known to refer to pie as the liver of desserts. As a kid I'd always choose cake over pie; as an adult I went completely off cake and now cookies are my favorite dessert. I mean, what's not to like about the huge variety, not to mention portability? No way, for example, could you slip a piece of pie into your purse to nosh on later. No.

For whatever reason, I could not stop thinking about pie, and wondering how a plum pie would taste. My mother used to make a lot of plum pies, often as holiday gifts. Everyone loved them. The very thought, back then, made me recoil, because, to me, a plum was just a young prune. Ew. This season, though, I have been enjoying the sweet juicy goodness of plums, so on a whim, made a pie. I tossed in a pint of blueberries for color and, truth be told, because I thought their days were numbered, and topped it with streusel because my big objection to pies is the crust overkill. A bottom crust is enough, the top needs something fancy.

Here is thee result. It is amazingly good, even to a confirmed pie hater like me, and that's saying something!

Plumberry Pie

2 1-lb. pkgs. Melissa’s Organic Plum Bites, pitted and quartered
1 pint organic blueberries
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
½ teaspoon ground cardamom

¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 single pie crust, purchased or homemade

Topping

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

¼ cup butter, diced

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Make streusel: In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork or stand mixer just until the topping is crumbly; set aside. (You can also toss everything into a food processor and pulse until, as my grandmother used to say, "It looks right." This is what I did.)

Place your pie crust (purchased or home made) into a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate. Put a foil-lined large baking sheet in lower third of oven.

Toss plums and blueberries with sugar, tapioca, cornstarch, zests, spices, and salt in a large bowl; mound filling in shell. Crumble streusel evenly over filling.

Bake pie until streusel is golden and filling is bubbling, 1¼ to 1½ hours. Cool completely, 3 to 4 hours.

PRINT RECIPE

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Plum Crisp

Stone fruit season is upon us! What this means, of course, is that it is time for cobblers, crisps, and crumbles. I don't know about you, but to me, anything that has both fruit and oatmeal in it sounds like breakfast. If you're not quite that intrepid, then try this delicious, easy-to-assemble crisp for dinner tonight. It is best when served warm (you can reheat second servings in the microwave), I think, and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A bite or two also goes exceptionally well with morning coffee.

Plum Crisp

Adapted from a recipe on epicurious.com

For topping

1/3 cup chopped nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, or do as I did and use a handful of fancy nut mix)

1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) cold unsalted butter

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

For filling

1/3 cup water

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 1-pound container Melissa's Organic Plum Bites

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Make topping:

Place topping ingredients into a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Make filling:

In a small bowl stir water and cornstarch until combined. Halve and pit plums. In a 10-inch skillet cook plums and sugar over moderate heat, stirring, until sugar is melted. Stir in cornstarch mixture and simmer, stirring, 7-10 minutes, or until mixture has thickened. Transfer plum mixture to a 1-quart baking dish.

Sprinkle topping over plums. Bake mixture in the middle of the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until topping is crisp and golden. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Serve dessert warm with ice cream.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Friday Finds

Fabulous Friday

Show and Tell Friday

Friday Unfolded
Fridays Flash Blog
Simple and Sweet Fridays

Foodie Friday & Everything Else

What To Do Weekend
The Weekend re-Treat