Showing posts with label plums. Show all posts

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

Monday, July 28, 2014

Fresh Plum Crumble

If I were to ask you to name your favorite fresh summer fruit, my guess is that a plum would be far from the top of the list. Truly, the plum is unappreciated, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. Sweet, juicy, with a tasty and nutritious skin (not to mention the antioxidants), plums make a great snack. When turned into jam, chutney, coffeecake, or dessert, they are downright delicious. If you've never made a summer dessert out of plums before, now is the time.

This recipe is from Taste of Home magazine. I adapted it from the original that called for 7 medium plums. I have no idea what a medium plum is. There are regular plums and baby plums. Is one considered large and the other small, in which case, what is a medium? No matter, I selected two packages of organic plums from Melissa's Produce and that worked out just right.

Everyone who has tried this crumble absolutely loves it. I included a large piece when I made a dinner drop at my dad's and he deemed it outstanding. I agree. It is easy to assemble, requires no special equipment, and I give you permission to pop a couple of plum pieces into your mouth while baking. Serve this warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or without. You'll be wishing you'd bought double the amount of plums once you taste this delicious summer dessert.

It's plum season! Celebrate!

Fresh Plum Crumble

1 pkg. Melissa's Organic Plumcots, pitted and quartered

1 pkg. Melissa's Organic Plum Bites, pitted and quartered

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons plus 1 cup all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground mace

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine the plums, brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Spoon into a greased 2-qt. baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, baking powder, salt, mace and remaining flour. Add egg; stir with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over plum mixture. Drizzle with butter.

Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until plums are tender and top is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 8 servings.

This post is linked to:

Melt In Your Mouth
Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

Friday, June 6, 2014

Stone Fruit Crumble with Raspberries

Isn't it amazing how our tastes change from season to season? In the winter, I never think about fruit. Winter is all vegetables for me, and in all sorts of warming comfort food dishes. Once the weather warms though, I can't wait to sink my teeth into the fruits of summer.

I am a big “stone fruit” fan, and, yes I love every one of them from the myriad available. This morning I was eyeing two boxes of stone fruits from Melissa's, one package of plum bites, and the other of peach bites. At the same time that I was eyeing these, I was thawing a bag of frozen raspberries that my dad found in his freezer and gave to me. The wheels started turning, and thus I give you, the amazingly easy, super delicious, Stone Fruit Crumble with Raspberries! This, my friends, is how a recipe is born. Served hot or at room temperature, with ice cream or not, it is a wonderful taste of summer that everyone will enjoy.

Stone Fruit Crumble with Raspberries

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup macadamia nuts

Pinch of salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” cubes

1 bag frozen raspberries, thawed and drained

1 box (1 lb.) of Melissa’s Organic Peach Bites pitted and large diced

1 box (1 lb.) of Melissa’s Plum Bites pitted and large diced

1/4 -1/2 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Pulse flour, sugar, macadamias, and salt in a food processor until nuts are chopped and all is mixed. Add butter and pulse until mixture begins to clump.

Place fruit in a medium mixing bowl and toss gently with sugar. Taste the mixture to avoid over or under sweetening. The amount you need depends upon the tartness of your fruit.

Spread fruit in an 8” deep-dish pie plate and cover evenly with topping, mounding in the center.

Bake crumble in middle of oven until fruit is bubbly and topping is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cover with foil if topping begins to get too brown.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday

Create It Thursday

Inspiration Gallery Thursday
Home and Garden Thursday

Home Sweet Home

Be Inspired Friday

Show and Tell Friday

Foodie Friday

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Summer Fruit Crumbles

This recipe is an adaptation of Ina Garten’s Peach and Blueberry Crumbles. I had no blueberries on hand, absolutely LOVE how delicious plums are when baked into a tart, crisp, crumble, or coffeecake, so decided to substitute plums for blueberries. Am I ever glad that I did; these are sensational! I served them to guests, topped with a scoop of vanilla frozen custard, and they practically licked their bowls clean. These are so easy, and here’s a little hint for you, if you double the recipe for the crumble, you can store half of it in the freezer making short work when you decide to make these again, probably within days of making it the first time. Yes, they are that good!

Ready for the oven

Summer Fruit Crumbles

For the fruit:

1 pound peaches (I used one box of Melissa’s Organic Peach Bites)

1 pound plums (I used one box of Melissa’s Plumcots)

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For the crumble:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Pit plums (no need to peel) and slice into similar size wedges, and place in bowl with peaches. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes before spooning into ramekins or custard cups.

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of food processor. Pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it's in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles in the refrigerator and bake before dinner. These will keep 1-2 days in the fridge.

Don’t these look delicious?!

This post is linked to: Full Plate Thursday

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Plum Streusel Coffeecake

Prior to making yesterday’s Plum Butter, I measured out ¾ pound of plums and set them aside to make coffeecake. You know how you tear recipes out of magazines, then put them in a file and never look at them again? Well, I decided to look at that file last week, and found this recipe from a 1995 issue of Gourmet. My mother is the coffeecake maker in our family these days, but I wanted to give this one a try. Imagine then, my dismay, when one of the plums went missing! I have baskets of peaches, nectarines, a bunch of bananas, and sliced melon all available for consumption, but did my husband go for any of these things? No! He managed to find the plums (well, plumcots, if you must know) that I had hidden behind the cauliflower in the vegetable bin, and he ate one!

“Boy,” he said, “was that plum ever delicious.”

“Yeah,” I said through gritted teeth, “I’ll bet it was!”

For a man who can’t find the butter that is right in front of him, he was sure an ace at ferreting out my saved plums. So, after an unwanted, and curmudgeonly, I might add, trip to the grocery store to buy one lone plum, I was finally on my way to creating this delicious breakfast cake. It’s make ahead, can be frozen prior to baking and baked later, or frozen after baking, and it's beautiful, and delicious!

Plum Streusel Coffeecake

Gourmet, September 1995

For streusel
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

For cake batter
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 pound Melissa's plumcots (4 to 5 medium), sliced
confectioners' sugar for sifting over cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch round or square baking pan at least 2 inches deep.

Make streusel: In a food processor pulse together streusel ingredients until combined well and crumbly.

Make cake batter: In a bowl with an electric mixer beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy and add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla. Sift in flour with baking powder and salt and beat until just combined.

Spread cake batter in pan, smoothing top, and arrange plum slices over it in slightly overlapping concentric circles. Sprinkle streusel over plum slices and bake cake in middle of oven 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Coffeecake may be made 1 week ahead: Cool cake completely in pan on a rack and freeze, wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil. Reheat cake, unwrapped but not thawed, in a preheated 350°F. oven until heated through, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake slightly on a rack and sift confectioners' sugar over it. Serve coffeecake warm or at room temperature.

If you love coffeecakes, check out this book. It’s the Bible for coffee cake lovers:

This post is linked to:

On the Menu Monday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

What's Cooking Wednesday

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Plum Butter

My grandmother used to be the queen of jams, jellies, and preserves. There were very few days in midsummer when I would walk into her kitchen and not see a big pot of sugar and fruit bubbling away on the stove, or jewel-toned jars of preserves lined up on the wooden farm table waiting to be topped with liquid paraffin. What remained in the bottom of the pot after the jars were filled was poured into a heavy ceramic bowl and placed on the table next to a big pile of warm biscuits. I could not wait to dig in!

When she passed away and I inherited her cookbook, I immediately paged through looking for her recipes. Largely, all I found was one lowly recipe calling for equal parts of sugar and fruit, cooked until done. It was because of this lack of information, I think, that I set out to collect as many recipes for jams and jellies that I could, always envisioning my own kitchen smelling of hot fruit, and jars filled with the literal fruits of my labor. This past week I finally decided to try one of them, choosing a recipe that I know my grandmother had never made. She was an ace at apple butter, but plum butter? Never! Her plums were reserved for pies and coffeecakes.

This recipe is from a July 2001 issue of Gourmet magazine (yes, I have been saving them for a long time!). It’s easy to do, just be sure not to overcook it (as I did the first time) or you’ll end up with something tasty, but akin to a gummy candy.

Plum Butter

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
4 lbs. Melissa’s Plumcots, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
3 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Special equipment: 5 (1/2-pint) canning jars with lids and screw bands; a food mill fitted with fine disk

Sterilize jars and lids.

Freeze several small plates to use for testing butter.

Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot. Add pod and stir in remaining ingredients. Slowly bring to a rolling boil over moderate heat (this will take about 15 minutes), stirring frequently. Boil, uncovered, stirring frequently, until plums are tender, about 5 minutes.

Discard pod. Purée plums with liquid in batches in food mill set over a bowl. Transfer purée to pot and simmer over low heat, stirring and scraping bottom of pan frequently, until very thick, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (To test for doneness, drop a spoonful of plum butter on a chilled plate, then tilt; the mixture should not be runny. It should be about as thick as jam.)

Drain jars upside down on a clean kitchen towel 1 minute, then invert. Ladle plum butter into jars, leaving 1/4 inch of space at top, then run a thin knife between plum butter and jar to eliminate air bubbles.

Seal, process, and store filled jars, boiling plum butter in jars 10 minutes.

Let plum butter stand in jars at least 1 day for flavors to develop.

This post is linked to:

Seasonal Sunday

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

What's Cooking Wednesday