mmmm… plum pie
Mmmmmmmm…. Plumb pie… (excuse me, but I just can’t help myself from spelling it that way and had to allow myself just once not to backspace to remove the “b”. 
) But enough frivolity, I promise I’ll get back on track now.
Plum pie, usually made with Santa Rosa plums if we can get them, is one of our favourites. But not long ago, we got a basket of the most fragrant yellow plums. I have no idea what kind of plums they were. But they were a beautiful sunflower yellow inside and out, from somewhere in Ontario and were very sweet, though a little on the mushy side. But we knew they would be absolutely perfect for pie!
Remarkably, the pie turned out to be on the tart side. Really tart! Even for me!! Usually, I like to have pie with plain yoghurt – to cut the sweetness. But this time, ice cream was a very welcome addition.
T chose “sweet cream” for his slice of pie (guess which one is his…) and I chose guava. And, as I had suspected, guava ice cream was the perfect foil for the pie. Oh my!!! We neeeeeeeeeeeeed more guavas!
Here’s what T did to make the pie:
Plum Pie
makes one piepastry
- 1 c unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ⅓ c lard
- ICE-COLD water (anywhere from 2 Tbsp to ½ c)
Plum filling
- plums, pitted and cut in quarters (enough to fill the pie plate)
- sugar, to taste (anywhere from ½ to ⅔ c)
- 2 Tbsp flour (or thereabouts)
- 1 tsp salt
preparation
- Pastry: Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Cut the lard into the flour and salt until it is pea sized. Add ICE-COLD water a little at a time and mix lightly until it is pastry consistency. Use a pastry cutter if your hands are warm or use your hands if you have cold hands like mine. Please note that the amount of water changes drastically, depending on the humidity. (For whatever pastry recipe you use, if it is very humid, reduce the amount of water called for.)
- Wrap it tightly in plastic. REFRIGERATE AT LEAST ONE HOUR.
- Filling: Wash plums. Cut into quarters (removing the pits) and dump into a pyrex bowl. Yes, leave the skins on!
- Add about ½ c sugar. Stir to coat the grapes. Taste and add more sugar if you want. Add the salt. Allow the plums to sit and sweat while you wait for the pastry to finish refrigerating.
- Assemble the pie: Handling the pastry as little as possible, place it on a lightly floured board. Cut it in half. Roll out one half into a large round that will fill a pie plate.
- Add flour to the plum mixture and stir well. Dump it into the prepared bottom crust.
- Once again, handling the pastry as little as possible, roll out the other half to create the top crust. Drape it over the plums, trimming to leave about an inch hanging over. Keep the trimmings!! Gently fold and pinch the two crusts together with water, or fruit juice or juice from the plums. Use the trimmings to gently patch pieces of crust onto the rim. (One can NEVER have too much pastry!)
- Use a fork or knife to put holes into the top layer. (Ensure that the bottom layer remains unpierced.) Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425F. Then turn the oven down to 350F and continue baking for 20 to 30 minutes more: until the filling is bubbling in centre.
Serve hot or cold, as is, or with ice cream. Serve it for breakfast with yoghurt (and a little honey drizzled overtop, if you want).
Now, just in case you think that I am always judicious about the size of pie slices, I feel compelled to confess that my breakfast pie slice the next morning was virtually a quarter of the pie.
I LOVE pie for breakfast!
We didn’t have ice cream for breakfast though. That would be wrong! We chose plain yoghurt instead. But because the pie was so tart, both of us had to add honey. Oh my. Plum pie is delicious with Vesuviana cafe latte! Just look at the froth on that milk! It doesn’t get much better than this.
Ah pie!! One can never have too much pie!
Alas. there’s no more plum pie left. We neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed more plums. Because maybe ice cream IS good for breakfast….
Last month, I noticed that my subscription to SAVEUR magazine runs out this month. Eeek!! I can’t be without my almost monthly fixes of SAVEUR! I love that magazine and still, after all these years, read every issue cover to cover. Not to mention that we’ve learned about several fabulous dishes that have become staples in our kitchen.
Remarkably, the last mail notice about the subscription running out was months ago. So I telephoned to renew the subscription. I love phoning SAVEUR magazine!! The operators are always from somewhere far south of here and have the most wonderful accents. I particularly love the way they say “Savooor”. It slays me.
Happily, I had kept the last promotional letter and was able to quote a number on it so I’d get the bonuses for renewing for 3 years rather than 1. Look what I got as prizes!
I must say that I thought the “Italian Classics Vol.2″ was going to be a book rather than a rather small booklet. But I’m not disappointed. I pretty much paid nothing for the 3rd year AND I got this great hat!
I LOVE my hat!
And speaking of SAVEUR and Italian Classics, I must remember to post about the really fabulous Pasta with Fried Peppers and Bread Crumbs featured in a wonderful article about Italy in issue #120. (Remind me!) In fact, remind me to badger T to make this again for us. It’s too good. Hmmm, I wonder if plum pie would be the right dessert….
Mmm, pie. Perhaps the plums are ready at the neighbour’s house. I’ll go check. I love pie. I love plums.
Your hat is excellent but not as excellent as the hat I traded a Tshirt for with the Russian police officer at the World Police and Fire Games.
edit 13 August 2009: Tree ripened plums… mmmmmm…. (Oooh, you have a Russian police officer’s hat? Want to trade hats, MrsBrown?) -Elizabeth
I thought I’d picked enough plums from the neighbour’s garden to make pie AND jam but alas, not. Only pie…but WHAT a pie! Some of the plums were a little mushy because they were the only ones I could reach. They were already very sweet but I added sugar anyway. I’m glad I did because even with the 1/2 cup of sugar, the pie is a little tart. Hmm, pie for dessert? or pie for picnic lunch? What to do, what to do?
(Nope, no trades, I like my Russian police officer’s hat. I like the memory of the very tall, at least 6′8″, police officer who smiled delightedly when I agreed to trade a hat with a t-shirt. I think we both thought we got the better end of the deal.)
edit 16 August 2009: That IS a dilemma. Is there enough pie to do both – for dessert AND a picnic lunch?
Are you sure about the hat, MrsBrown? I feel certain that you would think you got the better end of the deal when you have the Saveur hat (I love my Saveur hat!!) -Elizabeth
There is just enough pie to have had some for the picnic and I’ll have pie for breakfast along with some yogurt.
Nope, no trades. I think the large Russian police officer would find out and he would arrest me.