Italian Prune Plum Pie Recipes

PURPLE PLUM PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large bowl, sprinkle plums with lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Add to plums; toss gently to coat. Pour into pie shell. , For topping, in a small bowl, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over filling. , Bake until filling is bubbly, 50-60 minutes. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 20 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Cool on a wire rack.

PLUM TARTS

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Combine flour, butter, sugar, salt, and zest in a food processor and pulse until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with remainder in small (roughly pea-size) lumps. Add yolks and process just until incorporated and mixture begins to clump.
• Turn mixture out onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. Smear each portion once with heel of your hand in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather together 2 portions of dough and form into a ball; make another ball with other 2 portions.
• Pat out each ball of dough with floured fingertips into a tart pan, in an even 1/4-inch layer on bottom and up sides (about 1/8 inch above rim). Chill 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Make filling while shells chill:
• Stir together sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Add plums and lemon juice and toss to coat. Let stand, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes, or until juicy.
• Assemble and bake tarts:
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Arrange plum halves, skin sides down, in tart shells, overlapping in a rosette pattern (see photo, opposite). Halve any remaining plums lengthwise and randomly tuck in between plum halves in tarts. Pour all juices from bowl over plums.
• Bake tarts in middle of oven 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375°F. Cover tarts loosely with foil and bake until plums are tender and juices are bubbling and slightly thickened, 40 to 50 minutes more. Brush warm juices in tart over plums. (Juices will continue to thicken as tarts cool.) Cool tarts completely in pans on a rack.

ITALIAN PLUM TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a sheet pan. Place the plums, tapioca, creme de cassis, and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Allow to sit for 15 minutes. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture until it forms small, dry crumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of cold water and continue to beat for about 30 seconds, until the mixture forms large, moist crumbs. Set aside 3/4 cup of the crumb mixture and pour the rest into the springform pan. With floured hands, lightly pat the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan and 1 inch up the sides. Arrange the plums in concentric circles on the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly on top. Bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the crust is golden. Cool for 15 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and serve warm or at room temperature.

ITALIAN PLUM COBBLER

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Cut the plums in half and remove stones. In a large bowl combine the pitted plums, brown sugar, flour and the blackcurrant liqueur if using. Set aside.
• In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Then add the cold, cubed butter and with a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour mixture until crumbly. Then add the oats and chopped walnuts and stir briefly. Add the milk and stir until just moistened.
• Add the plum and sugar mixture to the bottom of a deep 9 inch pie plate or a 2 Quart/2 Litre baking dish. Drop spoonfuls of the cobbler topping mixture on top of the sugared plums leaving space in between. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes until the top is golden.

RUSTIC GERMAN PLUM CUSTARD TART WITH STREUSEL & SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Steps:

• Set aside 1/2 cup of milk and bring the rest of the milk to the boil. If using real vanilla, scrape out the seeds and add the pod to the milk as well. While the milk is heatin, mix the cornstarch with 1/2 cup of the milk, adding the 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt as well as vanilla bean paste or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean. Stir this slurry into the hot milk, bring to the boil whisking, and let bubble for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the stove. Stir in the creme fraiche and orange zest and let cool.
• Preheat the oven to 350 F / 175 C and grease a 9 pinch tart pan or springform pan with removable bottom. Wash and core the plums and cut in halves or quarters
• With a handheld mixer or in your standmixer, quickly mix the butter with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, a pinch of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt to form a crumbly streusel dough. It should not come together but form streusels. That's totally fine!
• Dump 2/3 of the shortcrust dough in a 9 inch parchment-lined springform pan or a tart pan with removable bottom and press down to form a crust. Press dough up the sides as well. Spread the cooled custard on top, cover with the quartered or halved plums and sprinkle everything with the streusel topping.
• Bake the tart at 175 ° / 350 F for about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack! Let it cool down completely before slicing.

RUSTIC PLUM PIE

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Cut butter into bits and in a bowl with a pastry blender or in a food processor blend or pulse together with, flour, sugar, and salt until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and toss or pulse until incorporated. Add enough remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork or pulsing to incorporate, to form a dough. Gather dough into a ball. On a work surface smear dough with heel of hand in 3 or 4 forward motions to make dough easier to work with. Form dough into a ball and flatten into a disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Make filling:
• Halve and pit plums. Cut plums into 3/4-inch-thick wedges and in a bowl toss with sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice.
• On a lightly floured surface with floured rolling pin roll out dough into an 11-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Transfer dough to a 9-inch (1-quart) glass pie plate. (Do not trim overhang.) Spoon filling into shell and fold edge of dough over filling, leaving center uncovered. Bake pie in middle of oven 35 minutes. Brush crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake pie 10 minutes more, or until filling is bubbling and crust is golden. Cool pie on a rack.