Plum Pie

Fall is my favorite time of year. I wait all year for September and October just to enjoy the harvest of soooo many delicious fruits and veggies AND the beautiful colors in the local mountains. 

Plums are one of those fruits. There are so many delicious things to be made with plums. 

Check out our Plum Ice Cream (HERE), our Upside Down Plum and Almond Cake (HERE), our Plum Cobbler or Plum Crisp (HERE), our Plum Coconut Crisp (HERE), our Chinese Plum Sauce (HERE), our Plum Streusel Kuchen (HERE), or our Blueberry Plum Grunt (HERE).

The color and flavor is just so unique. 

Plum season is almost over now though so we go back to planning more recipes for next year's harvest!

Plum Pie

Ingredients

Crust

1 recipe for a double pie crust

(Our Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe can be found HERE)

Filling

2 lbs fresh plums

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tsp vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. 

Wash plums and cut in half (remove pits). Proceed to cut about half the plums into quarters and the other half into 6ths.  Place plums in a large bowl and add in the brown sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Stir well and set aside.

Roll out your bottom crust and set in 9 inch pie tin, making sure to leave a bit of crust overhanging. 

Fill the crust with the plum mixture. (There are 2 pies in the photo as I doubled the recipe!)

Roll out your top crust and place on top, pinching edges to seal. You can also do a lattice crust if you prefer, or something even more fun...

If desired you can brush the top crust with a beaten egg and sprinkle with a little sugar. The egg wash helps the crust to brown but is not a necessity. If you do a solid top crust then be sure to poke a few holes in it so the pie can vent. 

Bake at 375 for about an hour to 75 minutes. Top will be browned and filling will be thick and bubbly. 

Cool pie on wire rack before serving. It needs to cool in order to set. 

Of course, a little vanilla ice cream makes things even better. 

I love the color of plum pie. And don't even get me started on texture and flavor!

There is nothing else like it!

So tart! You can add more sugar to the filling if you like BUT the tartness of the plums is what makes this pie so different and yummy. I wouldn't go more than one cup of sugar or you risk being way too sweet. I find half a cup is just right for us. 

I've never made plum tarts before so I think that might be my next adventure. A hand-held version of plum pie - what's not to love? 

Plum Coconut Crisp

Sue shared a recipe for plum crisp and plum cobbler (link HERE) but I really feel like my Plum Coconut Crisp deserves its own post. 

Adding some crunchy coconut to all those sweet and squishy plums is a fantastic idea. 

I've been waiting all summer for fall to come just so I could make this crisp. True story. 

It uses a good amount of plums too so is great when your friends bring over boxes and boxes of plums and you need to use them up before the fruit flies completely overrun your kitchen. 

From start to finish in about an hour. 

Make one tonight... or make two - they freeze well too! Simply cook, cool, cover and freeze. When ready to eat - pop, frozen, into a 350 oven until heated through - about 40 minutes or so. 

Plum Coconut Crisp

Ingredients

Plum Layer

4 cups diced plums

1 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Crumble Topping

1/2 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch salt

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 10 inch pan with cooking spray, set aside. 

In a bowl, mix together plums, flour, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Spread in prepared pan. 

In the same bowl you just mixed the fruit in, mix the coconut, flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and butter. Stir with a fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over plums in pan.

Place on a cookie sheet or pizza pan to catch drips. 

Cook in 350 oven until bubbly and browned on top, about 40 or so minutes. 

*Boom* Done. Just like that.

Serve warm or room temp. 

Of course, adding some vanilla ice cream is always a brilliant idea. 

Soooooooo tasty. 

I'm just going to crawl right into the bowl. 

Blueberry Plum Grunt

Stove top cooking in the summer is where it's at.

I mean... when it's a bajillion degree outside who wants to turn on the oven? (Okay, you lucky people with central air conditioning put your hands down.)

The thing about not using your oven is that you often have to miss out on yummy desserts and NOBODY wants that. 

Well.... now you don't have to miss out. 

This blueberry plum grunt is easy, delicious, only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish, and will hardly add any heat to your kitchen at all. 

*Win*

Blueberry Plum Grunt

Ingredients

Fruit Mixture

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp flour

3 cups blueberries

1 heaping cup plums, chopped

2 tsp lemon juice

Dumplings

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

generous pinch salt

2 tsp sugar

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions

Fruit mixture - In a dutch oven or large pot, combine sugar flour, blueberries, plums, and lemon juice. Stir well. Bring to a simmer, stirring every so often, to dissolve the sugar. 

While the fruit is simmering, prepare the dumplings.

Dumplings - In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Heat buttermilk in microwave (or on the stove top) until just warm - about 40 seconds in the microwave.

Stir in the buttermilk and melted butter until sticky dough forms.

Drop the dough by the spoonful - I got 7 - into the simmering fruit mixture.

Place a lid onto the pot and simmer - WITHOUT DISTURBING - for 15 - 20 minutes. (The burner temp should be as low as possible to maintain a simmer.) 

Dumplings will puff up and appear dry on the inside. (To check if they are done - take a fork and flake off a piece of one of the dumplings. If it appears dry inside then they are done.)

Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes.

Scoop out a dumpling and some of the fruit mixture onto a serving plate with a lip (or bowl - it can be a little messy) Serve hot/warm! (Be careful - the fruit mixture is VERY hot!) 

Want to bring it up another notch?

Add some whipping cream, cold heavy cream, or ice cream...

It gets all melty...

It's soooo pretty...

And deliciously messy....

If you have any leftovers (I've heard this happens to some people...) you can refrigerate it, covered, for a day or two, and simple reheat in the microwave for a minute before serving. 

Almost as good as fresh out of the pan. 

Not sure if you want to make a whole pan? Try our Single Serving Strawberry Grunt  and see what you think.

We're sharing at these fab linky parties - Peaches & Salt, Joy Love Food, Lou Lou Girls, Memories By The Mile

Upside Down Plum And Almond Cake

Yay! We got to eat our plums before the bears did this year. 

One of the joys of living in the mountains is letting your fruit stay on the trees long enough to get ripe enough to eat but getting to them before the bears do. Some years we win, some years we lose.

This year we won. 

At least with the plums....

Anyway, I decided to make a cake to celebrate the plum harvest. I wanted something that showed off the lovely purple color of the fruit so decided against chopping it up and stirring it into the batter. This cake looks beautiful and is super easy to whip up. From start to finish in about an hour. 

Upside Down Plum And Almond Cake

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

1/2 cup almonds, chopped

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

11 - 12 plums, quartered

Cake Layer

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup Greek yogurt, plain

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 10 inch tart pan with parchment paper and sprinkle in the chopped almonds.

In a pan over medium heat, stir together the 2 Tbsp butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and the plums. Cook and stir *gently* for 3 - 4 minutes. Just until plums start to soften and brown sugar/butter is bubbling. 

Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.

Using a fork, arrange the plums in circles on top of the almonds in the tart pan. Pour the brown sugar/butter mixture from the pan over the plums.

Prepare cake - In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

In a larger mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Beat in the sugar until well combined.

Beat in the egg and vanilla.

Alternately beat in the dry ingredients with the Greek yogurt until well combined. Batter will be thick.

Carefully spoon the batter over the plums in the tart pan and then gently smooth spoonfuls together (see pic below).

Bake at 350 until top is golden brown and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 30 - 40 minutes.

Let cool 5 - 10 minutes then invert cake onto a wire cooling rack. Carefully remove the tart pan and parchment paper from the cake.

Let cool. 

Serve as is........

Or, even better, with vanilla ice cream or whipping cream....

A few notes -- You can make this in an 8 or 9 inch pan but then I would definitely half the plum and almond, bottom layer. 

If you do use a smaller pan then you would also have to increase the cooking time. I would say it would between 40 - 50 minutes to bake instead of  30 - 40. Just keep an eye on it. 

I like the bigger pan because there is a better topping-to-cake ratio. 

 

Looking for some fun nd tasty links? Check out these fab linky parties - The Chicken Chick, Ms. enPlace, Feeding Big

 

Plum Cobbler and Plum Crisp

Wow. It's been a while since I've been able to share a recipe.

Jo's a big bully and has been hogging the blog. 

Anyway.....I'm here now and have 2 recipes to share with you. (Sue here, in case you didn't figure that out!) 

Plums...plums...and more plums. 

So far on the blog we have shared our Plum Ice Cream, Chinese Plum Sauce, and Plum Streusel Kuchen.

Today I am adding Plum Cobbler and Plum Crisp to that list. 

I am not normally a fan of hot fruit but these 2 dishes are delicious....if I do say so myself. 

They are also fairly easy to throw together and, when served with ice cream or whipped cream (or even Greek yogurt), they make a perfect dessert to serve company. 

Let's start with some cobbler.

Plum Cobbler

Ingredients

Bottom Layer

4 cups fresh plums, pitted & chopped

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Top Layer

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1/4 cup butter, chilled

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9X9 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Mix together the plums, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon. Scoop evenly into prepared pan.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter using 2 knives or pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

Whisk together milk and egg. 

Stir the egg/milk mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Don't over mix.

Drop by spoonfuls over the fruit.

Bake at 350 for approx 35 minutes, until top is golden.

And....now for the crisp.

Plum Crisp

Ingredients

7 cups plums, pitted and chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp flour 

Crisp

1/2 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup oats

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch salt

1/2 cup butter, chilled

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9 X 13 pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

Place chopped plums evenly in prepared pan. Sprinkle with the 1/4 cup brown sugar and 2 Tbsp flour.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1 cup brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, and salt. Using your hands, mix in the butter until mixture is crumbly.  

Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the plums in the pan. 

Bake at 375 for approximately 40 minutes. Until top is golden brown and bubbling. 

I put a dollop of Greek yogurt on it and my taste testers couldn't get enough! 

Vanilla ice cream is still my favorite though !

There you have it. 

2 easy recipes that will impress your guests. Heck, even if you aren't having guests you should make this. 

You deserve it.

By the way, my daughter and husband both loved both dishes so it is mom, dad, and daughter approved. :)

 

For tone of great food and craft links, check out: Or So She Says and The Chicken Chick. and Memories By The Mile and Hun...What's For Dinner?.

Plum Streusel Kuchen

 

I have once again dug into the mystery shoebox of recipes under the counter and came out with this little gem. I was a little wary of trying it as there was no photo to go along with the recipe.

I know I have said it before but SERIOUSLY how did they sell cookbooks before they had photos with the dishes? It's just not the same.

I need to see how the recipe is going to look finished. *Aaaaarg*

Anyways, I decided to give this one a go because we have buckets of plums to use up and I wanted something different.

This is a really interesting recipe. I liked it but it was not what I was expecting. (Maybe if there had been photos my expectations would have been different...just sayin'...)

It was a cross between a cake and a biscuit. I would call it a very heavy but thin cake. I will definitely make it again...I'd like to try it with pears and apples too.

 

 

Plum Streusel Kuchen

 

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp butter

1 egg

1 cup buttermilk

6 fresh plums

 

Streusel

2/3 cup flour

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp butter, chilled

2 Tbsp heavy cream

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9X13 pan with parchment paper, spray lightly with cooking spray, set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg and buttermilk, add to crumb mixture and stir with a fork until mixture forms a sticky dough. Press dough into prepared pan.

 

 

Cut plums in half and then in quarters (each plum yields 8 slices). Arrange plums on dough in pan.

 

 

To mix topping: combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Add cream and mix with a fork until moist crumbs are formed. Sprinkle evenly over plums.

 

 

Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes, until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

 

 

Remove from heat and let cool on wire rack. You can cut in pan OR use parchment paper "handles" to lift cake out to cut and serve.

This is really good warm or room temp. Chilled is okay too but the cake seemed a little dry when served completely cold.

 

 

It is amazing served with soft ice cream or whipped cream too.

Then again...pretty much anything is better with ice cream or whipped cream.

My favorite part is the streusel. I thought there might be too much streusel and wasn't going to use it all....but then I did....and it was perfect. I now believe there is no such thing as too much streusel.

 

Pop over to Carole's Chatter for some fantastic links!