Plum Pie
Plum shortcrust pie is a delicious autumn pastry and a great idea for using plums from the sale 😉. You can make it with both frozen and fresh plums.
This shortcrust pastry is a bit different from the standard one because I add something unusual to it. The secret ingredient is lard! (but you can also easily make a pastry with just butter 😉).
Why is it worth adding lard to the pastry?
- Lard is 100% fat and butter is about 82% fat.
- Lard is much cheaper than butter.
In American recipes for shortcrust pastry, yu can often find an ingredient such as “shortening”. It is a hydrogenated vegetable oil that improves the structure of the pastry. It is 100% fat, which is solid at room temperature, so it is ideal for preparing shortcrust pastry. Since this product is hard to get in Poland and I try to avoid palm oil, I decided to replace it with lard and it was a bull’s eye!
Especially since adding lard to shortcrust pastry is nothing new. You will definitely find a similar recipe in old grandma recipes. Of course, if you want, you can use only butter, but it seems to me that dough with lard is easier to knead and roll out. It does not tear as much and is easier to transfer to the form. Don’t be afraid, you can’t taste the lard in the pie! Lard also melts more easily when in contact with the warmth of your hands because it is all fat. That is why it is better to knead the dough with a knife or in a food processor. When using a food processor, make sure that it has a large enough bowl. If the dough has too little space, it is very possible that it will come out rubbery because it will be kneaded for too long.
You can easily chop the dough with a regular knife, but if you often prepare shortcrust pastry, it is worth investing in a shortcrust pastry knife. It definitely speeds up the work. It is cheap and you can find it on the Internet or in a supermarket.
Tips:
- Flour: I add regular all-purpose flour (type 405-500) to the dough, and I use semolina flour to sprinkle the top.
- Fat: You can use butter and lard or just butter. 70 g of lard is 70 g of fat, the same as 85 g of butter.
If you want to use just butter and the dough should have the same fat content, use 205 g of butter (120 g + 85 g = 205 g). The lard and butter should be well chilled, you can cut them or grate them before adding them to the dough. - Sugar: I add very heaped tablespoons of powdered sugar, which gives about 70 g of sugar. To maintain the “golden proportions of 3:2:1” you can add about 100 g of sugar (about 4 heaped tablespoons). It all depends on how sweet you want the dough to be.
- Water: You have to add ice water to the dough!
- Eggs: Not needed, but if you want you can replace the water with 1 egg yolk.
- Plums: Use your favorite variety. Plums can be cut in half, but if you don’t like large pieces of fruit in the pie you can cut them into smaller pieces.
- Mold: Use a round cake form, glass, ceramic or metal.
- Kneading: Knead the shortcrust pastry as briefly as possible, only until the ingredients are combined, it doesn’t have to be perfectly mixed, if there are pieces of butter visible, it doesn’t matter.
- Cooling: You can put the pastry in the fridge for a few minutes immediately before baking. This will make it crispier.
- Baking: The oven must be preheated! Bake the pastry without fan at 180-200 °C.
Modifications:
- You can replace the lard with butter.
- Instead of sugar, you can sprinkle the dough with flaked almonds.
- Instead of placing the dough on top, you can sprinkle with classic crumble or oatmeal crumble.
- You can brush the dough with beaten egg or milk so that it shines nicely after baking.
- You can replace the plums with other seasonal or frozen fruits.
- If your plums are very sweet or you like sour pie, you can reduce the amount of sugar added to the plums.
What flour should I sprinkle the countertop with?
I use semolina flour to sprinkle the countertop because it does not stick to the dough as much as regular flour. You can also use rice flour. If you don’t have it at home, regular flour will also work, but if you often make pies and cookies, it is worth testing different flours, maybe you will also start using semolina or maybe it will not make any difference to you.
Can the dough be prepared the day before?
You can prepare the dough the day before and put it in the fridge overnight, but remember to take it out about 30 minutes before so that it is easy to roll out. If the dough is hard and difficult to roll out, or crumbles when rolling, cover it and wait another 15-30 minutes to warm up a bit.
How to prevent plums from releasing juice into the dough? What to coat plums in for dough?
Baked fruit releases juice, which can make the dough soggy. To avoid this, coat the fruit in starch before baking. In addition to starch, I also add powdered sugar and cinnamon to coat the plums. This mixture should be used to thoroughly cover the plums and set aside for a while so that the flour can thoroughly absorb the juice. Starch will make the juice thick and will not make the dough soggy and will not spill out when cut. The plum filling will have a slightly jelly-like consistency.
The proportions given below make a cake with a diameter of 26 cm, which gives about 12 pieces weighing about 160 g. Read the step-by-step recipe on how to bake a shortcrust pastry with plums and watch the video below the recipe. Also subscribe to the SaltedPasta channel on YouTube and sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss any recipes!
Plum Pie
Plum Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 320 g flour
- 3 heaping tbsp powdered sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 120 g butter (cold)
- 70 g lard (cold)
- 6-7 tbsp ice-cold water
Filling
- 1,2 kg plums
- 6 heaping tbsp powdered sugar
- 3 heaping tbsp starch
- ½ tsp cinnamon
Additionally
- 1 egg (for brushing)
- 2 tbsp sugar (to sprinkle)
Instructions
- Prepare ice water. 30 minutes before making the dough, put a glass of water in the fridge to chill it thoroughly or if you have ice cubes, just before making the dough, put ice cubes in a glass and pour some water in it.
- To prepare the shortcrust pastry, use a food processor, knife or your hands. Cut the butter and lard into smaller pieces. Put the flour, salt and icing sugar onto the counter/into the food processor. Mix. Add the butter and lard. Chop with a knife to mix the ingredients. Finally, add a little water.Knead the dough until the ingredients are combined. Add more water if necessary, but not too much (max. 8 tablespoons). Do not knead the dough for too long. Divide the dough into 2 parts. One smaller and the other larger. The larger part will be the bottom of the pie and the smaller part will be the top of the pie. Wrap both parts in cling film or place in an airtight container and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or overnight.320 g flour, 3 heaping tbsp powdered sugar, ½ tsp salt, 120 g butter, 70 g lard, 6-7 tbsp ice-cold water
- Remove the pits from the plums, if you want you can cut them into smaller pieces. Sprinkle the sliced ​​plums with starch, sugar and cinnamon. Mix so that the flour and sugar cover the plums well. Set aside so that the starch absorbs the plum juice well.1,2 kg plums, 6 heaping tbsp powdered sugar, 3 heaping tbsp starch, ½ tsp cinnamon
- Remove the chilled dough from the fridge (the larger part first). Transfer to a floured countertop. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour as well and roll it out. Transfer the rolled dough to the pan using a rolling pin. The dough cannot be rolled out too thinly because it will fall apart when transferred. You do not have to line the pan with paper or grease it with butter. Stick the dough to the sides of the pan.
- Place the plums on the dough. Then roll out the smaller part of the dough and cut into 2-3 cm wide strips. Arrange the strips on the dough in a lattice – see how to do it in the video below.
- Brush the top of the cake with beaten egg or milk and sprinkle with sugar. Place the cake in an oven preheated to 200 °C (392 °F) and bake for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, when thecrust is golden, remove the pie from the oven and let it cool completely before cutting it. Enjoy!1 egg, 2 tbsp sugar
Video
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
