Plum shortcrust pie is a delicious autumn pastry and a great idea for using plums from the sale \ud83d\ude09. 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 \ud83d\ude09).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is it worth adding lard to the pastry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Lard is 100% fat and butter is about 82% fat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Lard is much cheaper than butter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Flour:<\/strong> I add regular all-purpose flour (type 405-500) to the dough, and I use semolina flour to sprinkle the top.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Fat:<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Sugar:<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Water:<\/strong> You have to add ice water to the dough!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Eggs:<\/strong> Not needed, but if you want you can replace the water with 1 egg yolk.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Plums:<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Mold:<\/strong> Use a round cake form, glass, ceramic or metal.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Kneading:<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Cooling:<\/strong> You can put the pastry in the fridge for a few minutes immediately before baking. This will make it crispier.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Baking: <\/strong>The oven must be preheated! Bake the pastry without fan at 180-200 \u00b0C.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t
![\"Plum](\"https:\/\/saltedpasta.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/plum-pie-05-1024x576.jpg\")