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Peach Plum Crumb Pie Photos Susie Iventosch
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It's definitely fruit pie season, and with peaches and plums beautifully ripe at the produce markets, this is a good one to make right now. I make a lot of pies, but there are two new things I did with this pie that I'd never done before. First of all, I combined fresh peaches and plums, along with brown sugar and spice, and then topped the fruit mixture with both a crumb topping and a lattice crust. This serendipitous combination was indescribably delicious. It was also a very pretty pie with both the peach color and dark purplish red of the plums. Don't feel that you need to do both, one crust or the other would be plenty, but if you have time, it's such a treat to have both!
This is my go-to recipe for summer fruit pies, and you can generally swap out the fruit as the summer moves along and different fruits get ripe. Just recently, I made this pie with a combination of berries and stone fruits, (blackberries, blueberries, huckleberries, peaches and nectarines), for a friend's birthday dessert. It was so good and a lot of fun. I wasn't quite sure what to expect with so many different fruits, but I'll definitely make that one again. Earlier in the season, we made strawberry-rhubarb pie using the same recipe and that was fabulous. The tart flavor of the rhubarb combined with the sweet strawberries was particularly good.
Lately, I've been using cornstarch in place of the flour to thicken the fruit filling, and I really like it because it makes it super simple to change this pie into a gluten-free fruit crisp. The only thing then to do differently, is to substitute Paleo Baking Flour (or your favorite gluten-free flour) for the all-purpose flour in the crumb topping. I find that it takes about one and a half times as much of the Paleo flour as all-purpose flour, so count on about one and one-half cups of the Paleo flour for the crumb topping. I haven't yet met the challenge of a gluten-free pie crust. That's still on the to-do list.
Another crazy thing happened when I made the strawberry-rhubarb crumb pie. Accidentally, I started dumping the crumb topping in with the fruit instead of adding the bowl of brown sugar and cornstarch. (I was a little distracted with a lot of house guests that week). While I managed to scoop most of it out, about one-quarter cup was left in the filling and it turned out that we all loved it that way. So, for the next few pies I added a little bit of the crumb topping in with the fruit and this little accident has become quite popular in our household. Happy ending!
When you make this pie, be sure to make the crust first, then the crumb topping and finally prepare the fruit filling mixture. This way the fruit will not have to sit out and wilt while you make the crust and topping.
INGREDIENTS
Flaky Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks butter 6 oz., (chilled and cut into small pieces)
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/3 cup +/- ice-cold water
Crumb Topping
1 cup flour
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cube butter (4 oz. or 1 stick)
Pie Filling
4 1/2 cup peaches peeled and sliced
3 1/2 cups black plums sliced (no need to peel these, the skins give you the beautiful color)
2/3 cup light brown sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup of the crumb topping (recipe below)
DIRECTIONS
Flaky Crust
Mix flour and salt in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter, or clean, cold fingers, crumble the butter into the flour until well integrated and the butter is the size of small peas. Sprinkle cider vinegar over the mixture and stir in well with a fork. Add ice-cold water, a little at a time, and blend with a fork until the dough is moist enough to roll into a ball, but not too wet. Roll into one large ball for the bottom pie crust and a smaller ball for the lattice crust.
Crumb Topping
Place all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Cut butter into the dries using a pastry cutter or your fingertips, until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to assemble the pie.
Fruit Pie Filling
In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, cornstarch, salt and spices until blended. Then gently toss peaches and plums with brown sugar mixture, being sure to coat the fruit well. Stir in 1/4 cup of the crumb topping.
To Assemble Pie
Roll the large dough ball out on a flour cloth or board into a large circle about 14 inches in diameter. Lay it in the bottom of a 9-inch pie dish. Roll out the second ball of dough into a circle about 10 inches in diameter and cut into strips about 3/4 of an inch wide. Leave on the floured board for now and cover with a towel or plastic wrap so it won't dry out.
Turn the prepared fruit mixture into the pie dish, right on top of the bottom crust, and spread out evenly into the dish. Sprinkle crumb topping mixture over the top of the fruit. Now, weave the lattice crust pieces over the crumb topping and roll the excess dough from the bottom crust over the top of the lattice edges, and roll into a nice even edge. Crimp or flute the edges of the bottom crust so that the lattice crust edges are tucked inside.
Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt!
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA