Plum Crumble Pie

I recently picked up this interest in dessert pies. I had made a savory pie this week for a one-dish-dinner and had some pie crust dough left over in the fridge. When I went to the grocery store earlier today, they had these beautiful, luscious plums neatly stacked up on the "imported fruits" shelf. Plums are not so commonly grown in India, at least not in the warmer regions. So, I was overjoyed to see these beauties and picked them up immediately. A recipe was already forming in my head on the way back home.

This humble crumble pie combines quite a few elements combining a variety of textures- a pie crust that provides base to the entire pie, a few spoonfuls prune (aloo bukhara) jam, a layer of fresh plum wedges and rising to the top - a glorious crumble. All this, as impressive as it seems, only goes to the next level when served with a dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream.

The ingredients below made a medium sized pie in a 6 inch pan - I found this enough for a family of four.

Ingredients -

For the crust -

1 cup wheat flour

1/4th teaspoon salt

1/3rd cup butter - cold, chopped into pieces

ice cold water - to knead

For the filling -

3 large plums - stones removed and cut into thin wedges

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

1 cm piece of fresh ginger - finely grated

1/2 teaspoon himalayan pink salt

For the jam -

1/2 cup ready made mix fruit jam

or for homemade version

1 kg prunes

300-400 gm sugar

Water

1 teaspoon salt

For the crumble -

3/4th to 1 cup plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg - whisked lightly

1/2 cup butter - chopped into pieces

1/2 cup sugar

Method -

Crust -

1. Mix all ingredients together and knead a dough using ice cold water

2. Wrap in a cling film and store in the fridge until use

Filling -

1. Drizzle lemon juice, zest, giner, sugar and salt on the plum wedges. Toss the bowl gently and keep aside until assembly.

Jam -

1. You could use ready made jam. The home made version will need to be made ahead as it will take time to prepare.

2. Deseed and finely chop prunes and cook them in little water till they are mushy. Add almost same amount of sugar and 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt. Cook till it thickens, Store in an airtight container

Crumble -

1. Mix all ingredients, except egg, starting with 1/2 of the flour.

2. Rub together so that large crumbs start to form.

3. Mix the whisked egg and bring the crumble together using spatula.

4. If the crumble looks very runny or wet, add more flour

5. The final texture should be crumbly and towards dry side

Final assembly -

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees

2. Line a flan or pie dish with baking paper

3. Roll out the crust dough about 3 inches more than the dish diameter

4. Press the rolled out dough into the dish. Trim excess

5. Scoop 2-3 tablespoons of the jam as the bottom most layer

6. Fan out the plum wedges on the jam layer. Discard any juice left over

7. Top with crumble layer. If the crumble is slightly wet, do not smoothen it out, add small chunks using your hands to get the crumbly texture

8. Add a final border or just crimp the edges of the pie crust using a fork.

9. Milk or egg wash the crimp/edges

10. Bake for 50-60 mins - during this time keep rotating the pie to get even colour. If the pie appears to be browning quickly, cover with a tin foil - I covered mine post 30 mins.