Cherry & Plum Pie
8 people
00h 40
00h 35The late summer months bring with them a variety of sweet and juicy red stone fruits, and this recipe brings out the best in two of my absolute favourites: cherries and plums. The fruits, tossed together with a heady mix of vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, brandy and lemon zest, make a delicious filling for my super simple shortcrust pastry. Try it out on a not-so-sunny summer’s day (if you’re based in the UK like me you’ll have plenty to choose from) and it’s sure to hit the spot.
Recipe by Tassy Goodall is a chef, blogger, and bespoke cake maker. A Leith’s Diploma graduate, you can follow her on Instagram or read her Blog.
Ingredients and Method
Ingredients
- For the pastry:
- 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 280g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 2-3 tbsp caster sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1-2 tbsp cold water
- 1 egg, whisked for glazing
- For the filling:
- 300g British plums,
- 300g fresh black cherries,
- 75g good quality cherry jam
- 2 tbsp brandy
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 vanilla pods
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 75g caster sugar
Method
- Start off by making the pastry. Place the flour, butter and caster sugar in a food processor and blitz until you have something that resembles bread crumbs.
- Add in the egg yolks and one tablespoon of the water and blitz again on the pulse setting. The mix should start clumping together. If it looks a little dry, add the remaining water (you might not need it).
- Pulse once more then remove the lumps of pastry and shape into 2 even discs (with as little handling as possible). Wrap in cling film and chill for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F/Gas Mark 5).
- Now it’s time to start prepping the filling. De-stone the cherries and plums. Slice the plums into large slices and leave the cherries as whole as possible.
- Your pastry should now be a little firmer, so take one disc and roll it out to about 3mm thick on a lightly floured surface. Grease an In The Forest 26cm Pie Dish with a little butter and line the rolled-out pastry into the bottom, using a little ball of spare pastry to ensure that all the corners and walls are well-filled.
- Make sure the pastry reaches the outer edges of the pie dish rim. Trim away any excess and cover loosely with kitchen film and chill again for 20 minutes.
- While the pastry is chilling again, finish off the filling. Simply throw your prepared fruit into a large mixing bowl (I like the Mason Cash Colour Mix Red Mixing Bowl- it seems very apt for all the red stone fruit!) and add the jam, brandy, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla seeds and pod, lemon zest, corn flour and caster sugar. Toss well to coat the fruit then set aside until needed.
- Retrieve the pie dish from the fridge and line with a piece of greaseproof paper (which should be large enough to hang over the edges). Fill with baking beans and bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry walls are set.
- Remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 5-10 minutes, until the base is cooked through and sandy to the touch (but not too coloured).
- Allow the case to cool a little then tip the filling into the blind baked pastry case. Now is your chance to get creative with the pie lid. You could just roll out your second pastry disc flat and seal it down to the bottom pastry layer with some of the whisked egg, but I created a lattice effect by weaving together 2cm wide strips and finished it off by plaiting some lengths and attaching it to the outer edges with some whisked egg. You could also stamp some shapes out of the layer to create a pattern, or score some lines across the top in your own design. Whatever you decide, finish with a generous brushing of whisked egg and bake for 30-35 minutes until crisp and golden.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or creme fraiche.
