Description
A delightful Plum Lattice Pie featuring a buttery, flaky pastry filled with spiced plum filling topped with a classic lattice crust. This recipe combines the sweetness of ripe plums with warm spices, toasted almonds, and a crisp sugar topping, perfect for a cozy dessert that captures the essence of fresh fruit pies.
Ingredients
Scale
Pastry
- 275g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar
- 130g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 3 medium free-range egg yolks
- Milk (for brushing)
- Caster sugar (for sprinkling)
Filling
- 50g flaked almonds
- 10 plums (about 1.3kg), halved, stoned and quartered if large
- 50g unsalted butter, cubed
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons cornflour
Instructions
- Prepare the Pastry: Sift the flour, icing sugar, and a pinch of sea salt into the bowl of a food processor. Add the cold cubed butter and blitz until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add 2 egg yolks and 60ml of ice-cold water gradually pulsing until the mixture comes together as a rough dough.
- Knead Dough: Turn the dough out onto a clean surface and gently knead for about 30 seconds until smooth, adding a little extra flour if it’s too sticky.
- Divide & Chill: Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other, roll each into discs, wrap in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Toast Almonds: In a dry frying pan, toast the flaked almonds until golden brown, then set aside to cool.
- Prepare Filling: Combine halved and quartered plums with cubed butter, caster sugar, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and cornflour in a large bowl, stirring well to coat the fruit.
- Preheat Oven: Preheat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF) or gas mark 6, placing a baking tray inside to warm.
- Roll Pastry Base: Roll out the larger pastry disc to fit a 23cm pie tin, pressing it in and trimming to leave a 2.5cm overhang. Chill the base in the fridge.
- Cut Lattice Strips: Roll out the smaller pastry disc and cut into eight long strips, each about 2.5cm wide.
- Fill Pie Base: Spoon the plum filling into the chilled pastry base, spreading evenly. Brush pastry edges with beaten egg yolk mixed with a splash of milk.
- Weave Lattice Top: Arrange the pastry strips over the filling in a lattice pattern, trim excess pastry, seal, and crimp edges with your fingers.
- Brush & Chill: Brush the lattice top with egg wash and sprinkle with caster sugar, then chill the assembled pie in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Bake Initial Stage: Transfer pie to the preheated baking tray and bake at 200ºC (400ºF) for 20 minutes, rotating occasionally for even browning.
- Bake Final Stage: Lower the oven temperature to 180ºC (350ºF) and bake for an additional 20 to 30 minutes, covering with foil if browning too fast.
- Cool Set: Remove from oven, sprinkle extra sugar on top, and allow the pie to set for at least 3 hours before serving.
- Serve: Cut into slices and serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or crème fraîche as desired.
Notes
- Ensure the butter is very cold for a flaky pastry texture.
- Chilling the assembled pie before baking helps maintain pastry shape and prevents shrinking.
- Adjust sugar amount according to the sweetness of your plums.
- Cover the pie with foil if the crust browns too quickly to avoid burning.
- Allowing the pie to set for several hours enhances the filling’s consistency.
- Serving with crème fraîche or ice cream adds a cool creamy contrast to the warm pie.
