Plum-Apple Pie

I was in Chinatown on Friday morning to pick up pastries for our trip to Philadelphia. The fish/fruit market on Canal Street was selling these prune plums. Plums are in season. I try to buy what's in season and of course, buy local. It's economical, as prices are lower for fruit in season, and  it makes sense to cook and eat what is available rather than what has to be flown in or trucked for miles.  I found this recipe on The Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite cooking blogs, and thought I'd share it. This is a single-crust pie and it's somewhat unusual in that the crust is on top rather than on the bottom.

Pie Filling:
1 pound (2 cups) prune plums, halved and quartered
1 pound apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into chunks
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
squeeze or two (or three) of orange juice

In a large bowl combine the fruit, sugar, cinnamon and orange juice. Butter a 9 inch glass pie plate and pour the fruit mixture in it. Set aside.

Halving and quartering plums. That's a $1.99 Farberware knife from Boscov's

Scoop out the apple core with a spoon

Apples and plums in the buttered pie plate

Preheat oven to 350˚F. 

Pie Lid:
Have at room temperature~
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup plus 6 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
beaten egg, milk, or cream for brushing on the crust
1 tablespoon sugar for sprinkling

Cream butter with sugar and orange zest. Add egg. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture in three batches. Beat until just combined. Do not over mix. Turn out into a sheet of plastic or waxed paper. Freeze for 10-20 minutes or until firm. Roll out onto a well-floured board. Carefully fold the dough and unfold it on top of the fruit in the pie plate. Trim the edges and crimp. Don't worry if the dough tears. Patch any tears with the excess dough. Gently press down the dough on top of the fruit. Crimp the edges. Brush the top with beaten egg, milk, or cream. Sprinkle the top with sugar.

Grated orange zest. I love my microplane grater!

Pie lid dough. Don't over mix!

Roll out pie lid dough onto a well-floured board

Unfold dough on top of the fruit. Don't worry if it tears!

Patched, crimped, and brushed with beaten egg

Sprinkle of sugar

Bake the pie in the oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.

Plum-apple pie on the cooling rack, bubbling over with juices

Juicy

Spoonful of pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream

The pie lid crust crumbles and is lightly sweet, like a flaky sugar cookie. Serve with crème fraîche, sweetened whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream.

Stone Fruit and Berry Galette

Blueberries, blackberries, and nectarines

I've wanted to make a stone fruit and berry galette ever since I saw the recipe for an apricot and blackberry galette in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I tried it in Calgary earlier this summer but the pastry dough was  so much trouble. It's much easier to use frozen puff pastry! This is my version of the galette using nectarines which are in season.

Three cups of nectarines, blueberries, and blackberries drizzled with lime juice and sprinkled with sugar, cornstarch, and salt. 

 The puff pastry rolled out on a silicone mat is ready for filling and baking.

 Mound that delicious fruit in the middle of the dough and...

…Fold up the edges

1 frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
1-2 tablespoons all-purpose flour for dusting
3 cups mixed stone fruit and berries (e.g. nectarines, blackberries, and blueberries)
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Line a rimmed baking tray with a silicone mat or a sheet of parchment paper.

First, cut the nectarines into slices. This is easy to do; simply slice the flesh off around the stone. Then slice the fruit into 1 inch slivers and discard the core with the stone. Put the nectarine slices, the blackberries and blueberries into a large bowl. Drizzle with lime juice. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add to the fruit and gently toss. Set aside.

Place the  mat or parchment paper on the counter-top. You are going to roll and fill the pastry dough on the mat/parchment because it's difficult to lift it once it has been filled. Dust the mat/parchment lightly with flour and roll out the thawed puff pastry into a 12x14 inch rectangle. With the pastry on top, gently lift the mat/parchment by the edges and put it in the baking tray. Mound the fruit in the center leaving a 2 inch border all around. Then fold up the edges, making pleats so that the fruit is snug against the pastry. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. If any sugar is left over, just sprinkle it on top of the fruit!

Place the pastry on the baking tray in the oven (the oven rack should be in the middle) and bake 40-50 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove the baking tray and let it rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Using a flat spatula, gently ease the galette off the mat/parchment and onto the cooling rack to cool completely. If any juices are released, no worries. When the galette cools, the sauce thickens.

Slice into square and serve at room temperature with ice cream or crème fraîche--which I prefer to whipped cream because of its tangy taste. Here is a recipe for quick crème fraîche from my other favorite cookbook The Cake Bible:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons sugar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and let it rest in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Whip until soft peaks form. Delicious!