I am the human equivalent of a squirrel. Every late-summer-early-autumn I gather up ingredients to make into food that I can store for the cold, hard winter that’s coming.
Surely, those of you who have been reading this blog know I’ve been knee deep - no, actually shoulder deep or thank-goodness-I-have-an-old-fridge-in-the-basement deep in prune plums. I saw them early in the season and couldn’t stop myself from buying pounds and pounds of them.
Well, I’ve poached some, tucked some under a crispy cover, baked some into torte and made a cake or two. And finally, I’m up to pie. Because my brother Jeff loves pie and cousin Neil likes plum desserts and when the pies are done the plum bin will finally be empty. And I will have a freezer full of desserts to keep us as happy as squirrels all winter long, but for the one pie I will serve at my annual Yom Kippur Break-the-fast next week.
Plum Pie
2-1/2 pounds Italian prune plums
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Streusel:
3/4 all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough to fit a 9-inch pie pan. Crimp the outside to form a decorative edge. Wash and halve the plums and remove the pits. Cut the plums into slices and place in a large bowl. Add the sugar, tapioca, lemon juice and cinnamon and mix well. Place the fruit mixture inside the crust. Make the streusel: mix the flour and sugar. Add the butter and mix with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or pulse in a food processor). Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden brown. Makes one pie