Showing posts with label #BakingBloggers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #BakingBloggers. Show all posts

Monday, June 8, 2020

Margy's Best Banana Bread #BakingBloggers

Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is a tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home.

Food Lust People Love: Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home. This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk.


Back before my mom retired, her boss used to bring this freshly baked banana bread into their office and everyone would clamor for a slice. They all insisted that she share the recipe as well. It was that good.

My mom raved to me about it as well, so of course, I needed the recipe too. I don’t often bake banana bread because of the problem I talked about when I shared my light and fluffy banana cake recipe. Didn't stop me from wanting a tried and tested recipe though. That's how I roll.

Bottom line, it took me years to get around to making this and now I regret all the wasted years in between.

Margy’s Best Banana Bread 
This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk. My mother loves it toasted and slathered with butter.

Ingredients
6 tablespoons or 85g butter, plus extra for greasing loaf pan
1 cup or 200g sugar
2 eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup or 60ml sour cream

Method
Grease and flour loaf pan (or line it with baking parchment) and preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy and light yellow. Add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and salt.



Combine the dry ingredients in a sieve and sift them into the butter mixture, alternating with sour cream, ending with the last of the dry ingredients.


Stir well in between each addition to combine.



Pour the batter into your prepared pan.



Bake in your preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until the banana bread is golden and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing to serve.

Food Lust People Love: Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home. This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk.


Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home. This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk.


This month my Baking Blogger friends have created a variety of delicious recipes for you. Check them out below. Many thanks to our group leader and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Pin Margy's Best Banana Bread!

Food Lust People Love: Truly a recipe that has stood the test of time, Margy’s best banana bread is tender, rich and flavorful loaf, made with butter as well as sour cream. Plain or toasted, it is the perfect snack at the office or at home. This one-bowl recipe makes clean up a breeze, easily done even as the loaf is baking in the oven. It goes great with both a hot cup of tea or coffee. And honestly, even a cold glass of milk.
 .

Monday, April 13, 2020

Tomato Salad Topped Baked Spinach Frittata

This tomato salad topped baked spinach frittata is a delicious combination of richness from the eggs, ham and cheese and the sharp sweetness of the tomatoes with herbs. It makes a wonderful brunch, lunch or dinner dish!

Food Lust People Love: This tomato salad topped baked spinach frittata is a delicious combination of richness from the eggs, ham and cheese and the sharp sweetness of the tomatoes with herbs. It makes a wonderful brunch, lunch or dinner dish!


Frittatas can be made on your stovetop in a skillet or baked in the oven. I created this one a while back when we were trying a low carb diet. I was craving quiche but crust was, of course, not on the plan. This frittata is basically a crustless quiche with a fancy Italian name.

You can adapt this recipe to use different cooked veggies or meat instead of the spinach and ham. Or change up the cheddar for your favorite semi-hard flavorful cheese. It’s all good.

Here’s a question for you: Am I the only one who buys ham that the family eats for two or three days and then abandons it? What do you do with it? I pop it in the freezer when it’s still in date and, while you cannot thaw it and still make decent sandwiches, it is perfect for quiche or omelets.

Tomato Salad Topped Baked Spinach Frittata

This recipe was inspired by a photo I saw in delicious.uk magazine for a ricotta tart. The mixed tomato salad that topped the tart was so pretty! Mine doesn’t have the green tomatoes because I couldn’t find any but I’m sure it is just as tasty.

Ingredients
For the frittata:
3 ounces or 85g sliced ham
2 ounces or 55g frozen spinach
4 large eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml cream
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
4 1/2 ounces or 125g sharp cheddar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
several good grinds of black pepper

To butter the baking dish or pan:
1 tablespoon butter

For baked topping:
2 oz or 57g sharp cheddar
Small handful green onion tops, chopped

For the herby salad:
1 lb or 450g mixed tomatoes, ripe but firm
Herbs of your choice  - I used a mix of flat-leaf parsley, tarragon and basil
Drizzle extra virgin olive oil
Drizzle white balsamic
Good pinch flaky sea salt
Few generous grinds of black pepper

Method
Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C and liberally butter your 9 in or 23cm quiche pan or baking dish.

Fry the chopped ham in a nonstick pan until it dries out a little and gets some browned crispy place. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool.



Thaw your spinach, then drain it and squeeze it as dry as possible.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and milk. Stir in spinach and chopped basil.

 Next add the grated cheese, ham, sea salt and black pepper. Stir until well combined.



Pour the mixture into your buttered pan or dish.

Put it in the preheated oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 350°F. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until it is almost set.

Remove the frittata from the oven and sprinkle on the topping cheese and green onions.

Return the pan to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is browning and the frittata is set.



Meanwhile, slice your large tomato and set the slices on a paper towel to dry them a little. Halve the smaller tomatoes and mix them with the other salad ingredients.

When the frittata is baked, remove it from the oven and leave to cool for at least 15-20 minutes before topping it first with the sliced tomatoes.

Food Lust People Love: This tomato salad topped baked spinach frittata is a delicious combination of richness from the eggs, ham and cheese and the sharp sweetness of the tomatoes with herbs. It makes a wonderful brunch, lunch or dinner dish!


 Finally, top with the dressed tomato salad.

Food Lust People Love: This tomato salad topped baked spinach frittata is a delicious combination of richness from the eggs, ham and cheese and the sharp sweetness of the tomatoes with herbs. It makes a wonderful brunch, lunch or dinner dish!


Slice to serve. Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: This tomato salad topped baked spinach frittata is a delicious combination of richness from the eggs, ham and cheese and the sharp sweetness of the tomatoes with herbs. It makes a wonderful brunch, lunch or dinner dish!

This month my Baking Blogger friends are sharing recipes with herbs. Check out the delicious recipes below! Many thanks to our group organizer and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of her behind-the-scenes work.

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.


Pin this Tomato Salad Topped Baked Spinach Frittata! 

Food Lust People Love: This tomato salad topped baked spinach frittata is a delicious combination of richness from the eggs, ham and cheese and the sharp sweetness of the tomatoes with herbs. It makes a wonderful brunch, lunch or dinner dish!
 .

Monday, March 9, 2020

Savory Mediterranean Scones #BakingBloggers

These savory Mediterranean scones are tender and fluffy, full of flavor with feta cheese, soft sun-dried tomatoes and a mixture of salty olives. They are a great breakfast or snack. I highly recommend using one for a fried egg sandwich!



As I prepped my ingredients to make these scones, my husband wandered by. It was a Sunday morning and no one at our house moves very fast on one of those. “Whatcha making?” he asked. “Mediterranean scones,” I replied. “No such thing!” was his response. And I suppose that he has a point. Scones are a particularly British thing, not unlike his good self, and they don’t usually contain feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and olives.

But as soon as Sue, the host of Baking Bloggers, announced the theme for this month’s event - biscuits and scones - I knew I wanted to bake something savory. I’ve already shared my freeze-and-bake buttermilk biscuits, my slightly sweet bacon honey mustard biscuits and, of course, the ubiquitous fall favorite, sweet pumpkin scones so it was time to jump over to the savory side.

“When in doubt, add cheese” is one of my mottos so a Mediterranean-inspired scone with feta cheese seemed ideal.

Savory Mediterranean Scones

This recipe is adapted from one on BBC Good Food from way back in 2004, with just a few little tweaks. The original created such a wet dough that I decided to make drop biscuits/scones instead of rolling and cutting. My way is easier and the results are lovely and fluffy.

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups or 345g all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 56g butter, cut in pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 halves soft Italian sundried tomatoes
3 1/2 oz or 100g feta cheese
10 or 55g mixed Greek olives, plus extra for decoration, if desired
1 1/4 cups or 295ml full fat milk

Optional to serve: butter

Method
Heat the oven to 375°F or 190°C. Line a large baking pan with baking parchment or a silicone liner.

Pit your olives by mashing them with the side of a big knife on a cutting board. Remove the pits and chop the olives roughly.

Stack your sun-dried tomatoes and use a sharp knife to cut them into small pieces. Alternatively, if you have sharp kitchen scissors, I find they are very effective at cutting through a small stack of dried tomatoes.

Use a fork or knife to crumble the feta cheese, keeping some pieces bigger than others. This insures that you still have some chunks of cheese left visible after you fold the milk into the dry ingredients.



In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry blender to blend in the butter and the oil, until the mixture resembles rough sand.



Add in the sun-dried tomatoes, feta and olives and stir well so they are coated with the flour.



Make a well in the center and pour in the milk. Use a rubber spatula (so you can scrape the sides of the bowl effectively) to gently fold the milk into the flour, rotating the bowl as you fold, until all of the milk is incorporated. Do not over mix. This is going to be an extremely thick batter.



Use an ice cream scoop or two serving spoons to drop the dough onto your prepared baking pan. My ice cream scoop holds about 1/4 cup by volume, which translated to 12 drop scones.



This is the time to take the stones out of a three extra olives and quarter them if you want to decorate the scones with a spare piece of olive.



Bake for 30-35 minutes in your preheated oven until the scones are risen and lightly browned.



Check out the lovely bottoms! Golden, crunchy and divine!

Transfer to a wire rack. These are wonderful warm and, if you like, well-embuttered. That said, we ate them plain as well and they were great!

An aside: Blogger seems to think that embuttered is a misspelling, which surprised me. So I looked it up. It is indeed a real word (OF COURSE, IT IS!) but embuttered is rarely used. We should totally change that. Who's with me? EMBUTTER all the things.



Enjoy!



This month my Baking Blogger friends are all sharing biscuit and scone recipes, both sweet and savory. Many thanks to our founder and host Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the recipes on the list below:

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Pin these Savory Mediterranean Scones!

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Monday, February 10, 2020

Apricot Pistachio Cake #BakingBloggers

Sweet chewy dried apricots and flavorful roasted pistachios combine with lots of creamy yogurt and butter to create one of the richness cakes you can imagine. A hint of cardamom in the batter is echoed again in the orange-cardamom syrup to finish the cake with a Middle Eastern flair.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet chewy dried apricots and flavorful roasted pistachios combine with lots of creamy yogurt and butter to create one of the richness cakes you can imagine. A hint of cardamom in the batter is echoed again in the orange-cardamom syrup to finish the cake with a Middle Eastern flair.


Apricots and pistachios are two of my favorite ingredients both singly and together. If you feel the same, you will like my Apricot Upside Down butter Bundt and my pomegranate pistachio muffins. My favorite joint venture of the two (before this cake!) is a gorgeous baked Camembert topped with pistachios and dried apricots. It's the easiest, tastiest appetizer you'll ever make.

Besides making me do the happy dance, since apricots and pistachios are popular in Middle Eastern desserts this cake fits our Blogging Bakers theme for this month. Make sure you scroll to the bottom to see the other sweet and savory recipes we are sharing.

Apricot Pistachio Cake

This recipe is adapted from one by the talented Anita Schecter on The Spruce Eats. If you love Middle Eastern recipes of all kinds, you should visit Anita, who I am pleased to call my friend. She also shares wonderful recipes of all sorts (so many great cocktails!) on her personal website.

Ingredients
For the Cake:
1 1/2 cups or 190g all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/2 cups or 300g sugar
1 cup or 226g unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup or 245g Greek yogurt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 oz or 170g roasted, unsalted pistachios
6 oz or 170g dried apricots

For the syrup:
1/2 cup or 50g sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice (or water)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch of salt

Optional for serving:
Greek-style plain, unsweetened yogurt

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 11x15 inch or 28x38cm pan by buttering and flouring it or lining it with baking parchment. If you are lining it, put a couple of dabs of butter on the pan to help the parchment stay in place.

Roughly chop about 1/4 of the pistachios and set aside a couple of spoonsful for sprinkling on the cake when it’s done. Put the rest into a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground, occasionally scraping the sides with a rubber spatula. Do not over process. We don’t want pistachio butter.



In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.



Add in the ground and chopped pistachios and whisk again.



Chop the apricots into small pieces and set aside a couple of spoonsful for decoration. Add the balance of the apricots to the dry ingredients. Use your hands to separate the sticky pieces and make sure they are completely coated in the flour mixture.



Using a hand or stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until they become fluffy and light yellow. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the yogurt and vanilla.



Add the dry ingredients into the wet and beat until well combined. Spoon the thick batter into your prepared pan and spread it evenly to the side and into the corners with a spatula.



Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.



Meanwhile make the syrup by warming the sugar, juice and salt in a small pot over a low flame. Spoon it over the cake while it is still warm.

Sprinkle on the reserved chopped pistachios and apricots.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet chewy dried apricots and flavorful roasted pistachios combine with lots of creamy yogurt and butter to create one of the richness cakes you can imagine. A hint of cardamom in the batter is echoed again in the orange-cardamom syrup to finish the cake with a Middle Eastern flair.


Leave to cool. If you have lined the pan with baking parchment, you can use the sides to remove the cake from the pan. If not, cut into squares to serve directly from the pan.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet chewy dried apricots and flavorful roasted pistachios combine with lots of creamy yogurt and butter to create one of the richness cakes you can imagine. A hint of cardamom in the batter is echoed again in the orange-cardamom syrup to finish the cake with a Middle Eastern flair.


Serve with a dollop of yogurt, if desired.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet chewy dried apricots and flavorful roasted pistachios combine with lots of creamy yogurt and butter to create one of the richness cakes you can imagine. A hint of cardamom in the batter is echoed again in the orange-cardamom syrup to finish the cake with a Middle Eastern flair.


Enjoy!

This month my Baking Bloggers are sharing Middle Eastern recipes. Many thanks to our doyenne and host, Sue of Palatable Pastime. Check out the other recipes below:

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.


Pin this Apricot Pistachio Cake! 

Food Lust People Love: Sweet chewy dried apricots and flavorful roasted pistachios combine with lots of creamy yogurt and butter to create one of the richness cakes you can imagine. A hint of cardamom in the batter is echoed again in the orange-cardamom syrup to finish the cake with a Middle Eastern flair.
 .

Monday, December 9, 2019

Sweet Buttermilk Pie #BakingBloggers

Sweet buttermilk pie is a traditional southern dessert with a creamy tart filling, topped with a generous helping of snowy white whipped cream. Add a little fruit too, if you like.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet buttermilk pie is a traditional southern dessert with a creamy tart filling, topped with a generous helping of snowy white whipped cream. Add a little fruit too, if you like.


This month my fellow Baking Bloggers are sharing recipes that remind us of snow, you know, the bright white kind that everyone loves until it turns wet and mushy and grey. I almost didn’t participate because I’ve been so busy, but then I remembered this wonderful sweet buttermilk pie, just hanging around in my folders, waiting for a chance to be shared.

You could, of course, serve the pie without whipped cream but why? Everything is better with whipped cream on top!

Sweet Buttermilk Pie

This is one of my mother’s favorite desserts. It’s not just a southern tradition but a southern favorite as well. Best of all it’s easy to make. Mix all the ingredients in one bowl and pour it into your pie crust to bake. I made my own pie crust from this recipe (stop before baking blind) but if you have to use a store-bought one this time of year, no worries.

Ingredients
1 unbaked 10-inch basic piecrust shell
1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups or 300g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
3 rounded tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups or 355ml buttermilk

To serve:
Whipped cream
Fresh fruit like raspberries, blueberries or even sliced peaches

Method
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

 In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and butter and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating well in between. Beat in flour, lemon zest and vanilla. Stir in the buttermilk with the beaters on very low.

Pour the buttermilk mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Grate on a little nutmeg or sprinkle on powdered nutmeg very lightly.



 Bake until the top is lightly browned and the center is just starting to set , about 40-45 minutes. It should be just the slightest bit jiggly. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. The filling with set completely as it cools.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet buttermilk pie is a traditional southern dessert with a creamy tart filling, topped with a generous helping of snowy white whipped cream. Add a little fruit too, if you like.


Slice the pie into individual servings. Garnish with a small mountain of whipped cream on each piece and a few berries for a pop of color.

Food Lust People Love: Sweet buttermilk pie is a traditional southern dessert with a creamy tart filling, topped with a generous helping of snowy white whipped cream. Add a little fruit too, if you like.

Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: Sweet buttermilk pie is a traditional southern dessert with a creamy tart filling, topped with a generous helping of snowy white whipped cream. Add a little fruit too, if you like.


Many thanks to this month’s host, Sue of Palatable Pastime and her group co-organizer, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Between them they keep this group ticking along smoothly and I am grateful. Check out all the other snow-white recipes my Baking Blogger friends are sharing today:

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.


Pin this sweet buttermilk pie!

Food Lust People Love: Sweet buttermilk pie is a traditional southern dessert with a creamy tart filling, topped with a generous helping of snowy white whipped cream. Add a little fruit too, if you like.


.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Kate's Perfect Plum Pie #BakingBloggers

Made with ripe plums and a flaky crust, Kate’s perfect plum pie is one of many special recipes we’ve enjoyed from Kate McDermott’s wonderful book, Art of the Pie. I share it here with the author’s permission. The combination of sweet plummy filling and buttery crust will be a hit at your holiday table.


A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to review Art of the Pie, a beautiful cookbook full of pie recipes, of course, but Kate also shares her wisdom about life. As I said in that review, pie is one of those things that seem to divide the baking world. Some of us get it, some of us don’t. Fortunately, Art of the Pie is for all of us.

Experienced pie bakers will love the creative recipes. But starting from the (17-page!) introduction, Kate’s rules for pie making and life are the calm and knowledgeable words of a wise woman. Her instructions regarding measuring ingredients and the equipment you’ll need are thorough. I’m pretty sure even a nervous pie maker would relax at Kate’s reassuring “you got this” tone.

I love the stories that are interspersed between the recipes, especially the one that introduces A Berry Pie for Julia, about Kate’s afternoon with Julia Child. By the time I closed the book – yes, I read cookbooks all the way through like novels – I felt I knew Kate as a friend. A friend who was going to show me how to improve my own pies and keep everything chill, especially myself.

Here’s the crazy part about our small digital world and social media. Since then, Kate and I have been friends on Facebook. When I wrote her a private message recently to ask if I could share this recipe for our Baking Bloggers pie event, she was delighted to say yes. And I was thrilled when she told me that a companion volume to Art of the Pie will be coming out in October 2020. More delicious pie! I cannot wait!

Kate’s Perfect Plum Pie

As Kate says, flaky crust cannot be rushed, so take your time and enjoy the process. If you don’t have plums, other stone fruit can be substituted.

Ingredients
For the dough:
2 1/2 cups or 312g all-purpose flour, unbleached, plus extra for rolling out
1/2 cup or 113g cold butter, butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
1/2 cup or 113g vegetable shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml ice water, plus 1-2 tablespoons or 15-30ml more as needed

For the plum filling:
2 lbs or 900g plums, pitted and quartered
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/3 cup or 42g flour
1-2 tablespoons or 15-30g Cointreau or other orange liqueur (optional)
1 tablespoon or 12g quick-cooking tapioca
1/3 teaspoon salt
A small grating of nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons butter

For the egg wash:
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

For decoration:
1-2 teaspoons or 4-8g sugar, for sprinkling on top of pie

Method
To make the pie crust, put all the flour, butter, shortening and salt in a large bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter and shortening into the flour until it looks like crumbs with some lumps the size of peas or even almonds.



Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture a tablespoon or two at a time, stirring it in lightly with a fork.



Squeeze a handful of dough to see if it holds together. If not, sprinkle in a little more ice water. Divide the dough into two pieces. Form them into discs about 5 inches or 12cm across. Wrap them in cling film and put them to chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Meanwhile, make your plum filling. Pit and quarter the plums.

Put them in a large bowl with the sugar, flour, Cointreau, tapioca, salt and nutmeg. Mix well, making sure the fruit is well coated with the other ingredients.

When chilling time is up, preheat your oven to 425°F or 220°C.

Take the dough discs out of the refrigerator. They will be quite stiff so leave them to warm up slightly, until they feel slightly soft to the touch. This will make them easier to roll out.

Sprinkle your clean work surface with flour. Pop your dough disk in the middle, and with a lightly floured rolling pin, give it a couple of good thumps on one side. Turn the disc over and repeat, sprinkling it with a little more flour. I’m not sure what exactly this is supposed to do besides spreading the dough out just a bit, but the thumping is very satisfying to do.

Roll the pastry into a circle 1⁄8 inch thick and about 2 inches larger all around than pie plate, always rolling from the middle to the outer edge.



Brush off any excess flour and use your rolling pin to transfer the bottom crust to the pie plate. Kate says you can fix any holes by wetting the crust with a little water and patching the hole with a piece of dough.


Pour your filling into the crust and add bits of the butter to the top.



Roll out the second disc of dough and lay it gently on top of the fruit. Use a sharp knife to cut a few slits in the top to allow steam to escape while baking. Trim the excess dough and crimp the edges. This is decorative and functional. Crimping makes sure the two crusts are stuck together.

Lightly whisk the egg and water with a fork to make the egg wash. Use a pastry brush to paint the top of the pie and crimped edges. Sprinkle with the sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes in your preheated oven then turn the temperature down to 350°F or 180°C. Continue to bake for 30-35 minutes more.

The filling should be bubbling at a steady pace by now. We need it to bubble so the tapioca will set the filling. If it’s not bubbling, turn the oven back up to 450°F or 230°C for 5 minutes, covering the pie loosely first with foil if it’s already quite brown.

Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving. The longer you can wait, the more likely the filling will set, so don’t rush to cut the pie.



But when you do, enjoy! (Yeah, I could have waited longer but PIE! Amiright?)

Food Lust People Lust: Made with ripe plums and a flaky crust, Kate’s perfect plum pie is one of many special recipes we’ve enjoyed from Kate McDermott’s wonderful book, Art of Pie. I share it here with the author’s permission. The combination of sweet plummy filling and buttery crust will be a hit at your holiday table.

It's pie baking season! Check out all the lovely pies my fellow Baking Bloggers are sharing today. Many thanks to our fearless leader and host today, Sue from Palatable Pastimes for her behind the scenes work.
Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interested in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

Note: The link to the cookbook is an Amazon affiliate link. Your price remains the same but I get a few pennies if you buy Kate’s book after clicking on my link.


Pin Kate's Perfect Plum Pie! 

Food Lust People Lust: Made with ripe plums and a flaky crust, Kate’s perfect plum pie is one of many special recipes we’ve enjoyed from Kate McDermott’s wonderful book, Art of Pie. I share it here with the author’s permission. The combination of sweet plummy filling and buttery crust will be a hit at your holiday table.
 .