Brandy Plum Pie

A few months ago, when you could still find plums, I made a brandy plum pie using the recipe from Better Homes & Gardens New Cook Book (11th edition). It turned out very well, and you could taste the brandy, but it didn't overpower the pie.

Ingredients:

Crumb topping:
1/2 Cup flour
1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbl butter

Using a fork or knife mix the ingredients by cutting the butter into the flour and sugar. Mix until the butter is blended and the the texture is, well, crumbly.

Filling:
3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
1/4 Cup flour
1/4 Cup brandy
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4 Cups sliced and pitted plums (1.75 pounds)

Extra topping:
1/3 Cup chopped almonds or pecans

Mix the filling ingredients together in a bowl, cover, and let sit while you make the pie dough. This will give the ingredients time to blend together, especially the brandy!

Make enough pie dough for a single crust pie. (I used the recipe from the Fanny Farmer Cook Book.) Line the pie pan with the rolled out dough.

Pour the filling into the pie shell. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top. Sprinkle the chopped nuts on the pie.

Cover the edge of the crust with aluminum foil to prevent the crust from burning. Do NOT cover the entire pie - just the edge. Place the pie in an oven pre-heated to 375 and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the foil and bake the pie for another 20-25 minutes until the top is golden.


My guess is the extra baking time to is to allow the alcohol to cook out. When I made the pie I did two things differently than in the recipe. I mixed the filling first (as indicated here) to allow the brandy to soak in, and I made an error and use 1/3 cup of brandy instead of 1/4 cup. I don't think it caused any harm.