Aug 08, 2006
This recipe worked very well for me despite the fact that I was missing a couple of ingredients. I had to omit the nutmeg and I used 1/2 tsp bottled lemon juice instead of the zest wherever it was called for. Also, I went with the walnuts instead of hazlenuts, again only because that was what I had on hand. Instead of using a pie pan, I used eight 1 cup baking dishes, so I ended up with eight deep dish tarts, each one equal to 1/8 of a pie. The recipe filled them perfectly. To make things easier, I just dropped the crust mix into the cups and pressed it to the bottom and sides with my fingers instead of rolling it out. There is a bit of rise in this crust, so it bakes out just as evenly as if it had been rolled. And, the streusal topping meets the crust to cover any uneven edges. I would bet you could do the same thing with a pie pan as well and save yourself the mess of rolling out. If you do tarts, put them in the middle of the oven and start checking after about 20 minutes. Mine took about 24 to bake.
I was quite dubous about all the vanilla in this recipe, as it seemed an odd flavor to pair with plums, but it was very tasty. I think it is important to use plums which are sweetly ripe but not mushy. The pie really does taste a lot like cherry and plums are so much cheaper to get at this time of year. I am making it again today, and trying Splenda instead of sugar.
—KB
