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For the custard

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal681
  • fat41g
  • saturates19g
  • carbs75g
  • sugars42g
  • fibre0g
  • protein9g
  • salt0.77g
    low
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Method

  • step 1

    Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and put a large baking sheet in to heat up. Put the plums, sugar and cloves in a pan. Simmer until the sugar dissolves and the plums are juicy, 8-10 mins. Mix the cornflour with a little of the juice, then mix well into the fruit. Boil for a few mins, stirring, until thickened.

  • step 2

    For the custard, blend the yolks and sugar. Heat the milk, cream and vanilla in a pan until almost boiling, then gently pour onto the egg mix, whisking constantly. Return to a clean pan and heat gently, stirring, until the mix thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cool quickly, then chill. Custard can be made up to a day ahead and gently reheated.

  • step 3

    Roll out two-thirds of the pastry on a floured surface. Use to line a pie dish, letting the pastry hang over the edges a little. Fill with the plums. Roll out remaining pastry, about 2.5cm bigger than the dish, then drape over the plums. Pinch edges together well, then make a small hole in the top. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Can be assembled up to 1 day ahead. Place on the hot baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown, and serve hot with the custard.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2008

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Comments, questions and tips (15)

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Overall rating

A star rating of 3.9 out of 5.12 ratings

jancameron348

Try adding lots of minced ginger to the plums instead of cloves. Even more delicious! I also found I could reduce the sugar by nearly half and/or use wholemeal pastry, and still have a very tasty but healthier pie.

TheGOAT

Desert/sweet shortcrust pastry: 400g plain flour; 200g butter; 2 heaped tablespoons of caster sugar (or granulated sugar put in a liquidiser is exactly the same); mix it to crumbs by hand, then add 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons of water. Mix it all up into a ball and put it in a fridge for 30…

TheGOAT

Edit: *70g of caster sugar should be added to 600g of plums, or (peeled/cored) apple, plus 30g of cornflour. After you’ve drained the excess liquid you will need another heaped tablespoon (15g) of cornflour. Also, you’ll probably prefer 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon rather than cloves, or mixed spice…

beccahannon

For "tsp ground cloves" read "1/4 tsp ground cloves", otherwise a very easy, tasty recipe.

anon

Classic Plum Pie recipe is appalling. Don’t cook the plums first, that’s perfectly ridiculous. The plums will go to mush probably and the cornflour won’t dissolve. Cornflour to thicken indeed! Follow Jane Grigson (“English food” - you can replace apricots with plums) if you want a decent recipe.…

TheGOAT

James Martin’s ‘recipe’ using shop-bought (savoury?) shortcrust pastry is the bizarre bit.

Breeliant

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Made this with homemade sweet crust pastry and it was delicious!

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