Happy Tuesday all! Man do I have a delicious pie recipe for you today! When my friend Claire reached out to me this past weekend and asked if I had a good peach pie recipe, I immediately went to The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book. This cookbook has so many different pie recipes all broken out by seasons and it definitely has some *different* pie ideas in it too! Oh and the crust section — love that part! Anyway, so I was in turn inspired by idea to make a peach pie that I created my own. My recipe is based in the peaches and cream pie from the cookbook, but I put my own spin on it using some fruits that I had and needed to use. Hence, Pluot and Strawberry cream pie!
So I’m sure you’re reading this like, what the heck is a pluot. Well don’t you worry I’ve got you covered. A pluot, is a hybrid that are genetically one-fourth (25%) apricot and three-fourths (75%) plum. Pluots come in a lot of different varieties but my Whole Foods had the Dapple Dandy variety which are large in size with mottled pale green to yellow, red spotted skin with firm red or pink juicy flesh. (source)
Now, while the skins on the pluots are thin and not as fibrous as a peach — I still felt like they needed to go. So I blanched the four that I used and the peels came right off. For a normal pie, I probably would not have done this but as this is a cream, or custard, pie I wanted the fruit to be smooth and nothing to imped the smoothness of the filling.
Otherwise, this pie and pie assembly is fairly straight forward. I used an oat crust from the pie book, but you could certainly use whatever crust you like — even store bought! I mean, if making a pie crust is the only thing stopping you from making a pie…then buy a dang pie crust at the store!
I hope you enjoy this little slice of heaven, and now you know what those funny Pluot’s are at the store or at your local farmers market. Try one, I’m sure you’ll like it!
Happy baking!
XO,
Danielle
Strawberry & Pluot Cream Pie
Ingredients
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, room temperature
For the Filling:
- 1 Cup Pluots ripe, peeled and sliced into 1-inch slices
- 1 Cup Strawberries Sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cream cheese softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream; or yogurt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
Instructions:
For the crust:
- Stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl except for the butter.
- Add the butter pieces and coat them with the oat mixture.
- Use your fingers to rub the butter into the mixture until incorporated. The mixture will be chunky but not homogenous.
- Press the crust into the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish.
- Place the pie dish in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake the crust for 18 to 20 minutes.
- Transfer the pie dish to a wire rack and let cool completely before filling. The crust will keep for 5 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.
For the filling:
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Bring a pot of water to a simmer (enough water to cover your pluots) and score the bottom of the pluots with a knife in an X shape. Blanche in the simmering water for 30-60 seconds. Remove from the pot and place immediately into an ice bath (a bowl of water and ice). Allow to sit for 2 minutes. The skin should peel off by using scraping motions with a knife or spoon. Be careful not to take too much of the meat of the fruit off with the peel.
- Once peeled, slice the pluots into wedges and place with the sliced strawberries in a bowl. Pour the lemon juice and granulated sugar over the fruit. Set aside.
- Next, place the prebaked pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Mix the brown sugar and cream cheese together until smooth in a medium bowl. Add the sour cream, allspice and salt. Follow with the egg.
- Pour a thin layer of the custard into the prebaked pie shell.
- Place the Strawberries and Pluots in a spiral pattern, starting from the center.
- Pour the rest of the custard over the fruit.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the outer 2 inches are set and the center still slightly wobbly.
- Transfer the baking sheet with the pie shell to a wire rack and let cool completely.
- Serve at room temperature or cold, topped with whipped cream and reserved berries! Store the pie in the fridge for 2 days or at room temperature for 1 day.
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