In the South of the Netherlands there is an area called Limburg. This region is famous for their ‘vlaai’ which is a pie made from specific dough. This dough is not sweet and made with yeast, so maybe not what you would typically expect from a pie dough. However, adding some frangipane to this dough makes this version of plums pie more sweet. Normally these pies are made with ‘bakpruimen’ which is a specific type of plum. Nevertheless, you could use normal plums as well. You don’t have any plums near you? Use peaches, nectarines, apples or cherries! Not your type of pie? Check this traditional Dutch apple pie recipe!
Plum Pie, Walnuts & Cognac
Equipment
- Oven
- Food Processor
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 500 gram Plums
- 2 tbsp Cognac or brandy, armagnac, port, sherry, apple juice
- 2 tbsp Apricot Jelly or honey
Dough
- 100 ml Milk
- 7 gram Yeast dry active
- 200 gram Flour
- 40 gram Butter
- 2 tbsp Sugar preferably light brown sugar
- 1 Egg Yolk
Frangipane
- 2 Eggs
- 1 Egg White
- 200 gram Walnuts
- 200 gram Sugar preferably light brown sugar
- 120 gram Butter
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract optional
Serving
- 250 Creme Fraiche
- ½ Vanilla bean
- 3 tbsp Powdered Sugar or honey
Instructions
Dough Making
- Warm up the milk until it is about 34 degrees celsius or 93 degrees fahrenheit. Then add the yeast and the sugar and mix.
- Add all other dough ingredients and a pinch of salt to a bowl. When the yeast/milk mixture starts to bubble, add it to the dry ingredients.
- Mix and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl covered with a moist kitchen towel for at least 30 minutes.
Plums
- Cut the plums in half, remove the core and cut the half plums in 4 pieces.
- Add the plums and alcohol to a bowl and mix carefully. Let it marinate for some time. 5 Minutes before use, place the plums in a fine sieve above a bowl. In this way the remaining moisture can drain away.
Frangipane
- Heat the butter and walnuts in a baking pan. When the butter turns brown, and it starts to smell like nuts it's ready.
- Blend the butter, walnuts, eggs, vanilla & sugar to a smooth paste.
Baking
- Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius or 374 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Brush a pie tin with some olive oil or butter to make it anti-stick.
- Knead the dough for another minute. Then use a rolling pin to thin the dough, and to shape it to a big circle. This circle of dough should be about the size of your pie tin.
- Place the dough in the pie tin and make a few small marks on the bottom by using a fork. Then add the frangipane and the drained plums. Make sure all plums are in the frangipane.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes in the oven or until brown and cooked. It can happen that some liquid is on top of the pie (after 20 minutes). In that case, dab a paper towel carefully to take off this liquid.
Serving
- Heat the jelly with 1 tbsp of water and mix. When it is cooking, turn off the heat, and brush the top of the pie with this jelly mixture.
- Mix the creme fraiche, vanilla bean paste & powdered sugar. Serve this with a piece of the pie.