The 4th of July just passed. Thank heaven for Marley’s (our golden retriever) sake! She doesn’t like fireworks, but this year, she did so much better due to her thunder shirt and T-away essential oil from Young Living! We had plans to go to a backyard bbq and I wanted to make something festive for the occasion! I thought my grandma Balli’s plum pie would be the perfect addition. Plum pie isn’t super common, as I think it should be! It’s sweet and tart and just delicious. But who are we kidding, i’m biased. ;) I asked my dearest cousin, Ashley to come and help me make it. I was so fun baking our nostalgic pies together. I hope you enjoy this plum pie with lattice top as much as our family does! Recipe below.

Grandma Balli’s Plum Pie Recipe

Bake at 425˚ for 50-60 mins or when browned on top

FILLING

• 14 plums

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 4 tablespoons cornstarch

• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

• 1/2 cup water + 1/2 cup for cornstarch mixture

Wash plums really good and cut in small pieces taking the pits outs. Leave the skins intact. Put cut plums in a large pot and add 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Boil for about 25 mins on medium stirring often. Do not let plums burn. Add 1/2 cup sugar and boil for another 10 minutes then add the 2 tablespoons margarine or butter. Stir until dissolved. Once the consistency of the plums has become mostly smooth and has boiled down, take another 1/2 cup water and put in a separate bowl and add in the 4 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix until all of the cornstarch has dissolved (this thickens the plum filling.) Take plums off the heat and slowly add the cornstarch and water mixture to the plums, mixing constantly. Do this until you’ve poured in all the cornstarch. Taste and make sure you like the tastes of your plum filling. Plums are notoriously tart, so feel free to add more sugar!

PIE CRUST

*I doubled this recipe

• 2 cups flour

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup cold water

• 2/3 cups shortening + 2 tablespoons

• 1 tsp sugar

• Food coloring (optional)

• red and blue sugar sprinkles (optional)

Mix flour, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the shortening to flour mixture and use dough cutter to cut through the shortening until you get to a pea size consistency. Sprinkle with water a little at a time while mixing until the dough is moist. You may need more or less water. Gather dough together and roll out on a floured space. Roll dough out making a circular shape that’s 1/4” thick. I did a lattice top on mine, but feel free to do whatever your heart desires! I also added a layer of sprinkles to the dough after rolling it out and rolled the sprinkles in. I wasn't sure how well or if at all it was going to work, but it baked perfectly. I also added a few drops blue food coloring and rolled out the dough and then used a star cookie cutter to get that marbled look. To get your crust nice and brown you can do an egg wash by cracking an egg and mixing with a little water and brush on pie dough, or the same with milk!

ASSEMBLE

Add plum pie filling into the pie pan lined with the pie dough. (I added a few pricks with my fork all along the dough of my pie dough to get dough evenly cooked first.) After adding filling make your lattice top. Here, I’ve rolled the dough out and cut into wide strips and rolled some sprinkles with rolling pin, as mentioned above. I laid three strips of dough vertically first over the plum pie. Add your first horizontal strip closer to the top and lay over pie. You will want to make a lattice pattern, so alternate the strips of dough under and over each other. It will take a few tried to get the correct pattern, but don’t give up! Also, if you have having any trouble look at the pictures below for help! After you have completed your pie brush with some milk or water, as mentioned above and bake for 425° for 50-60mins checking often.

From our home to yours, enjoy!

-Sydney