This open plum pie with almond cream is my greatest dessert success of the last couple of weeks. The crumbly and buttery crust is topped by silky almond cream and luscious purple plums. Up to now I haven’t seen a person who wasn’t immediately conquered by this beautiful and delicious pie😉

We decided lately with Monsieur that we need to restart our social life. If you have children you know how easily parents close themselves up in the baby-filled cocoon and neglect their own life. It is a marvelous cocoon, don’t get me wrong. The only problem is that when you have say 4 kids in 5 years, you can stay in that distant place for a very long while and don’t see much of any of your friends…

Since we actually like and miss our friends, what better way to reconnect that having them over for a barbecue and some heart winning plum pie?

There are three things in this pie: the crust, almond cream and plums. If you want to save time you can do one of the following:

Prepare the crust in advance and have it in the refrigerator ready to go in the baking pan (I’d cover it with a clean towel or some plastic wrap).

You can also keep the assembled unbaked pie in the refrigerator for up to a day. I must warn you though that the plums may give out some juice and color the almond cream. It won’t change the taste, just the look.

And you can absolutely bake the pie completely and keep it on your countertop under a clean kitchen towel for up to 24h. You can either serve in on room temperature or heat it up a tiny bit in the oven (for about 3-4 minutes at 180C/350F)

Plum and almond pie recipe

Ingredients

Crust

• 350 g flour
• 50 g sugar
• 50 g cornstarch
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200 g butter (softened at room temperature)
• 1 egg

Almond cream

• 120 g ground almonds
• 120 g butter
• 120 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 150 ml crème fraîche or sour cream

18 plums (firmer ones, so you can slice them easily)

Instructions

First make the pie crust.

Pour all dry ingredients in a bowl and sift them together.

Mix in the butter until the dough starts to hold together a bit.

Add the eggs and mix until fully incorporated. In the end knead the dough a bit with your hands.

Roll the dough out and transfer to a baking tray or a big square pie pan. You can also use your fingers to push the dough directly into the baking dish.

Place the pan with the dough in the refrigerator for the time you make the toppings.

Now is the time to start preheating your oven – 200C/390F

Prepare the almond cream

Cream together the butter and the sugar. Add the eggs and mix until it looks kind of fluffy.

Mix in the ground almonds, then add crème fraîche and stir until smooth.

Cut the plums in two and remove the kernels.

Take the pan out of the refrigerator.

Spread the almond cream evenly on the dough.

Slice thinly the plum halves one at a time. Slide a large knife under the sliced plum half and transfer the slices all together on the prepared pie base (see the picture below). You can make the slices lean on the side a bit so that they cook more evenly and look prettier😉.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 200 C/390F.

Take the pie out and let cool a bit. It is delightful served warm (but no longer steaming hot – careful with those plums!!) with some vanilla ice cream.

I hope you liked this recipe. Please let me know if you try it! It really makes my day to know that people have used my recipes! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram for regular kitchen tips and more recipes.

And since all kids wake all parents up at sunrise (especially after a nice evening with your friends), in the morning try out a smoothie recipe from my mini-guide of 10 mood-boosting foods to get back some much-needed energy😉.