It’s a pie! It’s a tart! It’s a crumble! This plum crumble pie is a mutant combo in the best possible way with its traditional pastry crust, it’s oozy and boozy filling that’s insanely plummy and slightly tipsy with a touch of bourbon, and a rich, buttery, crunchy crumble topping that’s easy to toss together and really quite difficult, if not impossible, to stop nibbling. If you can come up with a better name for this collision of loveliness, kindly let us know in a comment below.–David Leite
Plum Crumble Tart FAQs
Yes, you can. This will work with your favorite pie filling for whatever fruit might be in season, whether raspberry, peach, nectarine, or apple.
Leftover plum crumble tart can be store, covered tightly with plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 3 days. Rewarm individual portions in the oven or microwave. Leftovers are delicious for breakfast, too.
Plum Crumble Pie
Equipment
- A 10-inch deep-dish pie dish
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- All-purpose flour, for the work surface
- 1 pie crust recipe for a single-crust pie or 1/2 pie crust recipe for a double-crust pie
For the plum pie filling
- 2 to 2 1/4 pounds plums, preferably dark skinned, cut into 1/4-inch (6 mm) slices (about 6 cups)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 vanilla bean, split
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
For the crumble topping
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch (6-mm) cubes and chilled
Instructions
Make the pie crust
- Lightly flour your work surface. Roll the pie dough to a 15-inch (38-cm) circle with a thickness of 1/8 inch (3 mm). Gently fold the pie dough in half and then in half again and transfer the pie dough to a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate. Place the pointed tip of folded dough in the center of the pie pan and gently unfold the pie crust, pressing the dough onto the bottom of the pie plate and tucking the dough into the edges and sides of the pan.
- Roll any dough hanging over the edge of the pie plate under itself and, if desired, flute the edge. Place the formed pie shell in the freezer for at least 1 hour before baking.
Make the filling
- Place the sugar and vanilla bean in a medium bowl. Rub the sugar and vanilla bean together with your fingertips to remove all the seeds. Add the cornstarch and mix until combined.
- Add the sliced plums and bourbon and toss to coat the plums well. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make the crumble topping
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt on low speed for 1 minute.
- Gradually add the butter and mix on low speed until pea-size lumps form, 3 to 5 minutes. Do not overmix; the mixture should resemble wet sand. To test it for doneness, take a handful of topping, squeeze, and then unclench. The topping should hold together for 5 to 10 seconds before crumbling apart. (You can cover and refrigerate the topping for up to 2 weeks.)
Assemble the plum crumble pie
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Remove the chilled pie crust from the freezer and place it on a rimmed baking sheet. Line the pie crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the exposed crust is golden. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights and continue to bake, uncovered, until the bottom of the pie crust is a light shade of golden brown, about 10 minutes more.
- Remove the vanilla bean from the plum mixture and discard. Fill the pie crust with the plum filling. Cover with the crumble topping. (You don't have to use all the crumble topping, but trust us when we say that you'll be glad if you did.)
- Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet 180° and continue to bake until the plum filling bubbles, the juices thicken into a jam, and the crumble topping is golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes more.
- Let cool for 2 hours before slicing and serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This plum crumble pie is a mutant combo in the best possible way. It’s a pie, it’s a tart, and it’s a crumble! Altogether they make a delicious multi-textured fruit dessert.
It’s a bit messy to slice because of all the juices that bubble over but it’s lovely nonetheless with a generous scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. There were plenty of juices from the plums. I think an additional tablespoon of cornstarch is a good idea to help set the pie a bit more. I used Buffalo Trace bourbon.
I used 3/4 of the crumble topping recipe. It might seem like a ton of crisp topping when you pile it on the pie, but that is fine. It kind of bakes down and gets lovely and crunchy. This adds a lot of texture to the pie.
We are fruit pie lovers here and this little number ticked all the boxes for us.
I used a homemade vegan pie crust dough from my freezer. While the dough was chilling, I made the filling using 2 cups Damson plums and 4 cups yellow Mirabelle plums and let it rest. Making the topping only took 5 or 6 minutes while I waited for the fruit to macerate so it was ready to go as well. I got about 3 1/4 cups of topping and elected to use it all.
I used a glass pie plate to make sure that the bottom of the pie crisped nicely. I baked the pie for 50 minutes, by which time it was golden brown and bubbling. The filling set up nicely and the taste or the pie was “plummy’ with a little hum of the bourbon in the background.
We served this for dessert with French vanilla ice cream and the slices that were left over made a terrific breakfast for a couple of us. This recipe made a pie good enough to consider entering it into the local fair, but since I can’t this year maybe next year.
The only change I might make might be to use a little less butter in the topping. I thought it was a little too buttery, but I was the only one who thought so.
