Earl Grey Classic Sugar Plum Pie
As the days get colder it seems there are more and more reasons to fire up our ovens and get busy in the kitchen. When the weather outside is frightful, there’s no better feeling than clearing the day to bake with (or for) those you love. With the passing of both Canadian and American Thanksgiving celebrations, it’s officially time to start gearing up for all those holiday parties, and we’ve put together an extra special tea-infused recipe that’s sure to impress! We’ve teamed up with Nicole, the baker behind Plum Lucky Pie P.I. to create something unique and delicious for the holiday season - a black plum and cherry pie with an Earl Grey Classic crust!
Plum Lucky Pie P.I. is a baker from Toronto, ON. She specializes in delicious and beautiful pies with hand-cut botanical pastry designs. Her pies are available in a rotating selection of seasonal flavours, made with local, hand-harvested produce whenever possible and European-style fresh butter from a local creamery. Fanciful, elegant cakes and tarts are another lovely offering. You can find our Citron Calm tea in her frequently rotating Lemon Chamomile pie!
Ingredients:
Tools of the trade:
9" pie tin
Sloane Tea’s Earl Grey Classic
Sloane Tea Filters
medium to large size saucepan
rolling pin
paring knife
cookie cutters (optional)
baking pan
For the crust:
2 tbsp loose Earl Grey Classic tea
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup cold butter (preferably 82% fat or higher)
1/2 cup strongly steeped Earl Grey Classic tea (chilled)
1/4 tsp salt
For the filling:
10 red or black plums, sliced and pitted
1 cup pitted fresh or frozen cherries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla paste or scrapings from one vanilla bean
3 tea sachets of Earl Grey Classic or 3 tsp if using loose leaf tea (placed inside a tea filter)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Recipe:
For the crust:
Pulse loose tea with sugar, flour, and salt in food processor until tea is finely milled. Cut cold butter into cubes and place on top of flour mixture and pulse again until butter forms pea-size chunks. Slowly add chilled Earl Grey Classic tea while pulsing until a loose dough is formed. It's okay if it’s not fully mixed.
Empty contents out onto a floured work surface and gently knead until dough forms a ball, but be careful to keep dough cold and avoid overworking it. The dough can be left in the fridge in plastic wrap to deepen the flavour or be used right away.
When ready, roll the dough out and place it into a 9" pie tin. Press pie dough to sides and flatten up to the top edge. Cut excess dough around edges and save for making decorative braids and designs on top. Freehand, with a paring knife or using a cookie cutter - get creative with different shapes to adorn the top of your pie. Place empty pie crust and your shapes back into the freezer to chill.
For the filling:
Add cherries, lemon juice and sugar to a saucepan and cook on medium heat until a syrup forms. Add the Earl Grey Classic tea sachets and simmer on low heat for 5 mins. Add plums, salt and vanilla to the pot and toss to coat. Continue simmering on low until plums soften and become lightly poached in the cherry syrup. Pour off about 3/4 cup of the liquid into the sink or save for cocktails (or another future recipe).
Let mixture cool, leaving the Earl Grey Classic tea sachets to steep with the fruit. The pie filling can be left overnight in the fridge to steep even longer or used as soon as it has cooled or reached room temperature. When ready to use, remove the tea sachets and pour the filling into the pie shell, but be careful not to overfill.
Decorate with your pie dough shapes and brush lightly and evenly with an egg wash. For crisp yet flaky shapes, place pie back into the freezer for about an hour to ensure dough is solid. Place the pie on a baking pan to catch any over-filling and bake at 375°F for about an hour. Oven times may vary but when your crust is deeply golden, it's ready!
Let rest and cool for 10-15 mins before serving.
