This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays was hosted by Gloria of The Ginger Snap Girl: plum raspberry pie with sweet almond lattice. We’re nearing the end of Sweet Melissa Sundays (only 3 more recipes left I think!) and while I haven’t been able to participate as much as I’d like in the past few months, there was no way I was skipping this pie. Fruit pies are a major weakness for me, and frankly, my pie skills are lacking so I need all the practice I can get!
There are 3 components to this pie, so I definitely recommend splitting the process up over 2 days to make things easier on yourself. I waited until the last minute (of course) and spent the better part of my Saturday in the kitchen working on it. Aside from the fruit filling, there are 2 separate dough recipes to be made – the bottom crust calls for a standard flaky pie dough, while the lattice on top is made with a sweet almond dough. One of the components for the sweet almond dough was almond paste, which I’ve never purchased or worked with before. I have seen it in the store, however, and I knew it was pretty expensive (relatively speaking) so I decided to make a homemade version instead. I’m including that recipe below – it calls for just a few ingredients, and comes together in your food processor in about 5 minutes. Though I have no basis for comparison, I thought it was tasty. And now I have a whole bunch of almond paste in my refrigerator so I need to start looking for other recipes to use it!
Back to the pie – the only thing I found tricky about the recipe was working with the almond dough to make the lattice top. The strips of dough are extremely fragile and even well chilled, I found that mine were breaking left and right. I moved the strips and the half-assembled pie in and out of the fridge 3 or 4 times but still struggled. All of that breakage meant I had lots of samples to nibble on, and they were really delicious, so I pressed on despite the frustration. I pieced together the strips that broke the best I could, and thought it was looking pretty good before I popped it in the oven. My poor lattice didn’t fare well in the oven though – the cracks and breaks were exposed as the lattice baked and the finished result was definitely on the messy side. This was my first attempt at a lattice pie and though it didn’t turn out quite as I’d hoped, I am smitten with the look of a lattice and am already trying to figure out which recipe I can try next. I don’t know if I can ever go back to a regular double-crusted pie now 🙂
I baked my pie for about 15 minutes less than the recipe instructed because the juices were boiling up and out of the pie like crazy. When I cut it though, it wasn’t quite as set up as I’d have liked so next time I wouldn’t pull it out of the oven early. Despite the issues I had, I really enjoyed this pie. The filling is a gorgeous ruby red-pinkish color and just a bit tart, which was a nice compliment to the buttery pie dough and sweet almond lattice. I’m itching to make all kinds of fruit pies now, especially while there’s so much gorgeous in-season fruit to choose from at the store and farmer’s markets.
Many thanks to Gloria for hosting! She shared the recipe for the pie on her blog today if you want to give it a try.
Homemade Almond Paste
from Of Cabbages and King Cakes
1 1/2 cups blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
Place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until they are finely ground. Add the confectioners’ sugar, egg white, almond extract and salt and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice.
Transfer the almond paste to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months.
Makes about 1 1/2 cups
This pie looks fantastic! I love the plums and raspberries together. Lattice pie crusts are not that east to do, but you did this one beautifully. Great Job
That looks fantastic! I love baking with plums. (Well, except for Dorie’s Dimply Plum Cake, which has never worked for me. =) ) I wonder if I could make this with a crumb topping…
I love fruit pies too. Yours looks gorgeous, and you did a great job on the scalloped edge and the lattice. I know they can be very difficult. I tried a 9″ blueberry tart last year made with a sweet cornmeal dough for the lattice top and I had the same problems with breakage as you did. I will have to try this pie when plums are ready to pick here next month.
I don’t think you need any more practice on your tarts because yours look perfect!
It’s a gorgeous pie. Looks like you have great pie making skills to me.
Tracey your pie looks fabulous! I know how frustrating it can be when a component doesn’t cooperate. I did actually have a bit of an issue with breakage, but it was mostly my shorter outside strips that tended to be a bit thinner and more fragile than the inner strips. Despite that I still hade a couple of areas that broke and I attempted to mend back together. I discarded the really fragile outter strips, so I think my pie has fewer strips then it’s supposed to.
I’m very envious of your flaky bottom crust. Your crimped edges look perfect. I barely had enough dough in some areas to crimp my edges (someday I will master pie dough…LOL). But I did enjoy the texture and flavor of this dough and the almond lattice is yummy!
Thanks for baking along! Hope to see some tasty things on your blog using the rest of your homemade almond paste (very clever!). 🙂
Wow, what great flavor combinations! Very unique (and seasonal)!
Hi Tracey,
Not sure if you received an earlier comment from me…I got an error message and could not retrieve it. So sorry if this is a duplicate.
Your pie looks fantastic. I love the edges on your lattice. Sorry it was such a pain to work with…I did have problems with breakage too mostly with the outer strips that were thinner and more delicate. I ended up scrapping those and I think I have fewer strips than I’m supposed to.
I’m so jealous of your flaky pie crust. Beautiful job on the crimped edge. I barely had enough dough to work with their. Definitely need to work on perfectly my crust skills!
Great idea to make your own almond paste! Looking forward to seeing what other recipes you find to use it in.
Thanks for baking along!
P.S. I almost forgot to post the recipe. I was getting ready to schedule my post and realized that as the host I was supposed to include it. Doh!
Wow, this is such a beautiful pie. It is hard top pick which is my favorite photo. I love the fruit combination you used and the lattice work is fantastic.
I’m definitely no good with pies. Yours looks great! I wanted to let you know about my cookbook giveaway that is going on right now until July 16th. Stop on by to enter! Hope you are having a great weekend 🙂
http://steaknpotatoeskindagurl.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-first-giveaway.html
I think it looks fabulous before and after baking. It sounds great too with the almond crust on top.
World Market has decent prices on almond paste – I’ve gone through the agony of shopping for it! But making it seems easy enough and is probably cheaper. I know I’ve used almond paste for some Dorie recipes, but I’m not sure which ones.
What do you mean your pie skills are lacking? You wouldn’t know it from looking at this gorgeous pie! And tip for that leftover almond paste: Italian rainbow cookies. The recipe from “Baked” is good.
‘Almost’ too pretty to eat.
This pie sounds so delicious! Yum!
Looks fantastic to me…when you have something this tasty and you put a lattice top on it, it just looks like the ultimate comfort food, doesn’t it? Almond paste freezes well, Phyl and I made it a couple of times for things in MB and Bake! Also, if you are looking for recipes, you can probably type in Almond Paste and come up with some from Eat Your Books list of your cookbooks…maybe?
I love the idea of an almond lattice. I’ve never tried making a lattice pie before, but they are always so pretty, even when there is a little breakage. Yours looks beautiful. We’re all our own worst critics. 🙂
Your pie looks wonderful, Tracey! You did a great job with the lattice. I have been a delinquent SMS baker, but I felt the same way about this one.
I can’t wait to see what else you make with the almond paste (and thanks for the recipe). I have no idea why, but I had a package of it. It must have been on sale at some point.
Your lattice looks stunning! And I absolutely love the sound of a sweet almond crust on top to go with raspberries.
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Wow !What an amazing blog.
Its one of the best blog.
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Thanks for this great raspberry pie, personally i love a plain raspberry pie 🙂
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