A baker friend once told me that baking is like swimming on the deep end. You just have to throw yourself in and start kicking. Baking for me is like big leap of faith into the world of flour, measures, butter, sugar, temperatures and oven.

This recipe is part of the 50 Shades of Plum series. The plum I discovered offers a variety of colour depending on how you cook it. Check out The Plum Sorbet- A shade of blush

I was really excited about the idea of a mascarpone plum pie. I found some lovely fresh mascarpone cheese in the store. Plums are in season and the key ingredient for the KitchenAid India contest for the IFBM participants. But the most exciting and challenging part was to make a pie crust. The science behind the pie crust is so different from kneading regular dough and requires so much more patience. Its amazing how much technique is needed for 4 ingredients of flour, butter, sugar and salt. Thus 2 pie crusts and 3 days later - I did put together a delicious finger licking yummy pie. It is certainly not the best looking pie but I wish I could make you taste it.

This recipe has three parts- the pie crust, the mascarpone cheese cream, and the baked plums. Each part can be made a few days in advance. Recommend baking the crust a few hours before assembling so it has enough time to cool down.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PIE CRUST

350 gms of flour

50 gms of sugar

8 gms salt

226 gms of unsalted butter from the freezer

1 cup of ice cold water

9" pie mould (I used glass)

HOW TO MAKE THE PIE CRUST

Start with cutting the butter in 1/2 inch cubes.
Mix the flour and butter on your very clean counter with two knifes or a silicon slicer.
Add the powdered sugar and salt to the mixture.
The idea is to break the butter into pellets and wrap them in flour.
Once the butter has significantly broken down, gather the flour and reconstitute in a mound. Make sure not to put too much pressure from the heal of your hand.
Add ice cold water and mix the dough into a ball. The dough must be firm almost brittle. If it gets too wet, add some more flour.
The thing to remember is not to knead the flour.
Wrap the flour in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours. The colder the better.
Powder the counter surface and rolling pin with flour.
Roll out the dough without applying too much pressure into a 13" circle which is around 1/8" thick.
Prepare the pie mould with butter and chill the mould as well.
Now carefully roll the dough on the pin and unroll it in the mould.
Press it down to take the form.
Cut the extra bit of the dough along the edge of the mould.
Poke the crust with a fork all over to allow the steam to escape while baking.
Chill in the freezer overnight.
Preheat the oven at 200 C.
We are blind baking the pie crust- so line the crust with aluminium foil and fill it with beans that act as a weight and prevent the crust from rising.
Bake the crust at 175 C for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and finish baking for another 10 minutes till the crust is a pretty golden brown.
Let the crust cool down.
TIP: A kitchen aid would be perfect to make a pie crust dough since since there would be no heat from the hands melting the butter. In case the butter gets soft, freeze the mixture and start again when its cold. Dont over mix- that will release the glutens which will make your crust shrink.

Break the butter down and fold the flour

Gather the flour and butter into a ball and chill for a couple of hours

Place in a buttered pie mould and gently press down into the shape of the mould

Cut the extra pieces along the edge and chill overnight

Bake in the over for 175 C till a nice golden brown. Let the crust cool.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE MASCARPONE CREAM

8oz mascarpone cheese

1/3 cup cream

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 tbsp powder sugar

2 tbsp honey

TO MAKE THE MASCARPONE CREAM

In a bowl add the cream to the mascarpone cheese and beat together.
Add the honey, sugar and essence and continue beating till they are fully mixed and form stiff peaks.
DO NOT over beat or the mascarpone will curdle.
Chill for several hours.

TIP:

A kitchen aid is preferable, however I used a hand egg beater.

Add the honey, sugar, vanilla essence to the mascarpone and cream mixture and beat slowly

Beat until still peaks but not over beat it. Chill for several hours

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE PLUM FILLING

1 kg plums, pitted and halved

1 cup sugar

vanilla essence

1/2 lime juice

TO MAKE THE PLUM FILLING

Toss all the ingredients together.
Place the plums cut side facing down in a baking dish.
Pour any liquids from the bowl.
Bake at 170 C for 40 min or till the plums are cooked and soft.
With a spatula. carefully separate the plums from the juice.
With the remainder juice, bring to a bowl till it thicken slightly but doesnt become too dark. Set the glaze aside.

ASSEMBLING THE PIE

-Line the pie crust evenly with the mascarpone cream and chill till its firm.

- With a spoon gently fill the pie crust with the baked plums.

- Brush the plums with glaze sauce to give the plums a sheen.

- Cut a slice of pie and enjoy with a cup of coffee.

Slowly spoon the plums on the mascarpone cream. Work from outside to the center.

The crust was flaky and crunchy. Baking the plums would have caramelised its sugar which gave it a beautiful depth along with the lightness of the vanilla mascarpone cream.  Each mouthful was a delightful bite. — The crust was flaky and crunchy. Baking the plums would have caramelised its sugar which gave it a beautiful depth along with the lightness of the vanilla mascarpone cream. Each mouthful was a delightful bite.

This pie was delightfully messy. It was lovely sopping up plum juices with the pie crust. I almost stopped myself from licking my plate.

I invited my neighbours over and the pie was gone in a few minutes. All plates scraped clean. Crumbs eaten, the plums and mascarpone cheese licked. Completely devoured. What a fun experiment.

And for this oh so classic American pie recipe - I cant help but play this Oh so classic American song by Don Mc Lean. Yes the day that music died....