Plum Pie with Vanilla Custard -- holy hannah that's good

The other day my son and I came across a basket of Ontario plums -- the dusky blue kind that start out green and go all soft and orange on the inside -- and we decided to make plum pie. We have a book we like to read called 'Each Peach Pear Plum' that ends with everyone eating plum pie -- even the bunnies, even baby bunting, even the wicked witch.

I thought about it for a while, and I decided exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted a sweet, cookie type crust to remind me of the crust of the plum tart my mother used to make when I was a kid. And I knew the plums would be kinda sour, so I wanted to play with that by topping it with a sweet and delicious vanilla custard that would celebrate both the flavour of the plums and their sourness. So, we got the cookie, we got the sour plumminess, bits of chewiness where the edges of the plums got all baked and delicious, we got the creamy, rich vanilla sweetness of the custard, all balancing together into one fabulous dessert where the sum is definitely more than the components. 

It was also easy to make, so don't be shy.

crust:

ingredients:

2 cups blanched almond meal

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup coconut sugar

3 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tsp each of korintje, saigon, and ceylon)

1 tsp ground vanilla bean

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup extra virgin coconut oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

directions:

preheat oven to 345

1. prepare a pie plate or springform pan (I like to line my springform pan with parchment and grease it well with coconut oil)

2. combine all ingredients in a bowl except for the coconut oil and vinegar

3. mix well

4. add the coconut oil, and cut it in as it were. I used a fork and sort of mashed it. It worked beautifully.

5. finally, add the apple cider vinegar, and mix very well

6. press the crumbly mixture VERY FIRMLY into the bottom of the pie plate or springform pan. VERY firmly.

7. bake for 20 minutes at 345

pie:

ingredients:

1 baked pie crust from above

1.5 L of blue plums (what, damsons are they?), washed, pitted, and diced or coarsely chopped -- yield 4 or 5 cups

pinch sea salt

1/4 cup coconut sugar

2 tbsp arrowroot powder

directions:

preheat oven to 345 if it's not still on from baking the crust

1. toss the chopped plums with the sea salt, coconut sugar, and arrowroot powder

2. put the plum mixture on the pie crust evenly, and return it to the oven

3. bake for 40 minutes at 345

custard:

ingredients:

2 cups milk (I use raw whole milk. I recommend at least using organic whole milk (not skim))

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1 tsp ground vanilla bean

1/4 tsp sea salt

3 tbsp arrowroot powder

directions:

1. combine the ingredients in a double boiler

2. stir while cooking until thickened

3. remove from heat and set aside to serve over slices of pie