Plum Raspberry Pie With A Sweet Almond Lattice

Being a pie lover, I have been patiently waiting to make this plum raspberry pie from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book.  And since I want to watch my sugar and white flour intake I decided to try this recipe using whole wheat pastry flour and stevia.  I have never made whole wheat pastry before so I just followed the recipe on the back of the bag.  I used Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and this recipe.  I must say, I was pleasantly surprised the crust was nice and flaky! 

I substituted stevia when the recipe called for sugar and whole wheat pastry flour when it called for all purpose flour.  I was very happy with the results!  This pie was not overly sweet the plums gave it a nice tartness the raspberries a sweetness and the orange zest in the filling gave it some zip!  A good pie!  The almond lattice was a little difficult to work with... just take your time, be sure to refrigerate it and use the aid of a spatula when transferring the strips to your pie. 

   

I figure there is 9 WW plus points in a piece of this pie.  Not something that you would eat everyday, but as an occasional treat...it's a good thing! 

 The points could be reduced if you used diet margarine instead of butter....but I don't think the taste would be there.

Plum Raspberry Pie with a Sweet Almond Lattice

For the Piecrust:
your favorite pie crust

For the Almond Lattice:
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/8 t. kosher salt
4 T. (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
3 T. almond paste, broken into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/2 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 t. almond extract
2 T. ice water

For the Egg Wash:
1 large egg
2 T heavy cream
Pinch kosher salt

For the Plum Raspberry Filling:
1/2 c. sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 T tapioca pearls, ground into flour (use a spice grinder)
2 3/4 pounds black or red plums (about 8 large plums), washed, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch slices
Finely grated zest from 1/2 orange
1 dry half pint fresh raspberries

To Prepare The Piecrust:
Roll out the pie dough into a round 12 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick.  Gently fit into a 9-inch pie plate.  Fold the edges under and crimp.  Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

To Make The Almond Lattice:
In the bowl of a food processor filled with a metal blade, pulse blend the flour, sugar and salt to combine.  Add the butter and almond paste and pulse until it is a course meal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, vanilla, almond extract, and water with a fork.  Add the flour mixture and pluse until the dough looks uniformly moistened and crumbly.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Pressing together with your hands, form the crumble mixture into a disk measuring 6 inches in diameter.  Loosely cover with plastic wrap and refigerate for 20 minutes before rolling.  For longer storage, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days, or freeze tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and the aluminim foil for up to 3 weeks.

When ready to roll, place a piece of parchment or wax paper on your work surface and, using a little flour, roll the dough into a round measuring 11 inches in diameter.  Using a pizza wheel or chef's knife, cut strips measuring 3/4 inches wide.  Leave lattice strips on the parchment, and transfer to a baking sheet.  Wrap the lattice strips with plastic wrap and refigerate until ready to assemble the pie, about 20 minutes.

For the egg wash: Using a fork, whisk together the egg, heavy cream and salt.  Set aside

Before You Make the Filling
Position a rack in the bottom third of the overn.  Preheat the over to 350 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.

To Make The Filling:
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and tapioca flour.
In a large bowl, toss the plums and zest.  Gently stir in the rasperries.  Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the fruit and stir gently to combine.

To Complete The Pie:
Lay the lattice strips across the top of the pie in a crisscross pattern, pressing gently at the point where the lattice meets the rim of the crust to join them together.
Using a pastry brush, gently brush the egg wash over the crimped piecrust edges and the lattice.
Loosely cover the pie with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover the pie and bake for an additional 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and thick.  Remove to a wire rack to cool to room tempurature before serving.

Recipe adapted from the Sweet Melissa Baking Book