Splitting Plums: Packets for a 4th of July Celebration

This past weekend, S. & K. loaded me with Santa Rosa plums from garden-sitting for a friend. A car ride across the bay later, the dark purple beauties were splitting at their juicy seams and needed my immediate attention. That was on Friday the 3rd.


Carrot (from the garden) cupcakes

For our 4th of July bbq, while D. happily attended to his smoker, literally babying his dry-rubbed pork ribs, I brainstormed ideas for a picnic-friendly dessert. I had several criteria in mind for my plums. First, I wanted tidy, single-serving pastries, which would be easy to eat while guests mingled in the garden. Carrot cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting were already on the menu (adapted from Smitten Kitchen's post here). My second guideline was to retain the orbicular integrity of the plums and somehow simulate biting into the ripe, whole fruit. That's when the idea for pastry-wrapped whole plum parcels tip-toed into my head.

I began with a basic short-pie dough. Flour, butter, shortening, salt, powdered sugar, and ice water. The plastic-wrapped mass was left to chill in the fridge while I put together the carrot cupcakes and frosting. Next, I trimmed the rolled-out dough into squares that would encompass an entire plum. Mine varied from small to mid-sized and my dough adapted accordingly. More and more I liked the idea of having this be a very impromptu, rustic dessert. I sprinkled each dough square with a pinch of sugar and shake of cinnamon, plopped a plum (pit intact) in its center, and topped them off with another half-pinch of sugar. Then I bunched the edges of the dough square together to form a money-bag-type parcel and sealed them off with a pinch at the neck. After twenty minutes or so at 350-400F (cranked up towards the end to bring out its color) the pastries were stained at their bases from the juices from a few burst plums. A dusting of powdered sugar and out into the sunshine to be enjoyed.


(Dough packets / Plum parcels post-baking)

* The pastries improve after cooling off since the tartness of the plums are exaggerated when hot.
** Also warn guests of the pits or insert "country" or "rustic" into the pastry names ;)