Merry Cherry Plum Berry Tart

Source: Pillsbury Pie Crust

Crust and  Topping

2 refrigerated pie crusts
1/4 c chopped almonds
3 T turbinado sugar (I used regular sugar, and it turned out fine)

Filling

1/2 c dried cherries
1/2 c dried cranberries
3/4 c Amaretto
1 1/4 c fresh blueberries (I couldnt' find fresh blueberries, and used frozen ones thawed -- I made sure I let them drain well after thawing not to make the filling too wet)
2 plums cut into pieces
1/5 T cornstarch

White Amaretto Truffle Sauce

1/3 c white vanilla baking chips (I've seen recipes calling for vanilla baking chips, and haven't been able to find it in the grocery stores -- so I used white chocolate chips -- maybe that's wrong, but that's how I roll)
1/2 x whipping cream
2 T Amaretto

Heat oven 425.
Let 1 pie crust stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to soften.  Unroll  crust onto 9 inch tart pan.  Lightly press crust into fluted sides. Cut of excess crust on top of pan.  Prick bottom and sides of crust with fork.  Bake for 10 minutes.

In saucepan heat cranberries, cherries and Amaretto for 5 minutes.  Add blueberries and plums.  Cook for another 15 minutes.  Stir in cornstarch.  Pour into parbaked pie crust.

Remove remaining pie crust from refrigerator.  Chop into small pieces, adding almonds and sugar to make crumblike topping.  Sprinkle over pie.  Bake for 35 minutes.  Cool for 15 minutes.

Place baking chips in medium bowl.  Heat cream over medium heat.  Just before boiling, remove from heat and pour over baking chips.  Stir until chips are melted. Add Amaretto.  Refrigerate for 1 hour, and stir every 15 minutes.


Yes, I am back to making desserts.  I love desserts.  Tarts are so elegant.  The weather has started to cool down, so you just want to make a pie.  Plums are fresh and delicious, cherries and dried cranberries are always lovely -- I had almonds and Amaretto at home -- come on, who wouldn't want to make this pie. Oh,  and I am crust impaired, so I use premade crusts in all my pies.  And the rolled up refrigerated pie crusts are so good these days, I don't think you can tell the difference.

This is not a very technical dessert -- which for me is a good thing. The only special equipment is a tart tin, which I happen to have.  I suppose it would work in a pie pan as well.   I wish I would have put my pie weights in the crust, so it wouldn't have puffed up at all.  The filling starts at very liquid but never fear, once you cook it per the recipe, it turns dry and jammy -- which is necessary so the crust doesn't get soggy.

The finished pie -- yes, I know, I should have covered the edges with foil so they don't burn.  I was so worried that the bottom of the pie would be soggy, that I didn't think to cover up the edges.. :(

I forgot to take a picture of the pie sliced.  It was definitely overbaked -- Like I said, in my quest to make sure that the bottom doesn't get soggy, I overbaked it.

The flavors were great -- a less burnt crust would have been great, and it would have benefitted from the filling being a little more moist, but the taste was good, and paired really nice with the toasted almonds in the topping.  I wasn't overly impressed with the sauce -- tasted very alcoholic.  I would experiment with a different sauce -- the tart definitely needs the moisture.  Maybe even with half the alcohol it would have been better.  All in all, i think with a little tweaking, this has the potential of being a really delicious dessert.