Plum pastry recipe

These cute little parcels are sweet, juicy, flaky and delicious! And best of all, this plum pastry recipe is super easy to make!

Plum season in the UK runs from August through to early October and it's probably my favourite time of year. If you can, look for local pick your own plum farms as they're an absolute delight.

You'll have wonderful fun gathering the fruit and you'll come home with plenty of fresh plums to make all sorts of desserts, including these wonderful plum pastries.

With a bowl of plums, a dash of cinnamon, a squeeze of lemon, a spoonful of sugar and a sheet of puff pastry you can whip up an amazingly simple, delicious dessert.

You'll chop the juicy, ripe plums, toss them a touch of sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon, and then use them to fill your pastry parcels before baking to perfection.

This dessert is Autumn on a plate and just dreamy with ice cream!

Here's how to make them.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan). Put the lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Mix together.

Add the plums.

Toss through until well coated. Taste your filling and add another teaspoon of sugar, if needed.

Unroll the sheet of puff pastry and, keeping it on its backing paper, cut the sheet into sixteen equal rectangles.

Using scissors, cut the whole sheet in half, including the paper.

Set one half aside. On the other half, share the plums equally between each pastry rectangle. Leave any excess juice in the bowl.

Grab the other half of the puff pastry you reserved earlier and lay it on top of the plums, paper side up.

Peel the paper away.

Press the tips of your fingers all the way around each pastry to form eight parcels. 

Separate them out a little to give you room to press around the edges with a fork to seal. Trim the edges with a sharp knife to neaten up, if you wish. Transfer the parcels on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. 

If you have any little holes in the pastry, you can repair them with a little off-cut of pastry press gently over the holes.

Brush all over the top of each pastry with the remaining juice from your plum bowl - this will give the pastry a great colour and flavour. 

Make two small slits on the top of each parcel with a sharp knife. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes until well-puffed, reddish-golden and cooked through.

Enjoy hot or cold! They're great to pack into lunchboxes, take on family days out, or enjoy plated warm with a scoop of cool ice cream.

Pointers, tricks and troubleshooting tips for the perfect plum pastry

Are plum pastries easy to make?

These pastries are super easy to make!

You'll use ready-rolled puff pastry, make the plum filling in a single bowl, and use the sweet plum juice left over in the bowl to glaze the pastry.

Will I need any special equipment for this plum pastry recipe?

There's no special equipment required to make these plum pastries.

You'll just need weighing scales and measuring spoons, a knife, fork and board, a mixing bowl and spoon, and a baking sheet and baking paper.

Where can I buy ready-rolled puff pastry?

You can find ready-rolled puff pastry in the chilled section of almost all supermarkets. It's usually near the milk and cheese.

If you can't get the ready-rolled kind, you should be able to buy a block, which you can easily roll out to size.

If you have no luck in the chilled section, it's usually possible to buy frozen puff pastry too. Note, this needs to be defrosted in the refrigerator (usually overnight) before use.

Which plums should I use?

In this recipe, I used burgundy plums, which have deep red-purple skin and a gorgeous deep pink-red flesh.

You needn't use this variety, however. Go with whatever is available and, ideally, in season.

Avalon plums have a purple-pink skin and a yellow-orange flesh, blue tit plums have a purple-blue skin and a dark yellow flesh, while Victoria plums have an orange and yellow skin, with a yellow flesh. All delicious.

How can I tell if my plums are unripe/ripe/overripe/gone off?

It's quite important to use ripe plums in this plum pastry recipe. If you use unripe plums, they will not have much flavour and will be tart rather than sweet.

One clue as to a plum’s ripeness is its colour. This will differ depending on the variety (see above) but a pale plum is rarely a ripe plum, as they deepen in colour as they ripen.

However, a ripe plum's skin should still look smooth. If it wrinkled or seems powdery or mouldy, then it is past its best and should be discarded.

If you pick a ripe plum up and give a gentle squeeze, it should have a little give. A very firm plum needs more time to ripen, while a plum that collapses from the slightest squeeze is certainly overripe and may have gone off.

Unripe plums also lack much of a scent, only taking a lovely fresh, fruity aroma when ripe. If your plums don't smell of anything, they probably won't taste of anything either and so need more time to ripen.

Often, supermarkets will label plums as 'ready to eat' or 'ripen at home', so take note of this when buying your plums so that you can plan to make your pastries only when your plums are ready.

Is this plum pastry recipe suitable for vegetarians?

Plum pastries are suitable for vegetarians as they don't contain any meat ingredients.

Is this plum pastry recipe suitable for vegans?

Many popular brands of ready-rolled puff pastry are naturally vegan as they use vegetable fat rather than butter.

Check the label on your pastry to ensure it's dairy-free and then you can be sure your recipe is entirely suitable for vegans.

Is this plum pastry recipe gluten-free?

This recipe uses wheat-based ready roll puff-pastry, so is not gluten free.

However, there are a few brands of gluten-free puff pastry available now, which you can usually find in the chilled section of most supermarkets. They don't give quite the same result as wheat-flour puff pastry, but they're a good option to make this recipe gluten free.

Do check the labels on all other ingredients to make sure they're gluten free. Sometimes, even naturally gluten free ingredients may contain traces of gluten due to the presence of gluten in the factory where they are processed.

Is this plum pastry recipe keto-friendly?

Plum pastries are not suitable for a ketogenic diet as they are high in carbohydrates.

Is this plum pastry recipe healthy?

These plum pastries are relatively high in fat, but they come in sensibly sized portions.

They're suitable to enjoy as an occasional indulgence as part of a healthy, balanced diet.

Are these plum pastries safe to eat while pregnant?

There is nothing in this recipe that should present a risk to pregnant people if the ingredients are in good condition and have been stored correctly, and the recipe is cooked hygienically and safely.

A Mummy Too does not offer medical advice. You can review the NHS advice here and you should consult with your medical professional regarding any concerns.

What goes well with plum pastries?

These little plum parcels are delicious on their own, but you could also serve them warm with vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of double cream.

Can I make this plum pastry recipe without sugar?

There isn't very much added sugar in this recipe - just 1.5tsp sugar shared between eight parcels. So, if your plums are very ripe and sweet, you can probably get away with leaving it out.

I haven’t got plums can I use another fruit?

Yes, you could use apples, nectarines or any other firm, ripe fruit that goes well with cinnamon and pastry!

How should I store my plum pastries? Can I keep my plum pastries in the refrigerator?

As there's fresh fruit in this plum pastry recipe, the finished pastries are best stored in the refrigerator.

Transfer them to a sealed container within 2 hours of cooking and place in the refrigerator.

Can I leave plum pastries out on the counter?

No, you shouldn't leave the pastries out on the counter for a prolonged period. They should be placed in the refrigerator within two hours of making.

Can I freeze plum pastries?

Yes, this plum pastry recipe freezes well.

Place the cooled pastries in a sealed, freezer-safe container and into the freezer within 2 hours of making. It's best to place a little baking paper between them so that they don't stick.

How long do plum pastries keep?

In the fridge, these pastries will keep for 3 days. In the freezer, they should keep for up to three months.

What is the best way to reheat plum pastries?

Chilled pastries can be eaten straight from the freezer, but reheating them with bring a little crispness back to the pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C) fan and place the pastries on a baking sheet.

They should take 5-7 minutes from chilled, or about 10-15 minutes from frozen.

Keep an eye on them so that they don't burn. You can push a skewer into the centre to check that they are heated all the way through.

Can I make this plum pastry recipe ahead?

Yes, you could fill, press, trim and brush these pastries and then pop them in a sealed container in a single layer. overnight before making

Can I make this plum pastry recipe in a different quantity?

You can indeed change this recipe to make more or fewer plum parcels.

To do so, simply scroll down to the recipe card found at the bottom of this page and click or hover over the servings number. A slider will appear that you can use to adjust the serving number, which will also automatically adjust all the ingredient quantities you need.

Can I make this recipe as a single, large plum pie instead?

In theory, you could use half the pastry to line a pie tin, fill it with the plum mixture and then use the other half of the pastry to top, press and trim the pie before baking. I haven't tried it, though, so if you do, let me know!

If you wanted to make your own pastry case, you could follow this recipe for apple pie, adapting to use plums instead.

Can I make these plum pastries a food processor?

No, I wouldn't recommend blending the plum filling as it will turn to puree and prove too liquid to use as a filling for your pastries.

How can I make sure my plum pastries is perfectly cooked?

Your pastries should be well-puffed with a golden, shiny top with a reddish hue, thanks to the plum juice.

If your pastries sink significantly as soon as they're removed from the oven, they are probably not done yet.

Thanks to the dark-hue of the plum juice, they may develop some dark edges without being burned, so just keep a close eye.

Why did my plum pastries burn?

It could be that you baked your pastries for too long - keep an eye on them towards the end of the cooking time.

Home ovens can run hotter or cooler than their dials suggest. If your oven runs too hot, it can mean bakes cook fast on the outside, before the inside is ready.

Next time, try running the oven at a lower temperature to give the pastries a chance to cook evenly.

I’d also recommend investing in an oven thermometer so that you can keep an eye on the true temperature.

Why did my plum pastries turn out wet/soft/undercooked/flat?

It could be that you didn't bake your pastries for long enough - keep an eye on them and don't remove them from the oven until they look well-puffed and golden with a slightly reddish hue, thanks to the plum juice.

Home ovens can run hotter or cooler than their dials suggest. If your oven runs too cool, it can mean bakes take longer to cool and the puff pastry may fail to puff up very much.

Next time, try running the oven at a slightly higher temperature to given the pastries a chance to puff up.

I’d also recommend investing in an oven thermometer so that you can keep an eye on the true temperature.

Why didn’t plum pastries puff up?

If your oven is too cold, the pastries won't puff up very well, and the oven is too hot, the pastries may puff up, but collapse when removed from the oven since the inner layers are too raw.

I’d recommend investing in an oven thermometer so that you can keep an eye on the true temperature inside your oven.

Why were my plum pastries tart?

Unripe plums lack flavour and sweetness. Check the information above to make sure your plums are ripe before using them in this recipe.

You can also give the filling a little taste after you've mixed in the lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. If you would prefer it sweeter, simply add another teaspoon of sugar, or more to taste.

How can I add/change the flavours in this plum pastry recipe?

Cinnamon pairs well with plums, but you could use vanilla, ginger or even black pepper for a different flavour experience. You could also switch in orange juice in place of the lemon juice.

You could also try a scattering of nuts as a delicious addition to the filing. Chopped almonds, hazelnuts or walnuts would all work well.

Any other stone fruit could replace some or all of the plums in this recipe. Nectarines or peaches would be wonderful.

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