Vegan Šljivovec (Croatian Plum Pie)

This is our last post on Croatian food for this month - which has been a truly delicious journey for both of us. This incredibly plum pie is the perfect way for us to farewell a country which has given us a lot of delicious food experiences. Plums are perfect in Australia right now so it's the perfect time to give this super special pie a try. The beautiful and simple tart flavour of the plums is accented by the lovely crunchy pastry. The fact that it's also free form pie makes it much easier than other forms of pies. This isn't the first time we've posted a free form pie - check out our savoury free form pie: Pumpkin, Cashew and Balsamic Pie. Once again I have to thank the amazing Enola (@rhelune) for not only sending us this recipe but also translating it from Croatian for us - you legend!

Ingredients:

Pastry:

400gm of wholemeal flour

2 Tbsp of canola oil

1 sachet (5gm) yeast

1/2 tsp of salt

2 Tbsp of raw sugar

1/2 cup of warm water

Filling:

7 large Plums, sliced into wedges (about 6 per plum)

1/4 cup of sweet dark rum (or plain brown rum)

2 tsp of ground cinnamon

3 Tbsp of almond meal

Juice of half a lemon

3 Tbsp of brown sugar.

How To Make:

1. Mix the yeast, sugar and warm water in a large bowl. Let sit for 10mins.

2. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

3. Mix in flour, salt and oil with your hands, until a smooth, elastic dough has formed. Form in to a ball, and leave in the bowl in a warm place, firmly covered with a tea towel, for 15mins.

4. Place plums and all other filling ingredients, except for 2 Tbsp of brown sugar and the almond meal, in a bowl and let sit for 15mins.

5.Dust a smooth, flat surface (like your bench!) with flour, and roll the dough into a circle.

6. Spread the almond meal and remaining 2 Tbsp of brown sugar evenly over the dough, like this:

7. Pour plum mixture into the middle of the dough and fold the edges in, like so:

8. Bake for 45mins.

Serves 10.