I have quite a collection of of strange old recipe leaflets and booklets, chief among them are the Joys of Jell-O, Jello-O Pudding Ideabook, and the Gell-Cookery Recipe Book. In case you missed it, there seems to be a period in American culinary history characterized by putting gelatin in any darn thing you could.
Every once in a while, I flip through my Jell-O library (right past the “jellied cream of chicken”, thank you very much) determined to resurrect a pleasantly wiggly dessert. The problem is, as much as I’m fascinated by them, I’m equally as repulsed.
Once again, I’ll sing the praises of plums. I figure if anything can bring class to a potentially hot, kitschy mess it’s the elegant damson plum. Thanks to these beauties, some creamy greek yogurt, and a pinch of grated fresh ginger this icebox pie is more pink panna cotta than “shrimp chili mold” (yeah, that’s a thing).
I made a homemade, gluten-free (of course) pie crust for this, which made the recipe a tad more time-consuming than your average fridge dessert. It was totally worth it, but feel free to take a short-cut on the crust and use pre-made if you’re not gluten-free or try your favorite cookie/crumb crust. I bet a gingersnap crust would be extra special here.
Plum Yogurt Icebox Pie
Ingredients
- 1 lb plums, I used Damson
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 t freshly grated ginger
- 1 packet knox plain gelatin
- 3 T cold water
- 1 7 oz container full-fat greek yogurt
- 1 of your favorite pre-baked pie crust
Cooking Directions
- Halve the plums to remove the stone. Chop each small half in quarters and place in a medium bowl with the sugar, lemon zest, and grated ginger.
- Stir and allow the mixture to set at room temperature while you make your pie crust. If you're using a pre-made crust, just allow this mixture to sit at room temperature for at least an hour before you proceed.
- After the plums have set for at least an hour, pour the cold water in a large bowl and sprinkle the gelatin in an even layer over the top. Do not stir. Allow this to set while you cook the plums.
- Place the plum sugar mixture in a small saucepan and cook over med-high heat until the fruit is broken down. How long it takes will depend on the size of your plums, but it'll likely only take a few minutes.
- Once the fruit it broken down, immediately pour the hot plum sauce over the gelatin/water mixture.
- Stir for a minute or two, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a spatula to insure all the gelatin is incorporated.
- Stir in the yogurt until it is completely incorporated.
- Pour into the cooled pie crust and let cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate until set.
Note: I’ve been playing with my gluten-free pie crust recipe lately. For this one I used the following flour mixture: 3 oz superfine brown rice flour, 1 oz tapioca flour, 1 oz potato flour, 1 oz oat flour, 3/4 t xanthan gum, and a pinch of salt. I cut 1 stick (4 oz) of butter into the dry ingredients and added enough ice water for it to come together. Here’s my post on gluten-free pie crust for more tips and instructions and my original gluten-free pie crust recipe.
About autumn
Autumn Giles is the creator of Autumn Makes & Does and the co-host of the Alphabet Soup Podcast.
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