This is the Hungarian version of a fruit pie. The pastry is linzer. Most of the pite variations occur in the way you handle the fruit, to cook it or not to cook it and what to use in the way of thickening. Other than that everyone makes the pite pretty much the same way. Another way to prepare the filling is to slice the fruit either by hand or on a mandolin and let the fruit sit in a bowl for an hour with a couple tablespoons of sugar mixed into it. After that it is easy to squeeze out the juice before making the fruit filling. But I don’t like to discard fruit juice; instead I add a thickening agent and a little butter to my fruit fillings. This way the whole fruit is used and I never once had a runny fruit filling. I cut these still hot. If you wait until the pite cools down you will have neat squares.
PLUM SQUARES
1 batch linzer pastry dough1 Tbsp butter for greasing the pan
1/4 cup ground almonds or fine breadcrumbs
1 egg for the egg wash
Fruit Filling:
5 cups diced plums
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
4 Tbsp flour
3 Tbsp cold butter,
• Preheat the oven to 375F.
• Prepare the plums and place them in a medium bowl.
• Add the sugar, cinnamon, ground cloves and the flour.
• Stir to combine.
• Butter an 9X12 inch baking pan.
• Knead the linzer pastry dough for a couple of minutes and divide into two parts.
• Roll one part into a slightly larger than the baking pan. Set aside the remaining dough.
• Place the rolled out dough inside the cake pan.
• Arrange the plum mixture on the bottom layer.
• Dot the top with cold butter.
• On floured board roll the remaining dough slightly larger than the baking pan.
• Place on top of the fruit filling and press down lightly.
• Lightly poke the top layer with a fork and brush egg wash over it.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the top is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and let the pastry cool down.
• Cut into squares and serve sprinkled with icing sugar.
