Christmas pie plum


'Little Jack Horner' : NPR

Reason Behind the Rhyme: 'Little Jack Horner' Host Debbie Elliott and Chris Roberts dissect the meaning of the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." It's about a real estate swindle in 16th-century England. Roberts is the author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme.

Heard on All Things Considered

Reason Behind the Rhyme: 'Little Jack Horner'

Host Debbie Elliott and Chris Roberts dissect the meaning of the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner." It's about a real estate swindle in 16th-century England. Roberts is the author of Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme .

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, host:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Debbie Elliott.

You think the real estate market is treacherous today, try England in the late 1530s. That's what the nursery rhyme "Little Jack Horner" is really all about.

(Soundbite of music)

ELLIOTT: Here to explain is our London librarian Chris Roberts. He's the author of "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme," and he's at our London bureau.

Hello again, Chris.

Mr. CHRIS ROBERTS (Author, "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown"): Hello. Hi, Debbie.

ELLIOTT: So who was Little Jack Horner?

Mr. ROBERTS: Little Jack Horner was actually Thomas Horner. The name Jack comes up in nursery rhymes a lot, usually to reflect a slightly knavish character, a bit of a ne'er-do-well. So I suspect that's why they changed his name to Jack from Thomas.

(Reading) `Little Jack Horner sat in a corner eating his Christmas pie. He stuck in a thumb and pulled out a plum and said, "What a good boy am I."'

Where to begin with this? This is talking about the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII taking property from the Catholic Church. Jack, as we know, is actually called Thomas Horner. Now he was a steward to the Abbot of Glastonbury during the reign of Henry VIII. This is how the story goes: He was entrusted to take some title deeds of properties to Henry VIII as a bribe so the abbot could keep the main monastery, but was prepared to give away some of the lesser properties.

Now the title deeds were held and sealed in a pie, and Jack's off to London. But instead of delivering the bribe to Henry VIII, he helps himself to the pie, puts his hand in, pulls out a plum piece of real estate--in this case, a place called Mells Manor--and thinks he's very clever for doing this. That's one version of it, that Jack is a thief and he's stealing the bribe that's intended for the king. And he...

ELLIOTT: So was this common? Is there historical evidence to support the theory that bribes were often delivered in pies?

Mr. ROBERTS: It comes up bewilderingly often in nursery rhyme. And it's--I think the pie is used as a metaphor. I think it's not necessarily what we would think of as a pie. It's just referring to a means of concealing a document, concealing anything. It could be jewels in some cases. Now the Horner family, who incidentally lived in Mells Manor until the 20th century, are quite outraged at this slander of their ancestor and understandably so.

And there are actually two rhymes that mention Mr. Horner. The first one that mentions him is: `Hopton(ph), Horner, Smith and Finn, when the abbots went out, they came in.' And a much more likely reading of what happened is that Thomas Horner, along with the other people mentioned in the previous rhyme--Hopton and Smith and Finn--were up-and-coming gentry. They were Protestant, they were local merchants doing quite well for themselves in the area around Glastonbury, and that they bought the property. You could see it as an early example of gentrification. They bought the property at the time admittedly at a knockdown rate, and admittedly the land had been stolen from the Catholic Church by Henry VIII. This seems to be what happened after the dissolution of the monasteries. The king didn't keep all the land for himself; he distributed it amongst his supporters so he then could rely on their loyalty should anything occur in the future, should there be a rebellion in the future. I suspect, though I can't prove this, that the popular `Little Jack Horner sat in a corner, eating his Christmas pie' version is actually the Catholic take on proceedings there.

ELLIOTT: Chris Roberts is the author of "Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme," and he's a librarian at Lambeth College in South London.

Thank you, Chris.

Mr. ROBERTS: Thank you, Debbie.

Copyright © 2006 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www. npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Sponsor Message

Become an NPR sponsor

Spiced Plum Pie Recipe | Epicurious

Ingredients

Makes 8 servings

2 Tender Pie Crust dough disks

3 tablespoons plus 1 cup sugar

1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons (packed) finely grated orange peel

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 1/2 pounds plums, halved, pitted, each half cut into 4 wedges

2 tablespoons whipping cream

Step 1

Roll out 1 pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 1 inch. Refrigerate crust while preparing filling.

Step 2

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375°F. Place foil-lined baking sheet in bottom of oven to catch any spills. Mix 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in small bowl; set aside. Whisk 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and next 6 ingredients in large bowl. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Add plums and toss to coat. Spoon filling into crust, mounding slightly in center.

Step 3

Roll out second pie crust disk on floured surface to 13 1/2-inch round. Drape crust over filling; trim overhang to 1 inch. Press top and bottom crust edges together. Fold edges under; crimp. Using sharp knife, cut four 2-inch-long slits in center of top crust to allow steam to escape. Brush crust (but not edges) with cream. Sprinkle reserved cinnamon sugar over crust.

Step 4

Bake pie 30 minutes. Tent pie loosely with foil to prevent overbrowning. Continue to bake until filling bubbles thickly through slits, about 1 hour longer. Cool completely on rack.

How would you rate Spiced Plum Pie?

Leave a Review

Tell us what you think

Reviews (18)

Back to TopTriangle
  • This review is for the filling because I have a crust recipe that I've always used that is absolutely delicious. I used 3 lbs. of plums and 2 ripe peaches that needed to get used cuz I felt there weren't enough plums. Instead of cornstarch, I used 3 tbsps. flour. Reduced the cardamom to 1/2 tsp, added 1/2 cinnamon, 1/4 ginger, 1/8 allspice, 1/8 mace and 1 tbsp. lemon juice. I also put small pats of butter on the top of the filling before placing the top crust on... again, this added more liquid to the already juicy pie filling. Won't do that again either. I think the temp. is off cuz my crust was not done at 40 min. I ended up bumping the temp to 400 degrees for last 15 min. It still needed more time to cook the crust so bumped the temp again to 425 degrees for 15 min. and left the pie in the oven for 10 more min. with the oven off. I think in all I cooked the pie way too long just to get the crust cooked. The result was that my filling turned to mush and there was loads of juice which ran all over the counter. The pie was delicious, but I think next time I would bake it at 425 degrees... and reduce the cardamom and cinnamon to 1/4 tsp. each. The juice was fantastic served over vanilla ice scream! It was deliciously edible anyway. My first ever plum pie in all my years of baking! I'm ready to take the challenge again!

    • rose_hoppe

    • Los Osos, CA

    • 8/29/2014

  • I liked the idea of this pie, but I did not like the cornstarch as a thickener. I used 2tbsp (per the recipe), not more, and felt it dulled the flavor. I guess I'm just used to using tapioca in my fruit pies. Next time I make this pie I'll probably use ground tapioca. Company loved the pie -- served it with vanilla ice cream.

    • mooglegirl

    • Mansfield, MA

    • 8/24/2014

  • This review is for the filling only as use another recipe for the crust. I love this recipe. I make it all the time. I have a prune plum tree in the yard so we have a lot of plums. I even make this recipe with plums that have been frozen. The flavors are strong in this recipe so adjust them to match the people you are serving it to.

    • denisetech

    • Victoria, BC

    • 5/28/2014

  • Review is for the filling only, as I use my family's pie crust recipe for all my pies. This pie is amazing. I found this pie several years ago, and I've made it every year since. Because of the combination of spices it is quite reminiscent of Christmas, so eating this pie reminds us all of the holidays. When plums are in season here (late summer) I will prepare this pie filling and freeze it for use later in the year - Christmas time! It's absolutely a keeper.

    • VintageAvonLady

    • 8/4/2011

  • I absolutely love this recipe! This pie is to die for- but here is the secret. I loved it the first two times I made this, but this time I learned a great lesson. Make this pie two to three days before you actually intend of serving it. By that time, the flavors will have settled and become balanced. We all liked the pie the day- but the second and third day (I made a big pie) we were besides ourselves. Also, I was to lazy to go to the store to buy cloves- so I used Pumpkin Pie Spice instead. It was still wonderful.

    • Anonymous

    • St. Louis, MO

    • 11/28/2010

  • I was excited about discovering this pie recipe. Unfortunately I was really disappointed with the filling, and so was my company. We found that the spices overwhelmed the fruit. I bake a lot and my spices are really fresh, especially freshly grated nutmeg. Ultimately, the pie reminded me of a meatless mince pie, in flavor. The recipe for the tender pie crust is excellent, though. It will be in my recipe box forever.

    • mumathome2

    • Calgary, Alberta

    • 9/6/2010

  • I love to bake, and this is the best pie I've ever made. The dough recipe came out flaky and light. (I refrigerated the dough for about 5 hours, and then rolled out each one in a Ziploc bag before finishing on the counter -- this really helps to roll out an even crust that doesn't stick.) The only changes I made were adding about 8 strawberries since I didn't have quite enough plums, replacing one tsp. of orange zest with lemon zest, and using about 4 1/3 tbsp of cornstarch, per the other reviews. The flavor from the spices was outstanding, and the consistency of the filling was great. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Highly recommended!

    • andreabf

    • San Francisco, CA

    • 7/12/2010

  • Went with the 4 cornstarch which was about right. Next time I'll use apricots or even apple as we couldn't really taste the plums. Overall, very tasty.

    • penns

    • Sydney, Australia

    • 6/2/2010

  • This review is only for the filling, as regrettably, I did not make the crust. I was not crazy about the filling using purple plums because they were just too strong and bitter for my taste, though they tasted fine out of hand.I would recommend the red plums or combo pluots and apricots which I will try next time.The spice mixture with the zest was wonderful. Perfect balance of flavors and definitely double the cornstarch. I used 3 tbsp and wished I had used 4 and half as it was still pretty runny.

    • TheCrazyGourmand

    • Bay Area, CA

    • 6/2/2010

  • I really liked this pie. I too used pluots along with plums and also added more cornstarch. The spice combo was really interesting with the plums and the crust recipe is one I use over and over. My husband loved the crust, liked the spice, was just ok with the plums. Which left more pie for me. (And I know I can't be the only one who will eat pie for breakfast, right?)

    • Anonymous

    • Columbus, OH

    • 10/19/2008

  • SO GOOD! The spice combo is really good, and not overpowering like I thought it might be. Like the other reviewers, I used 4 tbsp cornstarch instead of 2. My plums didn't seem very juicy when I cut them so I was kind of reluctant to increase the cornstarch, but I'm glad I did, because it made the pie the perfect consistency. Also, DO NOT FORGET THE DRIP TRAY!!!!

    • dombot

    • Calgary, AB

    • 8/22/2008

  • Fabulous, one of the best fruit pies I have ever eaten and made. The cardamom is wonderful in this pie. I used home grown pluots and apricots...WOW...my fruit was so juicy that I indeed went to 4 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch and when putting the fruit in the pie shell, I used a slotted spoon and only took the fruit mixture, I left all the juice in the bowl which was a good idea because even doing that the juice ran over the pie dish while cooking. I recommend making this pie in the morning so that the fruit has a chance to set up before serving.

    • debbiede

    • san rafael, ca

    • 8/7/2008

  • I made a version of this pie that was strawberry and plums. It was absolutely magnificent. Had it for a dinner party and my future in laws loved it. I did add the 4 tablespoons of cornstarch like someone else suggested in their review, and it was the perfect cohesiveness. Not too soupy at all. It was so popular I'm making two more of the same tonight.

    • AngelavengerL

    • American Fork, UT

    • 3/20/2008

  • this is perhaps the best pie i've ever made! i used pluots (cross btw plum and apricot), which were delicious. i also served it with fresh whipped cream. highly recommended!

    • ssuchdev

    • brooklyn, ny

    • 9/2/2007

  • The whole family agreed that this was the best pie EVER. I made it twice and went to the store and bought 8 lbs of plums for freezing so we could enjoy this pie year around. As a result of the other comments I prepared the filling in a pot and cooked it until it was the right consistency. I added tapioca to achieve this. You will surely enjoy this pie. Carolyn

    • Carolynhauswald

    • Colorado Springs

    • 11/3/2006

TagsPieDessertPlumStone FruitFruitCinnamonHerbs & SpicesCardamomVanillaNut FreeEasyBakingFood ProcessorSummerBon Appétit

Plum pie according to the recipe from The New York Times, step by step recipe for 2472 kcal, photos, ingredients

Add a recipe

Recipe

Advertisement

It is better to take dense apples, for example, antonovka. Serve this cake well warm, you can with whipped cream or sour cream.

Yulia Vysotskaya

Yulia Vysotskaya's recipe

Pie with raspberries and figs

This pie can be made with apricots - they go great with raspberries, they also work well with plums and blueberries. For lemon flavor and aroma, replace the orange zest with lemon zest,

Julia Vysotskaya

Advertising

Viderait on the topic

Recipe from Yulia Vysotsky

You can add not six, but four eggs , the cake will turn out to be more dietary, but it will also rise much less!

Julia Vysotskaya

Recipe from Yulia Vysotskaya

Upside-down pie with dried apricots and pecans

Instead of dried apricots, you can take other dried fruits, plums or pears. Pecans can also be safely replaced with any nuts that you like. Cooking0003

1 hour and 10 minutes

Recipe for:

8 persons

DESCRIPTION

Thanks for the recipe to Irina, author of the blog "Notes on Kitchen Curtains".

Legend has it that every year since 1983, The New York Times has published a recipe for plum pie, yielding to the pleas of American housewives. In 1995, the editors announced the last publication of the recipe, offering an ultimatum to cut it out, laminate it and hang it on the refrigerator :-)

Pie is incredibly easy to make and very tasty!

To the cookbook

With imagesWithout images

To favorites

With imagesWithout images

Subscribe to our Yandex.Zen channel!

The food value of the portion

309

kcal

13%

Squirrels 4 4 g
0 90 g 9 g
Carbohydrates 42 g

% of the daily rate

1 %

3 %

3 %

is based on your
age, weight and active. It is a reference information.

Login or register and we will be able to display your daily intake of proteins, fats and carbohydrates

Login / Register

0003

¾ cup

chicken eggs

2 pcs.
1 cup

baking powder

1 pinch
15 pcs.


Mix flour with baking powder and sift into the butter-egg mixture. Mix until a homogeneous thick mass.


Line the bottom of a springform pan (mine is 22 cm in diameter) with parchment paper. Grease the mold with a little butter. Cut plums into halves. Mix brown sugar with cinnamon. Put the dough on the bottom of the form, smooth it out. From above, lightly drown the plums in the dough with the cut up. The number of plums depends on their size. It took me 13 pieces. Sprinkle the plums with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Send the form to the oven preheated to 180C for 40-50 minutes.


The cake is ready! P.S. I took the pie to work. It seems to be a simple recipe, but the cake is so delicious that I had to hand out the recipe all day :-)


share photo

agree?

Recipe Tags

Particapiro -American cuisine

Advertising

Advertising

RECROURCE RECIPTION

Tell friends

filters

Rate all

Collections

Recipes of the day

Recipes of the month

Fast recipes

Proper nutrition (PP receptors)

Dishes with autumn berries

For meat lovers

Cabbage salads

Sevent of pumpkin: 30 recipes

Ingredients

Remove Ingredient

Users

Display

New York Times Plum Cake

What a pleasant surprise this American Plum Cake was! It would seem that the simplest ingredients, process and plums are already much simpler and more affordable. But the taste... It's something!

Make it soon and don't forget to save the recipe - I promise you'll get tired of sharing it!

The legendary plum pie recipe was published in The New York Times for 7 consecutive years (every September from 1983 to 1989), and is now freely available on the newspaper's official website.

Surely, many have already met this recipe on the net, read its history and perhaps even cooked it. I stumbled upon it for the first time this year, cooked it, fell in love and am in a hurry to share it.

Please note that the original recipe is in American measures (cups, spoons, packs). This explains the big difference between the compositions of the Russian-language versions of this recipe. A cup / spoon is a measure of volume, not weight, so depending on the density of the ingredient, the weight in grams in the same volume can vary dramatically. For example, flour in a glass of 250 ml can be from 90 to 160 grams, depending on the type of flour and whether it is sifted or not.

For the correct translation of American measures, there are special converters and tables, they are freely available on the net.

Here I am not copying the entire recipe from the newspaper, I am describing it in free form with my own comments and minor adjustments.

Ingredients:

150 g sugar
113 g butter at room temperature
2 eggs
120 g flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp. baking powder
8-12 plums
brown sugar and cinnamon - for sprinkling

Beat softened butter (113 g) with sugar (150 g).

Add eggs (2 pcs.), one at a time, beating after each until smooth.

Add sifted flour (120 g), 1 tsp. baking powder and a pinch of salt. Beat until smooth.

Prepare a baking dish by making a “French shirt”: grease the bottom and sides with a thin layer of butter, sprinkle with flour.

Cut the plums in half and remove the pits.

Divide the dough into the mould. Arrange the plum halves on top (do not press them into the batter or they will fall apart when baking). 16 halves fit in my 24 cm diameter pan, while the recipe from the newspaper - 24 halves.

The original recipe recommends putting the plum halves skin side up. So the cake turns out even more juicy and fragrant, but the plums become softer. My family likes it the other way around - cut up.

Sprinkle the future cake with brown sugar (1-2 tbsp) and cinnamon (1 tsp).

Bake in a preheated oven at 170-180 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Serve plum cake warm or cold.

The author of the recipe writes that the cake can even be frozen until future holidays or events, then thawed and reheated in the oven at 150 degrees.

Print Recipe

Serves: 8 Cooking Time: 1 hour 10-15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 150 g sugar
  • 113 g butter at room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 120 g flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 8-12 drains
  • brown sugar and cinnamon - for sprinkling

Instructions

one

Beat softened butter with sugar.

2

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each until smooth.

3

Add the sifted flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt.

brown sugar

2 tbsp. l.

Learn more