Plums & Black Amber Plum Pie

We have many kinds of plums right now, each of them slightly different. We just picked the first green Kelsey. Kelsey is a large, sweet and tart juicy green plum. Later in the season Kelsey's start to turn yellowish and pink inside near the skin, and they lose any tartness.

At the fruit stand we have Black Amber, Friar, Kelsey, Eldorado and Laroda varieties, and still some Santa Rosa and Satsuma plums, too.

Here's a recipe for Black Amber or Friar plum pie that's delicious and very easy to make. The filling has only four ingredients.

Black Amber or Friar Plum Pie

4 ½ cups Black Amber plums, unpeeled and sliced

1 cup Sugar

¼ cup Tapioca

¼ tsp. Almond Extract

Mix all ingredients and let stand 15 minutes. Pour into pie crust, top with 1 tablespoon diced butter, put on top pie crust, and sprinkle with a bit of sugar and cinnamon. Bake at 400 degrees until bubbly - 45 to 50 minutes.

The photo above shows black amber plums.