Fruit Platz (Egg Free)

I am lucky enough to live in one of the most bountiful & beautiful places on earth so when the local fruit and berries start to come it's time to make Platz.

Platz is a traditional Mennonite coffee cake made with a variety of fruits with a delicious crumbly topping - perfect for an afternoon coffee break or dessert when company is coming.

Most of my neighbours are lacto-vegetarians and don't eat eggs for religious or cultural reasons, so I've had to adapt my old family recipes to share the bounty of this year's harvest with my neighbours!

Here's my no-egg version of Platz with Plums.

Fruit Platz (Egg Free)

Crust:

3 cups Flour

3 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Margarine cut up into small pieces

1 cup Milk

Filling: 

up to 1/4 cup of Sugar

4 cups of Fruit
(plums, blueberries, rhubarb, apricots, cherries, raspberries, peaches, strawberries all work well - fresh is best, but frozen also works)

Topping:

1 & 1/2 cup Sugar

2 cups Flour

2 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 cup Margarine

To make the crust, combine flour and baking powder in a food processor. Add margarine and pulse until crumbly. Add milk slowly until all combined. Spread evenly on the bottom of a greased baking sheet.

Sprinkle sugar on top of the crust - more for the sour fruit & berries and less for the sweet ones. Cover the crust with a single layer of fruit - cut the larger fruit in sections or halves.

To make the topping, combine sugar, flour and baking powder. Mix in margarine with fingertips until crumbly. Sprinkle topping over fruit layer. 

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.

Yummmmm. Happy coffee break!

~Adel~