Seems that the last Top Chef Quickfire got our Pie Mojo rolling. Had to break out the flour for the crust. When it comes to making pies I generally rely on Rose Levy Beranbaum's Pie Bible. Written in 1998 it's served me well both with it's many options of crusts and filling flavor combinations. However since the rise of the Internet, Rose has updated this particular recipe at her website, Real Baking With Rose. I will definitely be trying this out in the future.
Which is good because I made some mistakes with my pie. First the filling. My peaches were fairly ripe but I think next time I'd mix just ripe peaches with a bit softer fruit. Rose's cookbook peach filling recipe calls for 6 cups of sliced peaches with slices cut into 16ths but her blog calls for the 6 1/2 cups cut a little thicker. I think that would have worked a little better with the peaches holding up better in the finished pie. The even bigger change is dealing with the juice that will be released by your peaches. Why I like this recipe is that you're dealing with the juice before it gets into the crust. You let your peaches macerate for at least 30 minutes, drain and then you cook down that juice. In the book it suggests reducing it to 1/3 cup while on the blog it adds butter to the juice and reduces it to half and then adding it back into the peaches. Either way you're cutting down on the chance that your pie will bubble over with fruit juice.
I really didn't treat the edges well of my pie. I should have made a much thicker edge and protected it better when I baked it. It's a little too overdone, not very stable or pretty for my tastes although I do like using the star cut outs on the edge. I baked those very carefully in my toaster oven and then added them to the pie for the last ten minutes of baking. Should have only gone the last five minutes and turned the oven off for those last five.
Which is good because I made some mistakes with my pie. First the filling. My peaches were fairly ripe but I think next time I'd mix just ripe peaches with a bit softer fruit. Rose's cookbook peach filling recipe calls for 6 cups of sliced peaches with slices cut into 16ths but her blog calls for the 6 1/2 cups cut a little thicker. I think that would have worked a little better with the peaches holding up better in the finished pie. The even bigger change is dealing with the juice that will be released by your peaches. Why I like this recipe is that you're dealing with the juice before it gets into the crust. You let your peaches macerate for at least 30 minutes, drain and then you cook down that juice. In the book it suggests reducing it to 1/3 cup while on the blog it adds butter to the juice and reduces it to half and then adding it back into the peaches. Either way you're cutting down on the chance that your pie will bubble over with fruit juice.
I really didn't treat the edges well of my pie. I should have made a much thicker edge and protected it better when I baked it. It's a little too overdone, not very stable or pretty for my tastes although I do like using the star cut outs on the edge. I baked those very carefully in my toaster oven and then added them to the pie for the last ten minutes of baking. Should have only gone the last five minutes and turned the oven off for those last five.
Still it tasted darn good. The flavor of peaches needs little dressing unlike apples. A little almond flavoring to brighten it up. The crust could have been better but practice makes perfect.
Not to mention I wasn't the only one who took inspiration from the Pie Challenge. Moi over at
Bite the Apple sent me her personal snapshot of her finished Peach and Blueberry Pie. Have I mentioned I can't do a lattice topped pie worth spit?
Continuing in our peach pie-ish theme is Dani's Peach and Blackberry Cobbler. You can find it at Gardening Under the Florida Sun.
Hmmmm biscuit topping. Did anyone else bake this holiday weekend?
