For as long as I can remember I have disliked peaches. It stemmed from an early-life allergy I seemed to have to almost every fruit imaginable (seriously – apples, pears, peaches, nectarines) and that the flavor just wasn’t for me. Ever since whenever anyone’s offered a peach-flavored anything to me I’ve politely declined. This week I discovered how incredibly wrong I was.
Peach Pah!
I put together a Southern Dinner Party last week and for dessert baked my first-ever pie – peach! Vanilla ice cream was also supposed to be in the cards, but a slight miscalculation led to a pie-only night. Regardless, along with some awesome fried chicken, collards, mac’n’cheese, corn souffle, and a considerable amount of alcohol, my first pie graced our table for southern-styled night. As far as looks go, it actually turned out not-half-bad, though I clearly need practice.
Purty Peaches
The pie ended up not being that difficult to put together. I’m not sure how well the crust really came out; it seemed a little dry to me while I was making it even though I followed the directions, but it actually turned out being fine in the end (to my untrained tongue, anyway). Anybody have some good pie-crust tips or recommendations? I also think that perhaps I should’ve rolled it slightly thinner, but since I have no experience with it I can’t quite be sure.
The filling itself was really simple, though: peeled and sliced peaches rolled with some sugar and spices. Though next time I need to peel 8 peaches, I think I’ll not be a noob and actually use the tricksy soak’n’peel method I’ve read so much about instead of slacking (as usual) and creating, overall, more work for myself. Blast my poor judgement calls! Oh, and while we’re on the subject of poor judgement calls, I also left the arrowroot out of the filling, mistakenly thinking it was a spice I didn’t have rather than a thickener. No wonder the pie turned out a bit soupy! Derp derp.
Pah Fillin'
The pie was pretty darn delicious; there wasn’t a soul there (except for my gluten-allergic friend – sorry Ryan!) who didn’t enjoy it (though everyone was so stuffed, nobody had room for seconds). It was sweet without being overpowering and was a great way to top off a southern night of decadence. I’m definitely going to be making more pies this summer! LOOK OUT, WORLD!
Bacon Badge 2012
And don’t forget – Bacon Week starts next Monday! Post a recipe next week and snag the badge. Tell your friends!
Really Good Peach Pie (filling) Recipe
Yoinked directly from A New Turn in the South.
I didn’t include the crust recipe they provide – use your own or go buy the book!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp arrowroot
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 8 large peaches, peeled, pitted & sliced into 1/2 inch slices.
- 1 egg, beaten (for wash)
Instructions:
1. Mix together the brown sugar, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, arrowroot, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add peaches to the spice mix. Once combined pour them immediately into the pie crust.
3. Brush the egg wash over the top crust, then sprinkle the remaining sugar on top.
4. Place pie in the freezer for 15 minutes, and put a baking sheet into the oven to get it nice and hot.
5. Put the pie directly onto the baking sheet and bake at 415F for 15 minutes, then reduce to 370F and continue baking for another 30 minutes, or until pie is golden brown and bubbling.
Mary Gezo
Formerly of both n00bcakes and !Blog, the two magically become one on Spatialdrift; expect some lazy baking and serious nerditude. Also, I love semicolons.
Pie is one of the Great Realms of Baking in which I feel confident enough about to dispense out tips. I rarely add much sugar to my crusts. Make sure the butter is as cold as possible (almost wrote ass cold, that too). Add the icy ice water bit by bit, you’ll not really need that much.
Another good option is to use vodka in your crust. I haven’t done this very often, simply because I love the recipe I use. But vodka’s a good ‘liquid’ to include, it can results in a less soggy end-crust.
I love peaches and peach pie, what a great first outing!! 🙂
By the way I know kind of what I want to make for Bacon Week, but I need a spritz press and I don’t have one. Happen to have a spritz press you’d lend me for a fortnight? 😀
ooh peach pie is an excellent choice! Pies are my weak point too.. you’ll notice a lack of them from my blog 🙂 This summer I really want to tackle them though. I can’t believe this is your first one because it looks really good
It makes me sad that you were allergic to so many yummy fruits, but hurrah for peaches, Miss Georgia! I haven’t made many pies involving the traditional crust, but the most recent was hugely successful, minus the watery filling. The crust (not filling) recipe was from smitten kitchen and was really easy to follow. I do believe that peach pah looks mighty tasty!
Dang! A southern party? My kimchi overloaded taste buds are practically weeping with longing after this post! 😀 and congrats on the pie!!
@Emma – So should the pie crust dough be pretty dry when I get ready to roll it out? Mine was…I don’t think it was quite lumpy, but it definitely didn’t feel like a nice, smooth dough. Because I was cutting in butter I didn’t want to work things too much less I just sort of melt the butter in. Also, how thin should I have rolled it out? I was afraid if I rolled it too thin it would tear…but in the end I thought I left it too thick! GIVE TO ME YOUR KNOWLEDGE! ;_;
Also, if I had a spritz press (whatever the hell that is) I would totally lend it to you. Alas, I do not. 🙁
@Stephanie – I can’t wait to see what sort of pies you come up with! I will be sure to immediately copy-cat you, as your stuff always turns out looking lovely. 😀 I’m glad you think mine turned out well too! It’s not perfect, but a pretty durn good first try. ^_^
@Jessica – Yeah, my mom actually told me recently that for awhile she thought I was just trying to get out of eating fruit! But it eventually became clear that I did have some sort of allergy. Whatever it was, I’ve grown out of it partially and now love apples and nectarines (and now maybe peaches?). I’ll definitely take a look at Deb’s crust recipe…I need practice!
@Anna – If you were still here you TOTALLY would have been invited. Next time you make it back to the states I will do my darndest to coordinate something with you! ^_^
No, I don’t think it should look dry. But it shouldn’t look moist either. As long as your butter is cold, mix it in as well as you can. And then make sure your ice water (or vodka!) is as cold as possible too. This will help cool it down from any heating up during mixing.
If you’re nervous about rolling it out too much, you can always roll your crust between sheets of wax paper. It won’t stick to the counter, and you can move it around to compare it to your pie plate. It’s good to have a half inch of overhang at the least, to make for good crimping. Maybe a bit more if you blind-bake, as it tends to shrink.
Hope this helps:)
I’ll just have to figure out something else for bacon week…