Summery Peach Pie

For the past many years, summers in our house means that I’ll be baking peach pie at least once, due to the abundance of peaches. This is great because I often find that the peaches that we get are a little too tart to eat on their own. But when they’re baked the sweetness is ideal. Also I generally prefer the taste of peach pie to apple pie. Let me add here, my sweet tooth is very moderate in sweetness – things that are too sweet turn my taste buds off. Anyway this peach pie is ideal when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, alternatively you can also put a dollop of fresh cream on top and enjoy that. Yum either way!

Ok first thing’s first, you need to make the pie crust also known as Pate Brisee. It’s important how you handle the dough for this so as not to make it too hard.

Pate Brisee (Pie Crust)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Butter chilled cut in cubes (NOT room temperature or melted)
1/4 – 1/2 cup Ice Water

Combine the dry ingredients and add the cubes of butter. You can use a fork but I prefer my hands to mix the butter and creating a crumbly texture until all the butter is mixed in. Slowly add the iced water to create a dough. You want to make sure its not too watery or else it will be a nightmare to handle. Rub the sides and get all the flour incorporated. Don’t knead this dough too much, you want to keep it soft and just holding together. Now take a knife and cut the dough in half in two balls. Wrap each ball of dough in a cellophane plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to an hour. This is when you will work on the peach pie filling, enough time for the dough to sturdy up.

Peach Pie Filling:

5-6 large Fresh Peaches
2 tbsp Flour
1 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Butter (cut in small pieces)
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 egg beaten for top glaze

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

Please do NOT use canned peaches for this sweet treat! Ok now that’s out of the way, I can breathe. Medium to large sized peaches work, if you have particularly small peaches just add more to make it equivalent. I’ve found using a peeler to be extremely efficient when peeling the peaches. Then you can simply twist the peach off the pit and VOILA! ready to chop into cubes/small pieces. Simple dimple… grab a mixing bowl, throw in the peaches, add the flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and lemon juice. Mix together with a spoon. The peaches should start releasing their juices. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge.

Meanwhile, pull out your dough and a pie plate and start rolling. Take one of the dough balls and on a lightly floured counter, roll it out to fit the base and sides of the pie plate (An 8 or 9 inch plate will work). Make sure the dough you rolled out is of even thickness. Push the dough on to the sides so that it sticks. Take the peach filling and evenly distribute it over the pate brisee in the pan. Don’t worry if it looks too juicy, the flour will help it thicken up while baking.

Next take the other ball and again roll it out. You will use this to cover the top of the pie. You can use a pizza cutter or a regular sharp knife to cut 1/2″ strips long enough to cover the filling from one side of the pan to the other. They will criss cross over each other to create the top weave. Pinch the sides of the dough to hold together. Pictures below should explain this better. Take your beaten egg and with a pastry brush apply it on top of the weave, this gives your pie a golden glaze that completes the look.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Please keep watching it, because honestly it really depends on each individual oven too, right?

P.S. I know this post is totally out of season now, but honestly I had started it a couple months back and just took this long to finally post it… grrr.