Yes, my friends I'm still making pies and racking up the running miles! The unusally hot Seattle summer created some burnout for me on both activities, but I'm bound to catch up by year's end. This weekend I've a flat of Spooner Farms blueberries (last of the season) to contend with. Shifting through blueberry pie recipes for tomorrow's inspiration.
The Inspiration:
My inspiration was a friends knit along. The knitting gals were pulled into my pie world this time. Given the choice between blackberry and peach, peach was the enthusiatic winner. Happily, I accepted this challenge peach happens to be one of my all time favorites.
The Production:
Love, love, love peaches. Surprisingly, my vast library of recipes contained only a few slant recipes for pure peach pie. Everyone is eager to pair peach with berries or ginger. It's peach o'rama at our local Met Markets this month with local ripe beauties trucked in daily. I was looking for the perfect recipe to showcase the brillance of peach at the height ripeness.
Smitten Kitten came to the rescue with her peach pie recipe. Everything I've tried of hers has been wonderful. She has the tenacity I lack in her pursuit of the culinary arts. She will play and experiment with multiple recipes until the end results are perfected it to her high standards. Thank you for doing the leg work for me on this one!
Admitting right here and now, I did not blanch my peaches for easy peel. I was engaged in the delicate balance of simultanteously making crab corn chowder and peach pie. Commensated for the lost peach flesh by adding an additional fruit. The thickener is tapioca flour (ground up tapioca beads in spice grinder.) And I loved that she utilized a cream wash.
And I can't stress this enough, once your pie is assembled place it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. It helps solidify the butter bits needed for the "flaky"part of crust creation. Heat was seriously wilting the dough during my last few lattice weaves. Brush the pie crust with the cream wash once the pie is out of the freezer, right before the oven.
The Verdict:
OMG, can't leave this in suspense - it was the perfect capture of summer. The pie crust was tender and flaky. Peaches were baked to perfection with just enough sugar to sweeten and still retain the hint of tart. The pie set and sliced beautifully. Honestly, it was one of my top 3 favorite pies this year. Luckily, my friend Sara kindly gave the leftover 1/3 pie a home. Otherwise I wasn't seeing a scenario in which I hadn't finished the whole thing by sun-up all by myself. This one is definitely in the keeper column.
The Photographic Evidence:
a peach of a pie
1/3 remaining
slice of heaven
beauty shot
Next up: Blueberry
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