Peach Pie

Schools out, the sun is shining, and the livin is eassyy. Summer is a sign of lazy days and experiments in the kitchen. And the peaches at the grocery store were calling my name, begging me to slice them up and put them in a warm pie.
When life gives you peaches, obviously you have to spend half the day creating a crisp and buttery peach pie!

Peach pie is sweet and pretty, like wearing a flowy dress and sitting outside sipping iced tea on a sunny day. It's like a slice of summertime, best eaten with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream to cool ya down. Absolutely necessary for days so hot, you sweat in the creases behind your knees (oh is that just me? okay, weird.)

This pie is simple and wonderful. Just dough, fresh peaches, and some sugar and you've got yourself a delightful dessert that will bring back all the childhood memories during the summer when simple joys like a slice of pie made you the happiest kid in the world.

This pie makes me the happiest kid in the world. Fruit pies are the key to my happiness. I will always love the combination of fruit and buttery pastry. Always always.

Get yourself some dang peaches and get into the spirit of summer!

 Pie Dough for Lattice-Top Pie

From: Baking Illustrated Cookbook

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
7 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into
10 tablespoons ice water

Directions: 

 Process the flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined. Add the shortening and process until the mixture has the texture of coarse sand, about 10 seconds. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; cut the butter into the flour until the flour until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse crumbs, with butter bits no larger than small peas, about ten 1-second pulses. Turn the mixture into a medium bowl.

Sprinkle 10 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. With rubber spatula (or fingers!) use a folding motion to mix. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding an extra tablespoon of water if the dough will not come together. Divide the dough into 2 pieces, one slightly larger than the other. (If possible weigh the pieces; they should weigh 16 ounces and 14 ounces.) Flatten the larger piece into a rough 5-inch square and the smaller piece into the 4-inch disk; wrap separately in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

 Lattice-Top Peach Pie

From: Baking Illustrated Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 recipe Pie Dough for Lattice-Top Pie
Flour for dusting the work surface
6-7 ripe, medium-sized peaches (about 7 cups when sliced)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup (7 ounces) plus 1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
3-5 tablespoons potato starch or Minute tapioca*

*I was not able to find either of these so I used cornstarch, which the book does not recommend, but it was the best I could do!

Directions:

 Remove the dough from the refrigerator (if refrigerated longer than 1 hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable). Roll the larger piece of dough to a 15 by 11-inch rectangle, about ⅛ inch thick; transfer the dough rectangle to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. With a pizza wheel or paring knife, trim the long sides of the rectangle to make them straight, then cut the rectangle lengthwise into 8 strips, 15 inches long by 1 inch wide. Freeze strips on a baking sheet until firm, about 30 minutes.

 Roll the smaller piece of dough on a lightly floured surface or between 2 pieces of parchment paper to a 12-inch circle. It's okay if it's not perfect. No one's perfect. Pie crust with imperfections is homey and authentic. It has character!

Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate. Ease the dough into the pan corners by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while pressing into the pan bottom with the other hand. Leave the dough that overhangs the lip of the pie plate in place; refrigerate the dough-lined pie plate.

3. Remove the dough strips from the freezer; if they are too stiff to be workable, let them stand at room temperature until malleable and softened slightly but still very cold.

To make a lattice top:

Lay out 4 strips of dough on parchment paper. Fold the first and third strips back, then place a long strip of dough slightly to the right of the center.

 

Unfold the first and third strips over the perpendicular strip and fold the second and fourth strips back. Add a second perpendicular strip. Now unfold the second and fourth strip.

Repeat this process with 2 more perpendicular strips (you will have a total of 8 strips of dough, 4 running in each direction). 

Freeze the finished lattice until very firm, about 15 minutes, and then slide it over the filling.

 Trim off the excess lattice ends, fold the rim of the shell up over the lattice strips and crimp

 Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on it, and heat the oven to 500 degrees. Bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a large saucepan and fill large bowl with 2 quarts cold water and 2 trays ice cubes. 

With a paring knife, score a small x at the base of each peach. Lower the peaches into a pan of boiling water with a slotted spoon. Turn the peaches occasionally and simmer until their skins loosen, 30 seconds to 1 minute, depending on the ripeness of the peaches.  Not too long though! The peaches will get smooshy.

 

Transfer the peaches to a bowl of ice water. Let stand to stop the cooking process, about 1 minute and cool. Starting from the scored x, peel each peach. Use a paring knife to lift the skin from the flesh and pull the skin off. Peel the peaches. Halve, pit, and cut each peeled peach into ⅜ inch slices.

Toss the peach slices, lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and potato starch (corn starch) in a medium bowl.

Turn the peach mixture into the dough-lined pie plate. 

Remove the lattice from the freezer and place on top of the filled pie. Trim the lattice strips and crimp the pie edges. Lightly brush or spray the lattice top with 1 tablespoon water and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

 Lower the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Place the pie on the baking sheet and bake until the crust is set and begins to brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Rotate the pie and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees; continue baking until the crust is deep golden brown and juices, 25 to 30 minutes longer. Cool the pie on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving. 

The pie will bubble and overflow, but that's okay because it's juicy and delicious and worth the mess.

Set on a pretty tablecloth to cool, and then enjoy with family or friends :)

Oh! And you can make something totes adorable with the leftover dough!