Last weekend I bought about nine peaches with the intent of making peach pie for the Fourth of July. Peach pie? Why make peach pie on the Fourth of July? There’s nothing more American than baseball and peach pie, right? Fine so maybe it’s baseball and apple pie. But I’ve already successfully made apple pie. So peach pie it was.
Then the heat wave hit. And never stopped. And I realized I wasn’t going to be baking anything in my kitchen that was already 89 degrees at its warmest.
Until Julie and Gary saved the day. Or night rather. Monday night Julie sent Gary over with air conditioner and fresh blueberries in hand. I occupied Gary’s entire night by making him go to Home Depot with me and installing the air conditioner. I did send him home with some Fresh Raspberry Pie and a pint of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream (wrapped in a cold pack to keep it cool on the 20 to 30 minute car drive home). But something tells me two pieces of pie and a pint of ice cream isn’t really an appropriate thanks. I’ll have to work on that.
I used some of the blueberries Julie sent me to make some more Overnight Oats. This I brought to work. My coworker was falling off her chair shocked to see me eating something so healthy on purpose. Even more so shocked to see me finish the entire cup of oats.
The rest of the blueberries I decided to add to the peach pie as I’d seen recipes for peach blueberry pie in the past and had always been intrigued.
ingredients.
- about 3 lbs ripe peaches (I used about 8 1/2 peaches)
- 1 to 1 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
- 1/2 to 2/3 c. granulated sugar (depending on the sweetness of your peaches)
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (use ground if you don’t have a grinder)
- 1/8 tsp. ground ginger
- 3 T. flour
- 1 T. cornstarch
- 1 T. tapioca granules
- fresh lemon juice of 1 small lemon
- 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
- 2 T. sugar and 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon mixed together
directions.
- Make pie dough according to directions.
- To make the filling, wash and slice peaches. In a large bowl, combine peach slices and blueberries. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, spices, flour, tapioca and cornstarch. Pour the sugar mixture over the fruit, and gently toss together with a wooden spoon. Pour lemon juice over the mixture.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and place a baking sheet on the lower rack, just below where you’re going to place the pie to catch any pie juice drippings. Do not leave the baking sheet from the last pie you baked in the oven for this pie or surely your oven will smoke. Like mine did.
- Remove one of the pie dough disks from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a round slightly larger than your pie dish. Gently lift the round from the floured surface and center in the pie dish. Place in the fridge while you roll out the top crust.
- Roll out the top crust just as you did the bottom crust. Remove the bottom crust from the fridge. Gently pour the fruit filling into the pie dish. Carefully remove the top crust from the work surface and drape over the fruit in the pie dish. With a small knife, trim the crust, leaving a bit of an overhang. (You can also skip this step and make a really thick crust. I skip this most times out of laziness but find I love that extra thickness when I get to the end of my piece of pie.) With your fingers press the top and bottom crusts together and fold under. Use a fork to seal the edges of the dough or flute the dough with your fingers by pinching the dough between your thumb and pointer finger to form an angle. Repeat all the way around the edge of the crust.
- Cut five small slits in the top of the crust so the juices and steam can escape. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Place pie in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375 and bake for 50 to 60 more minutes. Remove from the oven when crust is browned and golden, and the juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving. Place covered in the fridge to store. Pie lasts up to 3 or 4 days.
So. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this pie. For two main reasons. One – the texture of the peaches. I have this same problem when it comes to apples. I like peaches raw. Not sure how I feel about them cooked. I don’t care much for the texture. (Same with apples and some vegetables. Like carrots. Two – the texture of the blueberries seemed to contrast with the peaches. The peaches melded together in almost mush-like texture and the blueberries seemed to retain their roundness. Not sure how that’s possible.
On a side note, the blueberries seemed a bit tart, in contrast to the sweet peaches. I’m not opposed to tart. It was a bit unexpected. So maybe I need to try another piece before I make my final decision. But after the first piece of pie, I’m not that crazy over this recipe.
I was, however, very thrilled with the fact that the pie maintained it’s shape when I cut into it. It didn’t cave in in the middle and it wasn’t overly runny.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 