I spent half of August traveling, due to a family vacation in Portugal on short notice and then a long-planned trip I had with my friend, Brittany, to Barbados. By the time I got back, work had gotten crazy, I had blog posts that had fallen by the wayside and I found myself paying American Airlines eight bucks so that I could use wifi to catch up on e-mails. In the end, I felt refreshed, relaxed and tan enough not to mind all the catching up I had to do.
Being away though, I missed a few things. Namely, my friends, normal pillows, and working in my kitchen. So the latest project I decided to tackle was pie. Following detailed instructions, loosely kneading the dough, rolling it out and taking the time to free-hand shapes and lattice patterns was the kind of project I was in the mood for. Plus, the peaches are growing fewer and fleeting this time of year, as were the raspberries at Butler's Orchard.With all of that in mind, this recipe for peach raspberry pie was born.
Now, the thought of a store-bought crust is something that I look down on. Not in a snobby way, just in the sense that it's lazy. It's the easy way out. It's perfectly crimped edges of a pie shell that have zero character. It usually suffices, but you could tell the difference between a homemade crust and store-bought one any day. It's just a little extra work to make the pie taste 10 times better with your own crust.
I have two crust recipes I would recommend. One, from one of my mom's baking teachers, Carole Walter. And the other from my friend, chef Tiffany MacIsaac. When I've strayed from those recipes, the results were pies I wasn't happy with. I'd suggest investing in a pastry cloth at some point because it makes rolling out pie dough a whole lot easier. The dough won't get stuck in random spots on your counter top. While I was initially tempted to try a streusel topping, the allure of a lattice topping won this round. Below you'll find the full pie (well, pie filling, I suppose) recipe.
Peach and Raspberry Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie
Pie crust recipes from either Carole Walters or Tiffany MacIsaac.
Filling:
- 2 to 2 1/2 lbs. peaches (that's about four or five large, ripe peaches), peeled and sliced
- 2 cups of fresh raspberries
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch of nutmeg
Instructions:
1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove the skin from the peaches. Cut into slivers approximately 1/4 inch thick.
2. In a large bowl, mix the peaches with the sugar, brown sugar, flower, corn starch, cinnamon, lemon juice, salt and nutmeg. Stir so that the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together to form a thick, syrupy consistency.
3. Gently mix in the raspberries.
4. Let the mixture sit for approximately 15 minutes before filling the pie. If you're using Tiffany's recipe, you'll have to bake the bottom pie shell for a bit before filling the pie, so keep that in mind.
5. Once you've scooped the pie filling into the crust, close the pie with egg wash and lightly crimping the two crusts together. Brush the top crust of the pie with an egg wash mixture (Tiffany's recipe uses 1 large egg and two teaspoons of water beaten) and sprinkle a little bit of sugar on the top crust, if desired.
6. Bake the pie at 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Make sure to put a baking sheet under the pie in case it bubbles over.
7. Let cool and serve with homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
