Peach Pie, Anyone?

Recipe and crust design inspired by Southern Living's 07/2011 Issue. View it here.

Ingredients
1 1/3 cups cold butter
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup ice-cold water
8 large fresh, firm, ripe peaches (about 4 lb.)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar


Preparation (If you are not making homemade crust, skip steps 1-3) 
1. Cut 1 1/3 cups butter into small cubes, and chill 15 minutes. Stir together 4 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp. salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup ice water with a fork, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened and dough begins to form a ball and leaves sides of bowl, adding more ice water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, if necessary. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; press and shape dough into 2 flat disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap, and chill 30 minutes to 24 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 425º. Place 1 dough disk on a lightly floured surface; sprinkle dough lightly with flour. Roll dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Starting at 1 edge of dough, wrap dough around a rolling pin. Place rolling pin over a 9-inch pie plate, and unroll dough over pie plate. Press dough into pie plate.
3. Roll remaining dough disk to about 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.
4. Peel peaches, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices; cut slices in half. Stir together brown sugar, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1/4 cup flour in a bowl; add peaches, stirring to coat. Immediately spoon peach mixture into piecrust in pie plate, and dot with 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter. (Do not make mixture ahead or it will become too juicy.)
5. Carefully place remaining piecrust over filling; press edges of crusts together to seal. Cut off excess crust, and reserve. Crimp edges of pie. If desired, reroll excess crust to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into 3-inch leaves using a knife. Brush top of pie with beaten egg; top with leaves. Brush leaves with egg; sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbsp. granulated sugar. Cut 4 to 5 slits in top of pie for steam to escape. 6. Freeze pie 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a jelly-roll pan in oven 10 minutes. Place pie on hot jelly-roll pan.
7. Bake at 425° on lower oven rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°; bake 40 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning, and bake 25 more minutes or until juices are thick and bubbly (juices will bubble through top). Transfer to a wire rack; cool 2 hours before serving.
Lovely Lattice: For an equally impressive top crust, cut remaining dough disk in Step 3 into 3 (1 1/2-inch-wide) strips and 8 (1/4-inch-wide) strips using a fluted pastry wheel. Proceed as directed through Step 4. In Step 5, replace whole crust with dough strips, making a lattice design. Omit pastry leaves. Brush lattice with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar. Omit slits in crust. Proceed as directed in Steps 6 and 7, shielding just the edges with foil.


By Pastry Chef Shae Rehmel, Five & Ten, Athens, Georgia, Southern Living







Comments: Texture and taste is very similar to apple pie... but better.

Warm Granny Smith Apple Pie

Fresh Apple Pie

+

4-Ingredient Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean

Here's How:

★ Recipe Serves 8  ★ Total Prep Time 25 Minutes. Total Bake Time 60 Minutes  ★  Serve Warm With Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop on the Side  ★

Ingredients:
1 box Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough (comes with 2 x 9" inch pie doughs) 

Filling:
from Judy's Perfect Apple Pie recipe. Modified version posted below.

7 cups thinly sliced peeled baking apples (Approx. 7 apples. Recommend using Granny Smith apples. I also added in 1 Pink Lady and 1 McIntosh)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (Approx 1 fresh lemon squeezed)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In bowl 1, place peeled and cut all apples. Add lemon juice.
3. In bowl 2, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Mix and then add to bowl 1. Toss.
4. Place pie dough into 9" inch pie pan. Pour filling into pie pan. Dot with butter on top of filling.
5. Either decoratively cover the pie as I did in picture above, or cover flat pie dough on pie and cut slits in the middle. Seal top and bottom pie crust together and decoratively wave pie edges.
6. Beat egg yolk and water; brush over pastry top.
7. Bake at 425 degrees F for 14 minutes. Reduce hat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 40-45 minutes until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

Pumpkin Pie (Paula Deen, Food Network - modified)

Prep Time: 20 

Cook Time: 50 

Ready In: 2 hours

Servings: 7

Original Recipe Yield 8.5" pie

Ingredients:
* 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 2 cups canned pumpkin, mashed
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
* 1 cup half-and-half
* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
* sprinkle of nutmeg
* 1 piece pre-made pie dough
* Whipped cream and almond slivers for toppings.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Footnotes: 
Added to recipe nutmeg and almond slivers for toppings. Did not use the ground ginger. Highly recommend blind baking and using Pillsbury premade (but not prebaked) pie crust.

Lemon Tart Minis with Caramelized Sugar Crust

That's right, this post reveals that I not only have my own kitchen potted garden, but also that my boyfriend for some reason or other decided to buy me a blowtorch for my birthday. In-home kitchen garden include 4 stevia plants, 2 basil stems grown from seeds, 2 lemon verbena trees and many wild grown mint stems.

Ingredients

• (Let's be real) pre-mixed pie dough
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoon sugar for caramelized finish
• Fresh mint leaves
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bake pie crust dough for 12 to 15 minutes or according to the packaging instructions.
   
3. Combine eggs, white sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons flour and mix until smooth; pour mixture over hot crust.
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until firm. Let cool completely in baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar and cut into 12 triangles.
5. OPTIONAL - with baking blow torch, circle with medium to light fire under sugar is caramelized and surface makes a tapping sound when tapped with spoon.
   
6. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.
   

Posted recipe is a modified version of Melissa's Lemon Tart Triangles recipe. View original here. 

Tough enough to be part of the TM Team? I think so!