August 2020 in The Twelve Months of Pie - Peach Pie
For August, I made Peach Pie, and I used the buttery flour crust recipe I used for my May, June, and July pies. My go-to recipes in years past for a lard crust was passed down from my mother – it’s delicious, light, and flaky, but I really like this healthier recipe I found online. The crust mixture combined easily and after being refrigerated, the dough rolled out easily. I finally broke down and purchased a silicone rolling pin and mat for rolling out dough and pie crust. Wow! What a difference it makes instead of the plastic bottle I’ve been using, but I stand by my previous statements about this recipe – it rolls out like a charm no matter what you use for a rolling pin. The crust is flaky and delicious, and this is now my go-to recipe for flour crust.
Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust – here is the link to Sally's Baking Addiction:
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-basics-homemade-buttery-flaky-pie-crust/
Here is the link to the recipe for the Peach Pie I made for August, https://lilluna.com/peach-pie/.
I was able to find fresh peaches, and I set them single-spaced in a container on my kitchen counter to ripen to the perfect softness for my pie. This is no easy task because 12 peaches don’t always ripen at the same speed because you bought them on the same day. Once I felt the peaches were soft enough, I made lengthwise slices down each peach, removed the pits and peeling, and sliced the peaches into a bowl. After 30 minutes, I drained the excess juice from the bowl, so the filling wouldn’t make the crust soggy. I did this a couple of times because the peaches were super juicy. I added the other recipe ingredients to the sliced peaches and stirred carefully. There’s no need to cook anything before combining, so this part of the recipe is quick.
I used a variation of the lattice crust like the stars and stripes version I used for last month’s blueberry pie. I purchased flower-shaped cookie cutters and once I selected the sizes I set to work. I started with a medium flower for the center and encircled it with a ring of smaller flowers then a ring of medium flowers. I brushed each flower with egg and lastly, I placed tiny flowers in the center of each flower and brushed them with egg. I added tiny pats of butter around the top before placing the pie in the oven. Midway through baking, I covered the entire top crust with foil to prevent it from burning.
The pie came out of the oven with a beautiful bouquet of golden flowers on top surrounded by a golden circle of crust. After allowing the pie to cool for an hour, I sliced it and served perfectly shaped wedges of the pie which means it didn’t fall apart when it was being removed from the pan.
We tried servings of the pie plain, with whipped cream topping and with vanilla ice cream. Honestly, there’s no wrong way to serve this pie. It’s not just beautiful to look at, it’s delicious. The peach filling was tender and flavorful, not mushy, or overly sweet. The pie was juicy without making the crust soggy.
Next month I’ll be making Key Lime Pie.
Since I haven’t received any photos or recipes from readers, I’m canceling the drawing for the gift from Pampered Chef. It’s a shame because Pampered Chef has awesome kitchen tools and bakeware for all your baking needs.