Mistakes can happen in the kitchen, but more often than not they are opportunities for a little creativity. For example, with this peach pie, I was having such a dreamy time making it that I forgot it was a double crust pie—after carefully fluting the bottom crust and setting it in the refrigerator to chill (a cold pie crust bakes so much better than a warm one which slumps) I realized what I had done. Ahhhh, shoot! I could have tried to merge the top crust with the bottom flutes but instead I had a little fun with it and covered the top with stars.
Whether you do a double crust or cut outs be sure to use my favorite pie crust, it’s the best tasting easiest to handle pie dough I’ve come across. The filling is a merge of Joy of Cooking and Fannie Farmer; adjust sugar according to the ripeness of the peaches. When I find good peaches, I buy 10 or 12 and let them ripen for a few days in the kitchen. You won’t need that many for pie, so that means a peach for breakfast with a scoop of cottage cheese or Greek yogurt—one of my summer pleasures, especially eaten outside in the sun.
peach filling with a few blueberries + proper set up for a double crust pie
peach pie baked
Peach Pie
one deep dish pie; filling adapted from Marion Cunningham's Fannie Farmer Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking
Ingredients
Prepare in Advance and Chill
- pie dough, enough for a double crust
Filling
- 8 peaches about 6 cups peeled and sliced
- ¾ to 1 cup granulated sugar, depending on peach ripeness
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 lemon, squeezed about 3 tablespoons juice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg optional
- a couple pinches Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon butter for dotting filling before top crust
For finishing
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream
- raw sugar for sprinkling something with bigger crystals than regular granulated sugar, like turbinado
Egg wash for baking: 1 egg + 2 tablespoons milk or cream
Instructions
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Prepare the pie dough and chill it for at least an hour or up to a couple days.
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To peel peaches: bring a large pot of water to boil. Drop in the peaches, wait a minute, then transfer to an ice bath. As soon as you can handle them, knick the skin with a knife and peel, it should slip right off. If not, plunge back into the boiling water for another minute. If the skins are really stuck, like some of the peaches that make their way out here to Montana, peel them away the best you can with a paring knife.
Filling
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Stir together all ingredients and let stand 15 minutes, stirring a few times.
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Preheat oven to 425°F. Roll out pie dough rounds and fit bottom crust into deep-dish pie dish (9" diameter x 2" deep). Spoon in peach filling, dot with butter, and fit top crust. Place pie in refrigerator until oven is preheated.
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Mix egg wash and brush over crust and sprinkle with raw sugar. Set pie dish on a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any drips) and bake 30 minutes at 425° then lower to 350° for 30 more minutes.
