Peach Pie

Not so long ago, I hated pie. As an eater, I thought the crust was dry and tasteless, and the center was always too sweet no matter what type of pie it was. As a baker, pie terrified me. I thought the land of perfect pie crusts was unattainable. If Polly's pies couldn't do it, neither could I. So I kind of wrote off pie as something only special people could do. (And by special people I mean Allison Arcos because she is a pie genius and completely changed my views on pie).                    A few months ago, I tried my hand at pumpkin pie, and I felt very accomplished. Allison would always bring pies with her to work and it sparked many coworker friendships. People like pie. People think home made pie is awesome. I think home made pie is awesome. I'm glad I've changed my views and have come into the pie world with an open mind. 

I went back to visit Stebbins last weekend. I couldn't visit without baking, and my friend Marc suggested pie. Done. On Sunday a few stebbinites went to the farmers market and gathered a lot of summer stone fruit. I love the first peach of summer. This one was especially sweet and juicy and I knew I had to use the rest in a peach pie. So Irene and I set to work. 

The smitten kitchen pie dough is my favorite. It's easy to bring together. Full of a ridiculous amount of butter and so easy to work with after it has chilled. Easily rolled. Easily cut. Easily arranged. And the final product? Flaky, buttery, delicious. 

                               

I had never made a lattice top before but have always wanted to try. One of my favorite parts of pie is how pretty the presentation is. Lattice tops are beautiful and I was surprised by how easy it was.  

        

Irene and I made a very simple filling. We just cut peaches, mixed some brown sugar with cinnamon and threw them into the crust. Easy, and tasted delicious. 

We messed up on the edges a bit but it still tasted delicious. 

With a dollop of homemade whipped cream on top, this pie was a little slice of summer. Fun to make and fun to share. Hopefully there will be more pies this summer! 

My lovely roommate, Irene. Shotty iPhone picture. :/ 

Recipe

For the crust I used this recipe

Pie Crust

This link includes a lot of really great tips on how to make a good pie crust. I found it super helpful. 

For the filling we used approximately 10 peaches. We then mixed 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of white sugar, as much cinnamon as we thought was enough (maybe a tbsp?), and a pinch of nutmeg. This made too much of a sugar mixture, so we probably used about a 1/2 cup of the mixture and mixed it in with the peaches. 

1. Make the pie dough, wrap, and refrigerate until chilled

2. Cut the peaches and make the sugar mixture

3. Cut the pie dough in half. Roll out half of the pie dough into a circle and arrange in a pie pan

4. Pre bake the dough for approximately ten minutes

5. Roll out the other half of the dough and then cut into long thin strands

6. Mix the peaches and sugar mixture then put them into the pre baked pie crust

7. Arrange the lattice top (I found simple instructions after googling it)

8. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until the top is nice and brown

9. Enjoy