Life’s a Peach, So lets make Pie!

The delicate smell of freshly baked peach pie fills my lungs, bringing life to the pastel walls and wooden floors of this rustic country home. Two nights ago I ended up going all little house on the prairie with this Peach Pie. I decided to do each step by hand from picking the peaches at Fishkill Farm to hand chopping in the butter. It was a delight to create this peach pie and I felt very connected to my European roots in the process.

It was my first visit to FishKill Farms. As I recall even finding this farm was kinda serendipitous from the get go. My husband Nathaniel and I drove there on a whim. We were taking a break from recording our new record TONES and decided to get snacks from this farm. When I entered the farm house a very Brooklyn looking woman asked if I had entered the pie contest yet?

I kindly told her no, and that I was not a good candidate to make a pie especially since I had never made a peach pie before but after some thought I realized that I really needed to jump out of my comfort zone so I said, “sign me up I’ll be here tomorrow by Noon with pie in hand.”

A little background for you is that I am a full time touring musician in (The Bergamot) based out of Brooklyn, NYC it is not often when I find a chance to bake, let alone my favorite pie, “peach”.

That night I called a dear friend of mine Maya who recently had my husband Nathaniel and I over for a delishous dinner. To finish the meal she brought out this amazing fruit galette. Her blueberry galette was the inspiration behind this peach pie.

So of course I called her first to ask if she had a good peach pie recipe. And after geeking out on the phone with her about what makes peach pies amazing we agreed that I needed to make a perfect pie crust and compliment it by placing it in a spring form pan verses a traditional pie pan. She happily gifted me this recipe that she had originally eaten from her friend Jessica Applegren, a prize-winning pie baker.

I ended up putting this peach pie in a competition at FishKill Farms in the Hudson Valley of New York State and tied for second place in the overall and took first place on my crust. It was a very exhilarating and humbling experience.

Here is a break down on this award winning pie.

The Recipe ///

Most fillings are beautifully simple when executed correctly by using fresh picked peaches and high quality ingredients. Then when you nail the crust you have something amazing to awaken ones taste buds.

Here is the recipe from my friend Maya (who happens to be the editor- in- chief of Edible Magazine Michiana) She received this recipe from her friend Jessica Applegren, a prize-winning pie baker in Northern California. I adapted this recipe a bit by using an all butter crust (I ditched the shortening check out this article for the hows and why’s behind going all butter) and I added 1 tsp. almond extract and 1 lemon squeezed with seeds removed and mixed both ingredients into the filling.

Get creative, feel free to use the original recipe as here at Domestic Fits or try my adapted recipe which you can find below.

Deep Dish Peach Pie 

All Butter Crust ///

3 C and 2 Tbs. all purpose flour

3 Tbs. sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks butter (ice cold and cut up into 1/4 inch cubes)

1/4 C ice water

1/4C vodka

Peach Filling ///

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

2 Tbs. Cornstarch

1/2 Cup sugar + 2 Tbs. more

1 tsp. Almond Extract

1 freshly squeezed lemon (seeds removed)

7 cups approximately 9 ripe freestone peaches (Cling and freestone peaches look identical; try to buy freestones, because the flesh will fall away from the pits easily.)

3 Cups Fresh Blueberries or if you prefer swap the blueberries out for 4 Cups fresh raspberries

Pie Dough Directions /// 

Step one:
Combine 2 cups of flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl and grab two knives or if you prefer do so in your food processor, pulse a few times until its combined. Add the butter and the shortening and process until it forms a ball around the blade, about 2 minutes. Or if your doing it by hand add the butter cubes and work it with two knives or a pie butter cutter for 5 minutes until it resembles cornmeal with peas sizes butter pieces.

Step two:
Add the remaining flour and process until well incorporated, about 1 minute.

Step three:

Move to a bowl and add the water and the vodka, combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Combining the liquid in the food process will destroy the effects of the vodka, and your hands may warm the fats too much. The dough will be very moist, but if it is too moist to stay together, add a little more flour.

Step four:
Split into two equal sized portions and form into disks. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill until very firm, about two hours. Because this dough is so soft, it is very important for the pie dough to be very cold and very firm.

Step five:
On a very well floured surface, place one of the disks, add flour to the top of the disk as well. Roll out into an even thickness. Marble rolling pins are very cold and don’t disrupt the fat inside the dough, making them an excellent choice for rolling pie dough. When you place your dough in the fridge to chill, add your marble rolling pin as well, allowing it to chill.

Step six:
This recipe is very soft and will fall apart while being rolled. Although some people like to use the rolling pin to assist with moving the dough from rolling surface to pie pan, it tends to fall apart too easily with this method. The easiest way is to fold the dough circle in half, then in half again, forming a triangle.

Place the point of the triangle in the center of the pie plate and unfold the dough.

Trim the dough, leaving a half-inch overhang past the edge of the pie pan. Form a fluted edge around the top of the pie crust.

Peach Filling Directions ///

Once your pie dough is completed, chilled and ready to go, roll out one disk (about half of the total recipe) so that it will sit in your spring form pan with about a 1 inch overhang. Fold in half, then in half again to form a triangle. Gently move to the pan with the point of the triangle in the dead center.

Unfold and smooth any rips or tears with your fingers. Set in the fridge to chill until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375.

Step one:

In a separate bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar, then whisk to combine.

Step two:

Add the1 tsp. almond extract and 1 freshly squeezed lemon (seeds removed) to the peaches and (blueberries or raspberries) once you have finished that step take the flour mix and toss to coat.

Step three:

Add the fruit to the spring form pan that is now lined with pie dough. Roll out your remaining dough and place it on the top of the pie, using the same method to move as you did with your bottom dough layer. Using your fingers, squeeze the top and bottom layers of the crust together around the edge of the pan. Make a few slits in the top of the pie dough to release steam. If you want to cut out a shape, as shown below, do so prior to moving your dough.

Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.

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