National Peach Pie Day

By Michele

National Peach Pie Day is observed annually on August 24 to celebrate this mouth-watering dessert during the heart of the peach harvest season. It’s the perfect excuse to dive into a warm slice of peach deliciousness snuggled in a buttery crust – it’s summer in pie form!

While Georgia may be the first state to come to mind when we think of peaches, California actually leads the nation in production. In the United States, 20 states produce peaches commercially. Besides California and Georgia, the other two top producers are South Carolina and New Jersey. Pennsylvania and Washington grow a lot of peaches, as well.

Peach pie was invented some time around the 14th century in Europe. Though it is unknown who actually created the first peach pie, the first printed peach pie recipe was by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1381 in England.

If you’ve never made it before, give it a try. Let today be the day you bake your very first peach pie, like I did! Put a scoop of  cold vanilla ice cream on top and let it melt on a slice of warm flaky peach pie for an added treat.

So, are you ready to give it a try? I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Let me preface the recipe by saying that although I made my first pie crust by following a recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen, you could use a frozen pie crust if you prefer. A stored pie crust in your freezer along with an excess of stone or berry fruit, make for a quick and delicious dessert. I’ll be honest, I was hesitant making my first crust ever, and the following recipe was truly easy and resulted in the success I was hoping for. If you’re not intimidated by the length of the crust recipe, do give it a try. I can promise you, as a non-baker, that it was truly easy.

Lastly, I worried about the bottom crust being soggy. So I took to the Internet to find a solution. Here’s what I found from Dorie Greenspan, Stacey Mei, Yan Fong, and other amazing bakers: “Before you add your pie filling, mix together about a teaspoon of all-purpose flour and a teaspoon of white granulated sugar, then dust the mixture on the bottom of your pie crust”. “This mixture, affectionately called ‘crust dust,’ creates a moisture barrier between your filling and the crust itself.” This will work with just about any fruit filling. And, it worked for my peach pie!

Pie Crust

Recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen

This is an all-butter pie dough and yields two 9-inch single crusts or one double crust. You can use it for savory and sweet pies – it is flaky, flavorful and irresistibly delicious. You can make it in a food processor – or with a hand pastry blender.

Ingredients for crust

2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust

½ tablespoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon Kosher salt

½ pound COLD unsalted butter, (1 cup or 2 sticks) diced into ¼-inch pieces

7 to 8 tablespoons ice water

Preparation 

1. Place flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

2. Add cold diced butter and pulse the mixture until coarse crumbs form with some pea-sized pieces then stop mixing. Mixture should remain dry and powdery. 

3. Add 7 tablespoons ice water and pulse just until moist clumps or small balls form. Press a piece of dough between your finger tips and if the dough sticks together, you have added enough water. If not, add more water a teaspoon full at a time. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will be sticky and difficult to roll out.

4. Transfer dough to a clean work surface, and gather dough together into a ball (it should not be smooth and DO NOT knead the dough). Divide dough in half and flatten to form 2 disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour before using.

5. Roll the first pie disk – Dust the work surface with flour and then roll the first dough disk into a 13" circle using a rolling pin, adding more flour as needed to keep it from sticking. Transfer dough into a 9-inch pie pan and press it into the pan, letting it extend a bit over the edges. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

6. Roll the second pie disk – flour a piece of parchment paper, and roll out the second refrigerated pie dough round to 12" onto the paper. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut 8 even strips. Refrigerate the dough until ready to use.

Peach Pie Filling and Baking

Ingredients for Pie Filling

6 peaches, peeled and sliced

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

¼  cup flour

1/8  teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Dash of salt

2 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

½ lemon, juiced or 2 tablespoons 

"Crust Dust" - whisk together 1 teaspoon flour and 1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon milk and 1 egg white for egg wash

Preparation

1.      Add peach slices to a large bowl. Pour in lemon juice and mix well.

2.     In a separate bowl, combine sugars, flour, spice, salt and mix well.

3.     Add dry ingredients to peaches and mix.

4.     Sprinkle the “crust dust” on to the bottom of the pie shell.

5.     Pour the peach mixture into the pie shell and dot with butter.

6.     Make the top crust. Weave the lattice crust – Place 4 of the chilled strips of dough

evenly over the peaches, using any longer strips at the center and shorter strips toward

the edges. Pull back every other strip just past the halfway point. Lay one long strip over

the center of the pie, perpendicular to the other strips. Unfold the strips, then fold back

the alternating strips. Repeat with the remaining strips to create a lattice pattern. Next,

fold back the alternating strips from the other side of the pie and finish weaving in the

remaining strips.

7.     Finishing touches. Fold any excess dough under the bottom crust and flute the edges

of the crust. In a small bowl, combine the egg and water, and beat together with a fork.

Brush the egg wash all over the pie crust.

8.     Bake at 400 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until juices are bubbling and the crust is

nicely browned.