BAKE 52: WEEK 29

LATTICE-TOP PEACH PIE

It's my turn to host this week and I wanted something fresh and summery, so I went for the lattice-top peach pie.  I love using fruits in their season and summer has so many great ones to choose from that I was tempted to toss some raspberries in with the peaches, but since I'm hosting I decided to stick to the recipe.  I'm excited to see if anyone in the group mixed it up.  

I should get right to the recipe, but since I am the host, I'm going to first shamelessly brag about who I met this week and had autograph a ladle.  A soup ladle.  And he is a famous soup Chef--and he plays one on T.V.  Have you guessed yet?  If not, I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats...

Here's the ladle...

Can you read it?  It say's, "No Soup for You!".  Yes, my claim to fame is through the Soup Nazi.  How cool is that?!

And here is a picture of me and my family with him...

I was shocked, SHOCKED I say, to find out as I went about bragging this week, that many a younger folk do not know who the Soup Nazi is!  Please, be shaking you head too.  It is a shame.  I went from cool to old in a matter of days.  Thank goodness for pie!  Pie is for the young and old, cool and those who thought they were cool.  

And this pie was totally cool and fun to make!  I didn't have a fluted pastry wheel to cut the edges of the lattice strips, so I experimented on ways to cut the dough to still make it fancy.  I used Play-Doh rollers and different paper cutter blades until I found a winner with the wavy removable blade.  It had a hole in the middle so I fit (fitted?) it onto a chopstick and rolled the edges of my lattice strips with it for a prettier look.  

The pie baked up lovely and was delicious!  I served it warm with vanilla ice cream.  I hope you all enjoyed this recipe!

LATTICE-TOP PEACH PIE

1 recipe double-crust pie dough

There were a few pie crusts to choose from, but I went with the All-Butter Double-Crust Pie Dough (p.359). 

(I cheated here; we've done this crust before so I went to Valerie's blog a copied and pasted her recipe.  Thanks, Valerie!)

All-Butter Double Crust Pie Dough

1/3 cup ice water

3 T sour cream

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2oz) all-purpose flour

1 T sugar

1 tsp. salt

16 T (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces and frozen for 10 to 15 minutes.

Mix 1/3 cup of the ice water and sour cream together in small bowl until combined. Process the flour, sugar, and salt together in a food processor until combined. Scatter the b utter pieces over the top and pulse the mixture until the butter is the size of large peas, about 10 pulses.

Pour half of the sour cream mixture over the flour mixture and pulse until incorporated, about 3 pulses. Repeat with the remaining sour cream mixture. Pinch the dough with your fingers; if the dough feels dry and does not hold together, sprinkle 1 to 2 T more ice water over the mixture and pulse until the dough forms large clumps and no dry flour remains, 3 to 5 pulses

Divide the dough into 2 even pieces. Turn each piece of dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten each into a 4-inch disk. Wrap each piece tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour. Before rolling the dough out, let it sit on the counter to soften slightly, about 10 min.

For Pie Filling:

2 1/2 pounds (5-7) peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced 1/3 inch thick (Freestone peaches are recommended because the pits are more easily removed)

1-1 1/4  cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Pinch salt

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Directions:

1.  Roll one disk of dough into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured counter, then fit it into a 9-inch pie plate, letting the excess dough hang over the edge; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2.  Roll the other disk of dough into a 13 1/2 by 10 1/2-inch rectangle, then transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Trim the dough to a 13 by 10-inch rectangle with straight edges, and following the photos on page 379, slice it lengthwise into eight 13inch-long strips.  Separate the strips slightly, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until very firm, about 30minutes.

3.  Toss the peaches and 1 cup of the sugar together in a large bowl and let sit, tossing occasionally, until the peaches release their juice, about 1 hour. (Add up to 4 more tablespoons of sugar if the peaches taste tart.)  Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 425 degrees.

4.  Drain the peaches thoroughly through a colander, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice.  In a large bowl, toss the drained fruit, 1/4 cup reserved juice, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt together until well combined.

5.  Spread the peaches into the dough-lined pie plate and weave the chilled strips of dough over the top into a lattice.  Let the strips soften for 5 to 10 minutes, then trim, fold, and crimp the edges.  Lightly brush the lattice with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

6.  Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees, rotate the baking sheet, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 25 to 35 minutes longer.  Let the pie cool on a wire rack until the filling has set, about 2 hours; serve slightly warm or at room temperature.