So I guess I missed the memo floating around in the blogosphere on “Pie Day” earlier in the month, which is completely fine with me considering I am always late to post anything before an event or holiday. Which is probably counterproductive in the whole food blogging world, but oh well. I mean we are talking about pie! That makes up for everything right?! In any case, we did enjoy pie and I am happy to admit for once that I didn’t do any of the baking, but with good reason!
My intention for this post was to have a guest baker/writer, however he made it clear that he was already my personal photographer and that he didn’t want to add one more task to his plate. Which actually I did add to his plate–a Peach Pie a la mode!
I am referring to my hubby who is my biggest fan and so very supportive with my blog and baking. We recently found out that he has a hidden talent–making pies! I was a bit jealous considering I’ve never really tackled a pie and the first pie that my hubby did was perfect. So I bowed graciously to him and crowned him the Pie King!
So why is his pie perfect? Well the crust is light and flaky, the filling solid and not too runny, and the taste, oh so very yummy. So I asked the Pie King to at least grant me an interview. And it went something like this:
ailovebaking: Hi Pie King!
Pie King: Hi . . .
ailovebaking: So what do you like better cake or pie?
Pie King: Pie (obviously)
ailovebaking: What is your favorite pie?
Pie King: Peach
ailovebaking: Is it easy to make pie?
Pie King: Yes and no
ailovebaking: Will all your answers be one or two words?!
Pie King: Maybe
Okay I definitely know when things are going down hill and as you can tell my hubby is a man of few words. That’s okay with me he makes wonderful pies and at times can be as sweet as pie!
The recipe below is from my very old copy of the Joy of Cooking and the exact one that my hubby used. The only addition we made is adding cream cheese as the bottom layer to the pie. This made the pie creamy and complemented the sweet and tartness of the peaches, our take on peaches and cream.
Flaky Pastry Dough (from the Joy of Cooking)
Ingredients:
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 c vegetable shortening
1 stick unsalted butter, cold
1/3 c ice-cold water, plus 1-3 tbsp if needed
Directions:
- Using a rubber spatula, thoroughly mix in a large bowl the flour, sugar, and salt.
- Break the shortening into large chunks and cut butter into small pieces.
- Add shortening and butter to the flour mixture.
- Cut the shortening and butter with a pastry blender or by cutting in opposite directions with 2 butter knives (which is what my hubby did).
- Continue until the mixture resembles the consistency of coarse crumbs or cornmeal (the mixture should seem dry and powdery and not pasty or greasy).
- Drizzle over the mixture 1/3 c plus 1 tbsp ice-cold water.
- Cut into the mixture with a rubber spatula until the mixture looks evenly moistened and begins to form small balls.
- Press down on the dough with the spatula, if the balls of dough stick together, you have added enough water–if it does not, then drizzle over the top a tablespoon at a time the ice-cold water.
- Form the dough into a ball (the dough should look rough not smooth) and cut in half.
- Press each half into a round flat disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably several hours.
Fresh Peach Pie Filling (adapted from the Joy of Cooking)
Ingredients:
6-8 fresh peaches, cut into 1/4 inch slices (we used a mixture of yellow and white)
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
Directions:
Cream Cheese Filling
Ingredients:
1 block of cream cheese, softened
1/2 – 1 c powdered sugar
Directions:
Assembling the Pie:
- Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Roll one half of the prepared Flaky Pastry Dough into a 13-inch round circle.
- Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie pan and trim the overhanging dough to 3/4 inch all around and refrigerate for at least 10-15 minutes.
- Roll out the other half into a 12-inch round circle for the top crust and refrigerate it also for at least 10-15 minutes.
- Take out the dough from the refrigerator and spread the cream cheese filling on the bottom of the pie.
- Drain the peaches, but keep the liquid.
- Pour on top of the cream cheese filling the peach pie filling and about 1/2 of the liquid.
- Dot the filling with 2-3 tbsp of unsalted butter that has been cut into small pieces.
- Brush the overhang edge of the bottom crust with cold water.
- Cover with the top crust and then seal the edges (we used a fork).
- Cut small slits into the top of the crust.
- Lightly brush the top of the pie with milk or cream.
- Bake the pie for 30 minutes, slip a baking sheet beneath it, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake for another 25-30 minutes or until thick juices bubble through the slits on the top of the pie.
- Let cool completely on a rack before serving.
Tagged: cream cheese, flaky pie crust, joy of cooking, peach, peach cream cheese pie, peach pie, pie
Hi Di.
Can’t wait to try this out.. It looks so ono.. LOL.. Is your mom still up there with you? Can you give my aloha to her… Aloha Patsy
Hi Patsy! Mahalo for stopping by and reading my blog post. No my Mom went back home to Kona a couple of week ago. We are so sad that she left, but she was starting to miss home! I am still on the search for Filipino dessert recipes. I am asking my Mom to bug some people back home. If she finds out anything I’ll be sure to post it! Aloha!
Wow Angie…props to Duane….beautiful job! Looks so good!!! I prefer pies to cakes too! I have always made pumpkin and cream cheese pies, but never tried it with peaches.
I will definitely have to try this. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Val! Thanks for always stopping by to read my blog posts. I really appreciate it considering I do most of my blogging very very late into the night when everyone is asleep lol! Yes the peach and cream cheese definitely a good combo–I gotta try pumpkin and cream cheese for Thanksgiving. And yes Duane makes a good pie : )
[...] it was hot it was good fun. We made some peach pie with the fresh fruit, well my Pie King did (see past post). But it had me thinking what else can I make with peaches or stone fruits that are in season [...]