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Recipe: Blackberry Peach Pie - KCRW

Today,  Becky Reams of The Delicious View offers her recipe for Blackberry Peach Pie. You shall eat not only blackberries and peaches, but bourbon caramel too.

Read below for Reams' recipe and some of her pie memories, and click here to learn more about the 4th Annual Good Food Pie Contest on Saturday, September 8th at LACMA. It's less than a week away!

Pie for me brings back my fondest childhood foodie memories. My first encounters being in the kitchen, was making pie with my mom–I was in charge of discarding extra scraps that were trimmed from the crust edges (and by discarding, I mean typically eating, despite my mothers best efforts of chastising against it). This blackberry peach pie highlights the beautiful bounty of summer's sun-kissed fruit, with a little extra oomph coming from a bourbon caramel. A fairly straightforward and approachable recipe that will certainly satisfy any craving for America's favorite dessert. And do yourself a favor, pickup a quart of vanilla bean ice-cream to play sidekick, you won't regret it…

Blackberry Peach Pie

(From Becky Reams of The Delicious View)

Ingredients

Pie crust2 C AP flour1/2 tsp salt1 T vodka1 tsp granulated sugar2/3 C butter, diced into small cubes, then chilled in freezer for 7 minutesscant 1/4 C ice water (more or less as needed)

Filling7-8 large ripe peaches1 pint blackberries1/4 C cornstarch1/3 C brown sugar (or less depending on ripeness and sweetness of peaches)Large pinch of salt

1 beaten egg + 2 tablespoons water (whisked together, for egg wash)

Bourbon Caramel1/2 C granulated sugar1/2 C minus 1 T  heavy cream1 T bourbon whiskey

Make  the crust

Dice butter, and  put it in the freezer to chill–you want it very cold. In a food processor bowl, combine flour and salt- in small pulses, add butter until its all combined, resembling the texture of lumpy sand. Pulse the machine and slowly add in the vodka and ice water. Add water one tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together more or less– remove a portion of the mixture and squeeze it together, if it stays together, its good, if it crumbles apart, put it back and add more water while pulsing.When its a good consistency, remove it from the processor bowl, and press together in a large piece o plastic wrap. Separate into two slightly flattened disks, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to chill.

Boil a large pot of water, slice a small 'x' in the tops of the peaches and blanch for 1 minute. Remove and shock in ice water. Remove from water and peel skins off. Slice peaches into thinnish wedges. Combine peaches, sugar, salt, cornstarch and blackberries in large bowl and toss together. Set aside.

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out into two large rounds to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Grease a pie plate, them slowly fold one dough circleIn half, then transfer to pie plate and unfold to fit. Press around to make sure dough is flush with the pie plate. Slice other round into strips. Pour filling into pie. Lattice the top with the pie dough strips. Press edges into bottom crust. Flute the edges then trim. Brush the dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. If the edges begin to brown too quickly, cover with strips of aluminum foil, and remove in the last 15 minutes of cooking.

You know the pie is ready when the rosy colored juices start to bubble up through the lattice. Remove and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.

Make the caramel

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, 1 tablespoon of water and cream of tartar. Cover with a lid, and allow to boil for 5-8 minutes, until the color changes to an amber caramel color.  Pull pan off the heat, and stir in cream and bourbon. Stir until the spitting and sputtering subsides. Allow to cool.

Serve pie with a drizzle of bourbon caramel , a scoop of vanilla ice-cream, and good friends. Bon appétit

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Food And Swine: Peach Pie Recipe Is Worth The Fuss

My mom makes the most fabulous peach pie. Peaches are notorious for being considered a "fussy fruit" to experienced pie bakers. If you aren't a pie-oneer, then maybe select a fuss-free fruit, like apples, when baking your first fruit pie. However, if you are ready to tackle one of the most delicious pies out there, listen up!

• Pick proper peaches: Choose peaches with great color (not green anywhere), and that are semi firm with a taught outer skin. If the peaches have wrinkly skin, they are past their prime.

• Aroma: If peaches or nectarines don't have a pleasant aroma from near their stem, don't buy them.

• Ask the produce manager: These folks are happy to assist you in the produce section, simply ask them which peaches are best. A couple of grocery stores in my area have managers that will cut a piece of peach or apple for me to taste before I buy. I love that.

• To store peaches: Studies show that we should store peaches on their shoulders, not touching. Their shoulders are the top end by where the stem is located in the fruit. If peaches need to be ripened quickly, place them in a paper sack on their shoulders and seal the bag.

• Slicing: Uniformity is best when preparing fruit for pies. The pie's filling will lay together beautifully if you use care in slicing fruit evenly. I like a ⅓ inch slice for pies like apple, pear and peach.

• Thickening: Peach pie is tricky when it comes to thickening. Peaches release their juices during the entire baking process so the cornstarch and tapioca combination holds up the extra moisture perfectly.

• Less spice more zest: Spices like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and others can really overwhelm the flavors of a pie, use them sparingly (think ¼ teaspoon instead of ½ teaspoon) to enhance and not overwhelm. Try lemon zest instead of lemon juice when adding an acidic component to your pie. The addition of the juice can mess with the final "set" to the pie. Perfume the zest together with sugar by rubbing it between your fingers before adding to the filling. This action releases the essential oils of the citrus, lending a bright flavor to the final product.

One frequent question I get is "What does 'dot with butter' mean?"

Dot with butter means to literally, place "dots" of butter on top of the filling and under the top crust. This extra step makes the pie's filling a little bit more delicious and rich, but doesn't do much else. Your Grandma did it and you should, too.

Simply Peach Pie

By: Cristen    www.Foodandswine.Com

Crust ingredients:(Double crust recipe)2½ cups all purpose flour1 tsp salt1 TBSP sugar1 cup butter, cold, cubed to ⅓ inch cubes(*or my favorite, ½ cup butter, ½ cup lard)⅓ cupice water (more or less depending on humidity/time of year)1 tsp vinegar

Crust directions:Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles very coarse crumbs, you want chunks of fat within. Combine water and vinegar, add to crust, fluff with fork until mixture clings together nicely. Divide mixture into two portions, pat each into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or more. Roll out and fit to pie plate, using care not to stretch, but gently fit to plate. Reserve extra pastry for top crust.

Peach filling ingredients:4½ cups peaches, peeled, sliced1 tsp lemon zest1 cup granulated sugar3 TBSP cornstarch1 TBSP minute tapiocapinch of saltscant 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon1 tsp vanilla extract1 TBSP butter2 TBSP milk2 TBSP sugar, or sparkling sugar

Peach filling directions:Add peaches to a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest and rub between fingers. Add cornstarch, minute tapioca, salt and cinnamon. Whisk dry mixture well. Pour over peaches, add vanilla and toss to coat. Pour into pastry lined pie shell, dot with a tablespoon of butter. Cover with top crust, weaving in lattice fashion or a solid top crust with adequate vent holes cut. Brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar. Wrap with a foil collar to prevent outer crust from overbrowning. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake for 45-55 minutes until slow bubbles form in the edges of the thickened filling of the pie. Remove foil collar during last 20 minutes of baking to brown crust more. When through baking, remove from oven, let cool for 3-4 hours to achieve the proper "set."

Cristen Clark

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