Just Baking

While I enjoy making apple pie, my method generally involves more labor (i.e., briefly cooking the apples before baking them) than I might want when it is hot in my kitchen. I generally approach summer anxious to make fruit pies that include peaches and berries. Those ingredients are less labor intensive because the fruit needs little more than careful washing and, in the case of peaches, peeling, before baking. If hard pressed for time, I sometimes cheat and use premade Pillsbury crusts for the bottom crust, but I always, always, make a crumb topping.

People often ask for the recipe, and I think the crumb topping is so much tastier than two layers of rich, buttery pie crust. For the sake of this recipe, though, I will provide you with the recipes for the bottom crust, filling, and crumb top that I used. I made the bottom crust well ahead of time with my baking club pals and froze it. When it was time to bake, I defrosted the crust in the refrigerator overnight, and made the pie the next day.

I’ve made at least three pies since strawberries, followed by blueberries and peaches, started rolling into my local farmer’s market a couple of months ago. But it all starts with the peach pie recipe from my dear, deceased Great-Aunt Charlotte, a woman who made all good things from scratch and from whom I can trace my small portion of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. I have faithfully used her recipe and have only changed the filling at times and added spices to the crumb topping. It remains my go-to master recipe for summer pies.

Aunt Charlotte’s Peach Pie

Filling:
5 large peaches
1/8 to 1/4 cup of sugar, depending on how sweet the peaches are

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Peel the peaches and cut them in half.
3. Combine peaches and sugar in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the crumb topping.

Crumb topping:
1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar (I have sometimes used vanilla sugar here)
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
A dash of salt

1. Combine the flour, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture forms the consistency of small pebbles.
2. Sprinkle in a few good shakes of whatever baking spice you want. I have used ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, although not usually simultaneously.

Bottom Crust:
2 cups flour, plus 1 tbsp.
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
5-6 tbsp. cold water (Note: depending on your kitchen’s temperature and humidity level, you may need more)

1. Mix flour and salt together.
2. Add the shortening and cut it into the flour mixture until it is the consistency of peas.
3. Add water, 1 tbsp. at a time, without letting the mixture become too sticky, and combine until it forms a ball.
4. Roll out with rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness. Fold it in half and place in pie plate. Unfold it and press into edges of plate, trimming the edges if necessary.

Now you are ready to put it together.

1. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of flour over the bottom of the crust and pierce the sides and the bottom several times with a fork.
2. Place halves of peaches, cut side down, into the pan.
3. Distribute the crumb topping evenly over the peaches
4. Drizzle 3-4 tbsp. of cold water on top of the crumbs.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for about 40 minutes. After that point turn the temperature up to 450 and bake for approximately an additional ten minutes, watching closely. The pie should be starting to bubble and turning golden brown when it is ready. Cool on wire rack for at least two hours before slicing.

Some variations: I’ve used fewer peaches and added 2 to 3 cups of strawberries or blueberries, depending on what was available. In these cases, I usually add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the filling, along with the juice of half a lemon, to keep the insides together and perk the berry flavor up, respectively. Berries tend to ooze more than peaches.