Last summer I bought a huge box of peaches at Graves’ Mountain Lodge. It was only when I got home that I realized that I had just purchased a whole heck of a lot of peaches that I had to do something with before they started rotting. I found this great idea for Freezer Peach Pie Filling on allrecipes.com. It sounded easy enough, and I had plenty of room in the freezer. I should have known better; nothing is every easy. I didn’t have any tapioca, so I decided to make the pie filling without it, freeze it in a disposable pie tin, and worry about it later. Fast forward to approximately six months later, to a week when I had an overwhelming desire to bake a pie. By this time I had forgotten what I had actually added to the peaches. No biggie, I’d just thaw out the filling, taste it, and add what I thought it was lacking.
The first problem I encountered was that I couldn’t find tapioca in any market. One “brilliant” employee informed me that I should look in the cold section, next to the JELL-O. I informed her as to what tapioca actually is. I’m sure I came off as a complete witch, but call me crazy, I kind of expect grocery store clerks to actually know about food products. After that lovely encounter, I headed to the organic grocery store in hopes of finding the elusive ingredient. They didn’t have tapioca, but they did have tapioca flour. Close enough. Anything not to have to go to any more markets in search of an ingredient that I would rarely every use again.
The second problem I had to deal with was an insane amount of liquid in the thawed peach mixture. Solution? Pour the excess down the drain. What was the worst that could happen? The peaches tasted like sugar, cinnamon, and lemon, so I came to the conclusion that all I would need to add would be a small amount of cornstarch and a couple of tablespoons of tapioca flour.
After spending all that time on the filling, I decided to make the pie crust as simple as possible by using my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The result was a flaky pie crust with a crumble-like texture. This peach-filled pie was so freaking good, that there was no way I was sharing any of it with anyone but B.O.B. Bob, and even he didn’t eat nearly as much as I did. He’s not a pie for breakfast kind of person like I am. Adding the extra dough to the pie edges made this crumbly crust even more amazing, and opening the fridge to see my sweet little pie bird poking his little head out of the pie always helped to brighten my day. Hopefully I’ll be able to recreate this pie again, so that I can share the recipe. I foresee another box of peaches in my future later this summer.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Maldon Sea Salt
- 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, Chilled and Cut into Small Cubes
- 1/4 Cup Ice-Cold Vodka (Perhaps a Few Teaspoons More)
Directions:
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt on low speed.
- Add butter, and mix on low speed for three minutes.
- Very slowly add the ice-cold vodka to the flour mixture on low speed, and mix until the dough clings to the paddle. If the flour mixture has not come together, add one extra teaspoon of vodka at a time.
- Gather the dough together and split it in half, forming two flat disks.
- Roll each disk out on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin.
Suggestions:
- Make sure to keep your ingredients very cold, which will help make your pie crusts flakier.
- Don’t throw away any pie dough scraps; smoosh them around the edges of the pie to make a thicker crust. Don’t worry about your pie crust being all pretty; taste is what really matters.
- Brush the top unbaked pie crust with an egg wash, and then sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
- You can make the dough for these crusts ahead of time, and keep them in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap.
Improvements:
- Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
- Add grated cheddar to the dough if making an apple pie.
Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
-Colleen
