Have you ever had a peach? (I'm guessing yes.) As far as I'm concerned, though, you've never really had a peach until you've had a tree-ripened peach from the Palisades slope of the Colorado Rockies. I discovered these gems when I was in grad school in Denver. Something about the climate in those parts make for peaches that might as well be candy. We would get a case of them at the end of every summer and revel in the bounty. Every summer after I'd moved away, I would pine for one of those peaches. I tried Michigan peaches from the farmer's markets and, while good, they just weren't quite the same. Well, imagine my elation when, after moving to the Twin Cities, I saw a billboard for a produce store advertising Colorado peaches! They were the real deal, folks, and you can get cases of them for a damn good price. Let's just say that if you were to drop by the house in August, there would be an excellent chance of there being some sort of peach dessert hanging around.
 |
| Peach custard pie, ready for the oven |
And that's exactly the case for week 32. I had to replenish my stock in the freezer, too, after all. I decided to take advantage of the comfortable temperatures and work on my pie game. It had been a while since I'd made any pies and, in the interim, I'd gotten a couple more pie cookbooks. (No, I don't have a problem...I can stop any time, I swear....)
 |
| Peach custard pie with maple streusel |
I started with a peach custard pie with maple streusel. I was a little disappointed that the custard didn't quite set up enough and the bottom of the crust was a bit pale. We were well within soggy bottom territory, unfortunately. It may have been that I should have waited a bit longer before slicing into the pie, but I think that the whole thing needed longer in the oven. Maybe a baking stone, too, to help crisp the bottom. I did enjoy that the peach custard pie is a lot less sweet than the traditional custard pies and, thus, far more enjoyable. The streusel topping also gave it a much needed bit of texture and height.
 |
| Peach lattice |
Next up was a peach lattice pie. The recipe was from the Hoosier Mama cookbook, and I was really excited to give it a go. We used to live a few blocks away from one of the Hoosier Mama outposts. It was a great spot to take a walk to for a treat. You could even get pie flights at night! And their biscuit breakfast sandwiches were nothing to sneeze at either. The decided lack of comparable pie spots here has been a topic of much lament. At any rate, the cookbook is a nice work with some great tricks and tips, reminiscent of the Pie and Pastry Bible. I made the all butter crust and, instead of making a double crusted pie, I went with a lattice topping. I used a bit of pie filling thickener which made all the difference in the world. The filling was a great consistency and I'd go so far as to say this was one of the best pies that I'd ever made yet. I didn't love the milk and egg yolk wash. I also added a couple cutouts for embellishments, but they wound up burning a bit - next time, I'll add them halfway though the baking.
 |
| Pies! |
Comments