Sunday, July 17, 2011

Baked Sunday Mornings: Roasted Peach Pie



I'll be honest. This was not a recipe I wanted to make. At all.

Casey and I had long conversations where I told her how horrible this pie sounded and she told me how much she wanted to make it. She didn't convince me I spent quite some time on google searching for pictures of this pie, just so I could see if it might be tolerable. I couldn't find any. I brought the recipe home to make for my family so that I wouldn't be stuck with the leftovers.


But, that's one of the problems with deciding that you'll bake through a cookbook. To bake through something, you actually have to make ALL the recipes in the cookbook, even the ones that don't include chocolate.

So that meant if I was really baking my way through Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, I couldn't skip my third dessert. I had to make the Peaches 'n Dream pie.


Then I remembered that baking through a cookbook doesn't mean that you have to follow each recipe word for word. Substitutions, improvements and omissions are allowed. That's when I went on a search for peach pie recipes that sounded tasty.

And I found it. Peaches, slow roasted in the oven, slightly caramelized. It wasn't anything huge, but with that small change, I took control over the recipe and made it my own.


With those roasted peaches added to the Baked recipe, I ended up with a pie I actually really enjoyed. I even had two slices with vanilla ice cream.


Roasted Peach Pie
recipe adapted, slightly, from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented Peaches 'n Dream pie and inspired by a roasted peach pie from A Feast for the Eyes

Ingredients
5 to 6 peaches
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, cut into 8 small pieces

1 single-crust pie crust recipe (your favorite)

Filling:
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Topping:
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter, unsalted, cold and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare and roast peaches: Skin peaches. I put a small x on the top of each peach with a knife, and then dipped each peach into a pot of boiling water for 1 minute. Then, I transferred the peaches to an ice water bath and let them cool for a minute. After that, most of the skins easily peeled off. For the rest, I used a vegetable peeler.

Pit the peaches. Using a paring knife, cut all the way around the peach. Separate the two halves. Try to push the pit out with your fingers or a paring knife. If it doesn't come out, use a knife to help you.

Place the peach halves and quarters on a baking sheet. I used a baking sheet with raised sides so I wouldn't have to worry about peach juices on my oven floor. Sprinkle peaches with two tablespoons dark brown sugar and sprinkle the baking sheet with 1 tablespoon butter, chopped into small pieces.

Roast the peaches in the oven for 20 minutes, until soft. Immediately remove from the baking sheet and transfer to a bowl to cool.

Prepare the pie crust: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie crust dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish, folding any overhang under and crimping the edge as you go. Cover the pie in plastic wrap and refrigerate the crust for at least 30 minutes.

Turn the oven down to 375 degrees.

Mix the filling: Arrange the peaches on the bottom of the pie crust (I did quarter peaches arranged on their sides, but you could also do half peaches placed cut side up). In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, sour cream and honey. In another bowl, combine salt, dark brown sugar, and flour. Sprinkle the sugar/flour mixture over the sour cream mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour the mixture over the peaches.

Prepare the topping and top: Mix together dark brown sugar, flour and butter in a bowl. Use your hand to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Sprinkle the pie topping across the filling. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly. I placed a baking sheet under the pan to catch any extra filling.

Let the pie cool (preferably overnight) before serving).

10 comments:

  1. I too had no desire to make this pie... but glad I did! That's the great thing about being part of a baking group :) yours looks great!

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  2. So pretty. Love the idea of roasted peaches.

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  3. The roasted peaches sound good, and maybe that would dry the just a little? But it is all about learning and trying new things and your pie looks good.

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  4. Mmmm, roasted peaches sound like they would be an amazing dessert all by themselves, what a great idea!

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  5. How funny - I really wanted to make this pie the didn't end up liking it! Roasting the peaches may have just added the level of flavor we thought was missing.

    Love your comment about chocolate!

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  6. omg this looks amazing. Roasting the peaches is a great idea. I almost never make pies because I'm so particular about them

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  7. What a great idea to roast the peaches, Katie. I am sure it gave it such a wonderful flavor with the caramelization. I love that first photo.

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  8. I'm pretty sure caramelized roasted peaches could make even the worst dessert edible! Sounds good to me!

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  9. Roasted peaches sound really really good to me. It certainly all looks beautiful as well.

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  10. peaches are at their best right now, looks wonderful!

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