Take a Megabite

Old-Fashioned Peach Pie

My mom knows about pie.

She knows that it’s ok to use 8 cups of peaches instead of 5, and she didn’t judge me for not having a pastry blender. She also said that it’s ok if a pie is juicy and doesn’t slice as pretty as you’d hope. “Just serve it in a bowl,” she says. So there you go.

We went to Eastern Market Saturday morning to get all those Michigan peaches up there. We squeezed a lot of peaches to ensure that they were pie-ready.

My mom has skills. Either that, or the peaches she sliced were much softer than mine. I spent half the time bullying peaches instead of slicing them.

And today is my mom’s birthday! So, happy birthday mom! Thanks for helping me work through my fear of the double crust pie.

Old Fashioned Peach Pie (makes one 9 inch pie)
Adapted from Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3-4 T flour*
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• pinch salt
• 5-8 cups sliced peaches*
• 1 t lemon juice
• 1/8 t almond extract
• 2 T butter
• 1 recipe for a 9-inch double crust (recipe below)

* Just use 3 tablespoons of flour for a pie using only 5 cups peaches. Up it to 4 tablespoons of flour if you use 8 cups of peaches.

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the peaches over the dry ingredients and toss to mix. Add the lemon juice and almond extract. Stir once more and set aside.
2. Roll out a little more than half of the crust into a 10-11 inch circle. Fold rolled dough in half and gently ease it into the pie pan with fold in center. Unfold and fit into pan, using care not to stretch the dough. Gently press out air pockets with fingertips. Make certain there are no openings for the juice to escape.
3. Pour peach filling into the pastry-lined 9″ pie pan. Dot with the two tablespoons of butter.
4. Roll the second ball of dough like the first one. Fold the pastry circle half; lift it to the top of the pie with the fold in the center. Gently unfold over the top of the pie. Fold to p edge under bottom crust and press gently with fingers to seal and to make an upright edge. Crimp edge as desire. (Cut vents in top crust or prick with a fork to allow steam to escape. Either that or cut vents before placing pastry on top of pie.)
5. Place pie on a baking sheet (to catch the peach juice that could escape) and into the oven. Bake for 40 minutes, tenting with foil half-way through bake time. Remove from the oven and promptly “ooooh” and “ahh” over how pretty it will be.
6. Top with vanilla ice cream while the pie is still warm, so it melts just enough.

Double Crust for one 9 inch pie
Adapted from Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 t salt
• 12 T (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut into pieces
• 4-6 T ice water

Directions:

1. Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or 2 forks until mixture is the consistency of coarse cornmeal or tiny peas. Sprinkle cold water over dry mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing mixture lightly and stirring with a fork. Add water each time to the driest part of mixture. Continue stirring with a fork. The dough should be just moist enough to hold together when pressed gently with a fork. It should not be sticky.
2. Shape dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

It was warm when we sliced it, so the peaches had a mind of their own.

P.S. To be honest, after a day in the fridge the peaches still have a mind of their own, but they are just so darn delicious that I don’t mind a bit.

Peaches {cookies in disguise}

Maybe someday I’ll live somewhere where my cactuses can live comfortably and not shiver on my windowsill. They are really mad it’s not summer. I’m kinda mad it’s not summer. Especially when I want to make a peachy fruity dessert of my dreams.

Don’t worry though guys, it is really possible to have super delicious peaches despite the cold. While they may be cookies disguised as peaches, they are pretty and summery in a way that’s making my cactuses really jealous. AND they are filled with nutella instead of a wriggly pit.

I happen to love these cookies. I maybe wish I had some marzipan leaves and teeny stems to make these even peachier, but I do think that these guys look just peachy enough without a leafy accessory.

So what are you waiting for?! Make some cookies that look like fruit, but taste like a dream!

Peaches
Recipe from Cafe Chocalada

Ingredients:

cookies -

• 4 eggs
• 1 heaping cup sugar
• 1 t vanilla
• 250 ml vegetable oil
• 4 T flour + 2 cups flour (separated) (500 g)
• 2 t baking powder

filling -

• 2/3 cup nutella (the majority of the 2/3 cup container of Nutella)
• cookie crumbs from discarded centers of cookies

coloring and coating -

• 1 cup milk, divided
• yellow + red food coloring
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add oil, 4 tablespoons flour and baking powder. Mix well. Allow to sit at room temperature for an hour.
2. Fold in additional 2 cups of flour (500 g) gently with a rubber spatula until there are no patches of flour.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a teaspoon make little cookie dough balls, and arrange on cookies sheets about an inch apart. Bake for about 9-12 minutes, rotating at 5 minutes. They should remain white in color. ( My first batch had a tan. Oops.)
4. When they are cool, use a small paring knife, gently “core” the cookies, cutting a shallow circular hole out of the flat side and digging a bit of crumbs out, keeping the discarded crumbs for the filling. Repeat with all the cookies as they cool.
5. Make filling. In a medium bowl mix together 2/3 cup nutella and all the discarded crumbs. Stir together until no longer runny at all. Fill the cookies with about 1/2 t on each side and gently press together.
6. Meanwhile divide a cup of milk between two bowls. In one bowl but 2-4 drops of red food coloring and in the other 2-4 drops of yellow food coloring. In another small bowl place about 1/2 cup of sugar. Dip each paired up cookie quickly in both colors of milk. Being careful not to soak them. Then gently roll them in the granulated sugar. Place in an airtight container or large ziploc bag. They are somehow even better the next day!

Pink and yellow milk makes for magical peach-like cookies.

Peach Crumble with Vanilla Whipped Cream

Mom’s just know things.
Like the following:

• Peaches ripen quicker if put in a brown paper bag. This is good to know when you buy peaches the day before making peach crumble so they’d be freshest, but they’re not super ripe yet.
• If you’re making the sauce for on the ribs for dinner and you feel the need to thicken it with corn starch, you should take a measuring cup and remove some of the sauce and whisk in some cornstarch in the cup and not in the whole thing. This prevents clump-fest 2009.
• Room temp butter is a mere 10 seconds away, microwave style.
• Peach Crisp seems like it’d be known for having oatmeal in it.
• Peach Crumble is a name that better represents this dessert.

My parents are in town. They’re staying with me. So last night Jacob (the tall dark and handsome man in my life) made an elaborate feast, while I made this dessert!
My mom helped though. That’s her up there! Dolloping vanilla whipped cream like it’s her job!

Peach Crumble
Recipe adapted from Southern Food

Ingredients:

• 4 large fresh peaches, peeled, pitted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cup sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 cup softish butter
• pinch of nutmeg

Directions:

1. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish, or a large pie pan. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Toss sliced, and pitted peaches with 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Wisk together the flour, the remaining 1 cup of sugar, salt and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon into a medium bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.
4. Sprinkle crumbs evenly over peaches in baking dish. Bake at 375° for 45 to 50 minutes, until topping is golden brown and peaches are tender. Serve peach crumble warm with vanilla whipped cream!

Vanilla Whipped Cream
Recipe from Southern Food

Ingredients:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 t vanilla

Directions:

1. Whip cream until almost stiff.
2. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks.
3. Put a dollop onto each serving of peach crumble!

You should make this tonight! It’s simple and if baked during dinner, you have a warm dessert just waiting for you when you’re ready!