Coffee and Pie Chat June Edition
Hey y'all! It's that time again! Pie time! I'll admit it snuck up on me this month. For some reason I thought I had another week and the past few weeks have been busy. So I cheated a little. You see, I love fruit pies. I love making them. I have my own recipe from when I took that pie making class last fall. That recipe just works for me. So, I cheated. I used my own recipe. It's very similar to the recipe from the book where we got the recipe.
This book. Y'all. It is THE best. I stumbled across it on Amazon. Normally I try to find the book at my local library so I can peruse it before I buy it, but none of my libraries had it. So I took a chance and ordered it (used, of course). And I love it. It's a game changer. It breaks pies down by season and then by month. It is just really well done all the way around. It shows you step-by-step instructions on making crusts and different kinds of crusts, tools that you need, and everything in between. Who wouldn't like to try pineapple pie in the winter, avocado pie in the spring, blueberry-nectarine pie in the summer, and spiced fig in the fall? So I highly recommend this book! But let's get to the pie.
As you might recall, Daenel and I host a monthly pie along with recipes one week and final product the next week. Normally I show step-by-step instructions on how to make the pie, but with my time constraints I didn't do that this time! But if you are new to pie making, please see this post and this one. We want to bake seasonally and hope you do too! So get out your pie making materials and join us! If you want to see our past pie chats, just select 'coffee and pie chat' from the 'what I write about' box on the sidebar. Go search Daenel's blog too!! She has some wonderful stories about pies.
The Recipe:
From First Prize Pies by Allison Kave
The Crust:
Classic Pie (see page 38 of the book) or Cornmeal Crust (see page 44 of the book) for one double-crust 9-inch (23-cm) pie
*If you are not familiar with how to make a pie crust, see this post
For the Filling:
1 pound (455 g) fresh nectarines (about 4), cored and sliced
4 cups (560 g) fresh blueberries
zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1/4 cup (30 g) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Egg wash or milk, for glaze
Raw sugar, for garnish
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Roll out half of the dough into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. Transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate. Trim the overhang to 1 inch and refrigerate the crust.
Make the filling: In a large bowl, toss together the nectarines, berries, lemon zest, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Just before adding the filling to the pie plate, toss the fruit in the dry ingredients. Brush the rim of the bottom crust with egg wash or milk.
Roll out the second half of the dough into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. Lay it over the filled pie. Trim the edges, and tuck the top crust over the rim of the bottom crust to form a tight seal. Crimp the edge into whatever pattern you like. Brush the top crust with egg wash or milk, sprinkle it with raw sugar, and cut a few slits to allow steam to escape.
Put the pie on a baking sheet and bake it for 20 minutes, turning it once halfway through. Lower the temperature to 350°F and bake it for30 to 40 minutes more, until the crust is golden and fully baked and the juices have thickened. Remove the pie to a rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour. This pie can be refrigerated for up to 1 week, covered in plastic wrap. Let it come to room temperature before serving, or warm it in a low oven. It can be kept frozen for up to 2 months: Wrap it in plastic, then in foil, and let it come to room temperature before serving.
Tips & Tricks:
So I don't have so much tips and tricks as just an update on what I did and didn't do. The recipe for this pie is very similar to my fruit pie recipe. I use flour instead of cornstarch and I use the juice of the lemon as well as the zest. Except I totally forgot to buy lemons!! So I had lemon extract! I figured it's more to keep the fruit from turning brown and to add just a little bit of flavor. So why not? Plus it's homemade extract. I omitted the vanilla because I was using lemon.
And as I was typing up the recipe I realized that it calls for about 4 nectarines! Ha! I used about 2 pounds of nectarines. And I ended up with enough filling to make a 9-inch pie plus a mini pie. Who's going to complain about that?
This pie just screams summer to me!! I hope you will join us and share your pie next week when we do the big reveal! Until then, enjoy your pie and your summer!
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