Spiced peach pie
Having house guests is always a great chance to ramp up the baking front, as you have more people around to share in the goodies (so it's not just David and I finishing off an entire cheesecake by ourselves). With only a couple more weeks of summer left, and the summer fruits becoming sadder and scarcer, I thought it best to grab the opportunity to make a summer fruit pie with a few fall season leanings in its spices.
Recipe
from Bon Appétit Desserts3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar1/4 cup all purpose flour1-1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice1/2 tsp ground cinnamon1/4 tsp ground cardamom3-3/4-4 lbs ripe peaches2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2" cubes1 egg, beaten to blendPrepare 2-crust pie dough. While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling. Mix 3/4 cup sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and cardamom in large bowl. Bring large pot of water to boil. Add peaches to boiling water for 30 seconds. Using slotted spoon, transfer peaches to bowl of cold water; cool. Peel, halve and pit peaches. Slice peaches into bowl with sugar mixture; toss to coat. Let filling stand until juices form, stirring often, about 20 minutes.Preheat oven to 400 F. Roll out bottom dough disk and transfer to 9" diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 3/4". Mound filling in crust; dot with butter. Roll out top dough disk and drape over filling. Pinch together overhang of bottom crust and edge of top crust. Fold edge under and crimp decoratively. Cut several slits in top crust to allow steam to escape during baking. Brush crust with beaten egg; sprinkle with remaining 1 tbsp sugar. Place pie in center rack in oven. Place baking sheet on lower oven rack to catch any drippings. Bake pie until crust is golden brown and juices bubble thickly through slits, covering loosely with foil if crust browns too quickly, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: the original recipe actually included a recipe for a buttermilk crust to be used with this filling, but I opted for my mother's recipe (as I'm still wanting to get that crust consistently good before venturing onto other styles). Also, I completely forgot to dot the filing with butter.Since I made this pie at nearly 10 pm, we weren't able to sample it until morning. However, I think it turned out well. The filling consistency was just right, thick and juicy and not too runny. The cinnamon and cardamom spices added a lovely flavour--a preview of some of the fall flavours to come. David noted that it could be a touch sweeter, though I found it to be sweet enough (maybe I'll throw in a tablespoon or two of sugar extra for him next time). Definitely a pie worth revisiting.