03 February 2008

Winter Peach Pie

En français ici.
I just recently pulled out this good winter recipe made from canned peaches (which ideally you would have canned during peach season and stored in your cellar -- but I didn't). I based this on a recipe from Joy of Cooking and then added my own touches.

Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine in a large bowl:

3 - 3 1/2 cups canned peaches
1/2 cup juice from canned peaches
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup sliced almonds
3 Tbsp brown sugar
(light or dark depending on your preference)
3 Tbsp cornstarch or quick-cooking tapioca
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
(1/2 if you really like ginger)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
(usually I put in two or three whole cloves instead and then either take them out before baking, or tell people to watch out for them -- whoever gets the clove wins?)

Let stand for 15 min. You can use this time to roll out the pie crusts if you make your own (my butter-free pie crust recipe). Pour ingredients into the bottom crust and dot with butter (2-3 Tbsp). Cover with top crust, or lattice, and seal. If using a top crust, cut steam vents, brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 30 min. Reduce temperature to 350F and bake until juices bubble out of steam vents, another 25 - 35 min. (Good idea to put a cookie sheet under the pie to catch drips.) Let cool before serving.


5 comments:

Katharine said...

Looks scrumptious. Would love to figure an adjustment for making it with fresh or frozen peaches. I freeze my summer peaches - less work and I think the flavor stays better than canning. Have to dip in boiling water for about 30-60 seconds, plunge in freezing cold water and slip the skins off (and then I slice them) before putting in a ziploc freezer bag, which makes them perfectly ready for pie-baking. luv, Mumsk

Hopie said...

Hmm, yea, I'm never quite sure about frozen fruit in pies, 'cause it's hard to make it not come out too liquid-y...but the flavor is good. It might work if you leave out the peach juice -- and in that case I would put in more sugar (1/2-2/3 cup) because the juice sweetens it. You might also need to put in more peaches since I bet they'll cook down more than canned ones.

Or you could try warming up the peaches in a saucepan first -- and getting your juice from that. I'll have to try with frozen and see, or if you give it a try let me know how it works!

Thanks for sharing how to freeze peaches!

Anonymous said...

Maybe if you put extra cornstarch in, you could use frozen peaches. I wish i was there so I could have some pie...
Your blog looks great, and the picture of you is beautiful!

Hopie said...

True good idea -- I had a dream last night about making this pie with frozen peaches, which turned out to actually be fresh. I think this blog's gotten to my brain. You were in my dream too, Amy, at some point (which is unusual). Hope everything's alright.

Unknown said...

Everything's all right, except I have a nasty cold (but I think it's getting better). Nothing wrong with dreaming about cooking!