60th Birthday Peach Crumb Pie

Mom is in the same boat as my husband when it comes to birthday desserts. She'll take pie over cake any day. Her favorite pie is peach, and she has a weakness for crumb topping. So, I made this humdinger with local CT peaches (from Whittles) to celebrate her 60th birthday. She was content to settle for walnuts in the topping, but I had her pick up some pecans special. Using something other than pecans with peaches would have been sacrilegious. I'm sure any true Southerner would back me up on that. After taking the pie out of the oven, I ran back into the house to fetch something and caught her picking a couple pecans out of the steaming pie. She claimed they were just the burnt ones. Here's the recipe; it really does a good in-season peach justice:

Peach Crumb Pie (makes one 9" pie)

ingredients:
buttery pastry dough for bottom crust
1 scant c. white sugar
11 smallish peaches (peeled, pitted, and sliced)
4 heaping T. cornstarch
juice from half of one lemon

crumb topping:
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. chopped pecans
3 T. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Mix filling ingredients in a large nonreactive bowl. Roll out bottom crust and place in pie dish. Fold and crimp edges. Freeze crust for 10 min. while oven preheats. Pour filling in. Put ingredients for crumb topping in a medium bowl and rub together with your fingers until it is all crumbly. Pile topping onto top of pie. Bake at 400 F for 25 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F and continue to bake for another 35-40 minutes. Cool and serve. Mom likes hers with a generous dollop of Cool Whip.

Current Pie Tally: 143

Puzzle Crust Peach Pie

Whew, sorry it got kind of dusty around here. It took a month for us to get an internet connection set up at the new place. Let's brush aside the cobwebs and get back to the pie, shall we?

While I haven't been blogging, I have been making pies. There is a week's worth of catching up to do, starting with this Puzzle Crust Peach Pie. This gem answers the question, "Does the Pie Princess ever screw up a pie?" The answer is YES. Having my own tools at my disposal definitely cuts down the probability that the pie won't turn out right. When I'm out of my element and in another's kitchen, however, the berth for error is great. It's really no surprise that the crust fell all to pieces on this one. It was hotter than Hades and I mixed it all up by hand (with a heavy bowl and two butter knives as I recall). I also rolled it out straight on the countertop. Normally, I would mix everything in the food processor and roll it out on my trusty Tupperware rolling mat. Using the food processor expedites the mixing to cut down on the melting factor. And I have a feel for when the crust is ready to come off the Tupperware mat. Long story short, I attempted to gracefully pick the crust up off the countertop and it broke into a bajillion pieces. I grabbed a spatula and slung the bits into the bottom of the pie dish anyway and sort of pressed them together a bit with my hands. I shrugged and rolled out the top crust, expecting that it too would be a disaster. It was, but part of being a pie maven is about confidence. You just have to "roll with it" sometimes. When life gives you broken pie crust, you throw it in the pan and call it Puzzle Pie. More catch-up pies to come.

The recipe for this Puzzle Crust Peach Pie is pretty standard: a bunch of peeled and sliced peaches, a cup of sugar, 3-5 T. arrowroot starch, 1/2 T. cinnamon, and a top and bottom crust.

Current Pie Tally: 59

Pies of the Past

Apologies for the lull in posting. I was on vacation for two weeks and the baby hasn't been sleeping through the night. Cal slept for seven hours straight last night though, so I'm back on top of the world. Since I've been on vacation, I haven't made any pies. Though, my mother made me a delectable peach pie with praline topping.

The photo above depicts my #1 pie fan enjoying his birthday pie from last year. He recently celebrated his 60th birthday last week and is due for another birthday pie. Happy Birthday, Pops! He doesn't know this yet, but Cal, my husband, and I are giving him a surprise visit this weekend and I aim to arrive with pie in hand. The question is will it be a Rhubarb Strawberry one from the freezer arsenal or a fresh Peach and Rhubarb variety? The answer most likely lies in whether or not my son sleeps through the night again tonight. Until then, here's a short trip down memory lane to tide you over.

Admittedly, I don't have photos of all of the pies in the Pie Tally and may have forgotten exactly what I made, but here are some descriptions to help uphold my integrity as a pie princess. Here's a breakdown of the Pie Tally so far, as it stands in my memory.

2009
3 apple
2 rhubarb
1 rhuberry (rhubarb, strawberries, and raspberries)
1 strawberry rhubarb
1 fruity firework (featured in photo at top - Pops' Birthday Pie from August 2009: peaches, blueberries, and rhubarb; Pop LOVES pie; we even brought it to the nice restaurant where we ate dinner and had them serve it to us)
1 rhubarb raspberry apple

2010
2 pecan
1 derby
2 apple
1 lemon meringue
2 strawberry rhubarb
1 rhubarb custard
1 rhubarb strawberry
1 peach rhubarb
1 chicken pot pie
1 veal roast pot pie
1 cherry rhubarb
1 rhubarb

Current Pie Tally: 24

Perfect Peach Pie

No summer is complete without a straight-up peach pie.

Perfect Peach Pie
ingredients:
pastry dough sufficient for two pie crusts
about 12 peaches, peeled, pitted, & sliced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
4 T. arrowroot starch
1/2 t. cinnamon

Mix all the filling in a large bowl. Roll out bottom crust and place in pie dish. Pour filling in. Roll out upper crust, place on top, cut vent, and crimp to seal edges. Bake at 425F for 25 min, then reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 40-50 min, until crust is golden and fruit goo starts splashing out of the crust vent.

Current Pie Tally: 94

Peach Rhubarb Pie

Fresh peaches are truly delectable in a homemade pie. When some organic yellow peaches (from Mexico), went on sale at Whole Foods last week, I knew they were destined for my husband's birthday pie. Combined with rhubarb from our garden, they were sensational. I ended up bringing the pie over to our new friends' house for dinner, where it was very well received.

Comments: "This is way better than the pies the Mennonites sell at the farmer's market." & "There's so much content!" (host) "I love how it's not too sweet." (hostess)

I have to say I was surprised by the Mennonite comment. I always assumed my pies were on par with theirs (or vice versa). Maybe I'll buy one sometime to do a taste test comparison.

The crust on this one came our PERFECT. Light, flaky, and flavorful. Also, here's a tip about the peaches. I bought firm peaches and kept them in a closed paper bag at room temperature for about four days to ripen them up. Works like a charm.

Peach Rhubarb Pie (for 9" pie):
pastry for 2-crust pie (Dimock's recipe)
1 lb. rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces
4 small-medium ripe peaches, peeled and cut into 1" pieces
1 c. sugar, heaped
5 T. flour
1-2 dashes of cinnamon
1 T. butter (optional)

Mix the fruit, sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Roll out the bottom crust and place in pie dish. Pour fruit filling in. Cut 1 T. butter into small pieces and dot top of filling with butter. Roll out top crust and place over bottom crust and filling. Trim overhang; crimp, and seal edges. Cut one or more vents in the top crust. Bake at 425 F for 15 min, then 350 F for 40 min. When filling is visibly bubbling vigorously under the vent in the crust or some of the filling erupts onto the crust, the pie is done.

Current Pie Tally: 18

8/?/20 Blueberry and Peach Crumb Pies

I can tell from the background on these that they were both made while visiting family at the beach in CT. Oh, the memories! The Peach Crumb Pie was definitely made for my mother's birthday and I must have also made a Blueberry Pie for a backyard barbeque or something. Current Pie Tally = 276

Oktoberfest Lunch Peach Strawberry Pie

We had some friends over for an Oktoberfest themed lunch of Weisswurst a couple weeks ago, so I made this Peach Strawberry Pie to give one last hurrah to summer's peaches. The recipe is similar to this one. Just add juice from 1/2 a lemon, use all white granulated sugar (1 c.), add one quart of strawberries, and use like 5 peaches. I baked this one at 425F for more like 30-40 min before turning down the heat to 350F for an additional 30ish min.

Current Pie Tally: 205

Peach Rhubarb Crumble Pie

This was my husband's birthday pie this year. I let him decide whether it would be a two-crust pie or a crumb-topped pie. Luckily, he went with crumb-topped, because I didn't have enough flour to make the two crusts. I should have upped the arrowroot starch to 5 T. The filling was a little soupy, but delicious just the same. Here's the recipe:

Peach Rhubarb Crumble Pie

ingredients:
pre-baked bottom crust
1 lb. rhubarb, sliced into 1/2" pieces
8 small yellow peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 c. sugar
4 T. arrowroot starch



crumb topping:
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar, packed
3/4 c. chopped walnuts
6 T. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 t. salt Mix all the filling in a large bowl. Pour into pre-baked crust. Mix crumb topping in a large bowl by rubbing it between your fingers until it is moist and crumbly. Heap topping onto pie. Bake at 350F for about 51 min. Pie filling should be gooey and rhubarb should be soft. Let cool somewhat and enjoy a warm slice.

Current Pie Tally: 112

8/22/21 Summer Blueberry and Peach Crumb Pies

Blueberries must have been on sale at the store again, hence this Blueberry Pie. And that's my mother's cooling rack under the Peach Crumb Pie, so I must have made that for her birthday again when I went up to CT to visit her. Current Pie Tally = 285

Peach-Rhubarb End-of-Vacation Pie

I rolled this pie out at the tail end of a family vacation in a rented Lake Michigan beach house. It was such a great week that I managed to bake two pies! This one was my favorite of the two - I think because I purchased and paper-bag-ripened the peaches to perfection beforehand. Timing is everything with those suckers!

Peach Rhubarb Pie
ingredients:
pastry dough sufficient for two pie crusts
about 8 peaches, peeled, pitted, & sliced
about 4 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and sliced into 1/2" pieces
juice from 1/2 of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
4 T. arrowroot starch

Mix all the filling in a large bowl. Roll out bottom crust and place in pie dish. Pour filling in. Roll out upper crust, cut into lattice strips, arrange in criss-cross on top of pie, and crimp to seal edges. Bake at 425F for 25-30 min, then reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 40, until crust is golden and fruit goo starts splashing out of the crust.

Current Pie Tally: 226

A Peach Crumb Pie for Mom

My mom asserts that peach pie is her favorite, so we made this one together when she came to visit me at our new place for the first time. Since she peeled and sliced the peaches, I won't count this one toward the final tally.

Current Pie Tally: 61

Pool Party Berry-Peach Pie

This Berry-Peach Pie was an edible "thank you" shared with friends who gave us free reign over their pool guest pass. Thanks Kim-Thompsons! The recipe for the pie is similar to this one but the fruits used were as follows: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and peaches.

Current Pie Tally: 224

A Two-Pie Party

I made a couple of pies for my husband's annual lab party at our house over the weekend. The local food co-op had their first supply of rhubarb in last week, so I stocked up and used half to make a Rhubarb Custard Pie. For the recipe, click here. I baked this one in a 10-inch pie dish at 400 for 43 min. I was disappointed that the edges came out borderline burned, but it was a tasty pie overall. The second pie was definitely the more popular, a Chocolate Pudding Pie. I think everyone had a piece - there was only a sliver left after the party (which I ate the following day). For the Chocolate Pudding Pie recipe, click here. As usual, I used regular graham crackers instead of chocolate, arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch, and didn't add any of the espresso to the whipped cream. So, it looks like I'm still keeping up with the one-pie-a-month output, BUT I do have plans to make a Rhubarb Peach Pie at the end of this week for my husband's birthday. Shhhh...it's a surprise. I'm still deciding whether it will be a two-crust pie or have a crumb topping.

Current Pie Tally: 111

Hot Mess

I made two pies this past weekend for parents and picnics. One was Cherry-Apple-Rhubarb and the other was Rhubarb-Peach. Both were hot messes. It was very touch-and-go handling the crust in the 90-or-so heat we've been having. I had to invoke a couple hobo patch jobs, which resulted in some pie goo leaks. But I'm not complaining. I'm glad it's finally warm. Let me know if you want the specific recipe for the pies. The heat has sent me into a state of summer lethargy.

Current Pie Tally: 55

And Dad's Birthday Pie Was...

Rhubarb Strawberry! It was too hot and time was too precious to invest in making the fresh peach and rhubarb pie, so I ended up baking the one from the freezer. I cooked it at 425F for 25 min and then another hour at 350 this time. I think it came out much better than the last one reincarnated from the freezer depths. My husband said it set up particularly well, and I was satisfied with the doneness of the crust. Dad kept all of the leftovers and told my husband he married well, so I guess he thought it was OK too. The recipe is the same as the one from this post.

Despite the success of this one, I did have a price to pay when I returned home. All of the peaches I had bought for the possibility of the fresh pie had rotted by the time I returned home from the trip to see Dad. From rock hard to festering mess in one stinking day. What a disappointment. Oh well, the rhubarb is still keeping firm in the fridge at least.

Current Pie Tally: 25

Dad's Birthday Pie 2016

Whenever I'm in my father-in-law's company on or around his birthday, I always make him a pie. He's my #1 pie fan! I even occasionally catch him sneaking a piece for breakfast. This one was a lovely Peach Blackberry Pie made in a rental house in the Outer Banks, NC just before the oven exploded (not really, but there was a loud pop and then it was broken). The recipe is similar to this one. Just add juice from 1/2 a lemon, use all white granulated sugar (1 c.), add one pint of blackberries, and subtract one or two peaches. I also have been baking my fruit pies at 425F for more like 30-40 min before turning down the heat to 350F for an additional 30ish min. After the oven was replaced, I even went to far as to make a second vacation pie (a Banana Cream). Though that one doesn't count toward the tally because I topped it with Reddi Whip. There was no mixer in the house, what is a girl to do?

Current Pie Tally: 203

Do Good Gang Bake Sale Strawberry-Peach Pie Tartlets

These don't count toward the tally of course, because they're not proper pies, but I just had to post a pic. Aren't they the cutest? I baked these for the neighborhood kids' club, The Do Good Gang. We camped outside the local hardware store last weekend with these, some other baked goods, and some cat toys, and managed to raise $176 for shelter pets. Woohoo! Looking forward to participating in more of their bake sales to help even more great causes.

Current Pie Tally: 226

New Neighbor Peach Blackberry Pie

I made this for our neighbors to the left a week or so after we moved in. I also made a pie for the neighbors on the right, so as not to spur neighborhood in-fighting. That one will crop up a couple posts from now. My only regret about this pie is that I didn't add more arrowroot starch. It was a bit soupy in the end. I should have added 5-6T. of the arrowroot starch instead of 3 or 4T. As for the rest of the recipe, I used a quart of blackberries and probably 6-8 peaches. And a cup of sugar. Easy as pie.

Current Pie Tally: 60

Happy 2nd Baby Peach Crumb Pies

I seized the opportunity to "make good" on some more in-season peaches with a baby shower I hosted recently. Whole Foods had them on sale and the stars aligned for the ripening schedule to work out just right for when I needed to slice 'em up for the pies. They came out at least as good as my mother's 60th birthday version, dare I say better. Truly a hit when paired with the vanilla ice cream one of the thoughtful guests brought. Recipe can be found here.

Current Pie Tally: 145

200th Pie Party

Here we go catching up on the summer pies: My husband's annual Birthday Pies on the Porch party in May ended up being a dual cause for celebration - well triple really. I hit the 200-pie mark on my lifetime goal of 1,000 or more in addition to honoring the husband's birthday AND his recent promotion to tenured professor at the University of Maryland. Hooray! The pies, Banana Cream, Apple-Blackberry-Crumb, and Something Involving Rhubarb (Peach-Rhubarb-Strawberry maybe?), were happily descended upon by friends and neighbors.

Current Pie Tally: 200