There is an internet pie party today. There are nearly 1500 people participating. So, here’s my first ever attempt at pie.
There were peaches at the farmer’s market. I had to wait 20 minutes in line for peaches, now that there is variety (and fruit) there are three times the number of people shopping at the market, and they were the first peaches of the season.
I give you Sweet Champaign Pie. (Have you seen the movie Waitress? It came out 4 years ago. The main character makes pie and names them after what is going on in her life.) It is made with bourbon soaked peaches and ginger chips. I found the magic in making pies this weekend. The meditation that comes with making the crust by hand and the satisfaction that comes from eating it while it is still warm enough to be a gooey mess.
Now, of crust is scary, go get a pre-made crust (whole foods sells a decent pre-made one), and make this pie.
| Ginger Bourbon Peach Pie |
|
- 15 grams ground flax seeds
- 45 grams brown rice flour
- 45 grams sweet white sorghum flour
- 30 grams sweet rice flour
- 20 grams tapioca starch
- 20 grams corn starch
- 1 stick butter, frozen
- 1 tablespoon vodka, ice cold
- 1/4 cup ice water
- 4 cups sliced peaches
- 1/2 cup crystallized ginger chips
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch
- Make the crust: Whisk together your flours for the crust in a large mixing bowl. Grate the frozen butter into the flours using a cheese grater or microplane. Using a pastry blender, make sure your flours and butter are well mixed. It should look like mildly clumpy sand. Add the vodka. Pour in the water a little at a time, mixing with a spatula. As soon as the dough starts to come together, stop mixing. Pat into a disk about 4″ in diameter, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about 30 mins.Once chilled, roll out your dough to about 1/4″ thick.Place in pie pan and smooth to corners. Trim over hang and crimp edges. Pop in the freezer while you do the next steps.
- Make the filling: While your crust is chilling, pace a cookie sheet on the middle rack of your oven and to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. This will help keep your bottom crust from getting soggy. Mix together peaches, ginger chips, sugars, bourbon and tapioca starch. Let stand for 15 minutes while your oven heats.
- Assemble the pie: When your oven is hot, remove the crust from the freezer and scoop filling into the shell. If your peaches have let off a lot of juice, it is ok to leave it in the bowl, you don’t want a soupy mess.
- Bake: Place pie on the hot cookie pan in the oven. Bake for 40-50 mins. You know it is done when the filling is boiling. Let stand for 2 hours.
- Scoop the filling into your cold pie shell
These directions are for making the dough by hand, if you have a food processor the dough comes together quite a bit quicker.
Don’t have a scale? Use 1 1/4 cups of a commercial all purpose blend.
Can’t do bourbon? Substitute 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract for the bourbon.
This looks so delicious and I love that you used the vodka in the crust! Looks gorgeous!
Booze is always the answer (in baking!).
Actually, it is a trick I learned from Cook’s Illustrated and it really does improve the crust texture.