Birthday Peach Pie

Last year for my dad’s birthday, we made him the world’s best carrot cake (thanks to Emily Mueller for that recipe!). This year’s endeavor crept up on the family just a wee bit after having been in Sacramento, CA for almost a week watching my sister in the NCAA women’s rowing championships. BUT, my mom, sister and I pulled it together and made a pretty excellent peach pie.

We divvied up the responsibilities; Ariel peeled the peaches, I made the crust and mom made the filling. The new go-to traditional piecrust in my family is from Cooks Illustrated’s best blueberry pie recipe. Vodka (!) is the secret ingredient. It allows for even more flakiness and tenderness because some of the alcohol burns off during baking. We were also just short on peaches for the filling, so we added one grated apple, which didn’t change the taste but served as an additional thickener to supplement the tapioca.

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated via The Bitten Word (crust) and Joy of Cooking (filling) via Anyrecipe.net.

Makes one 9-inch double-crust peach pie.

Ingredients

Crust

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

12 tbsp cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/4-inch slices

1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces

1/4 cup cold vodka (do not substitute!)

1/4 cup cold water

Filling

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches (12-14 peaches)

1 apple (I used golden delicious), peeled, grated and wrung out in a towel (optional)

2 2/3 tbsp quick-cooking tapioca (reduce to 2 tbsp if using grated apple)

2/3 to 1 cup sugar

Assembly

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Preparation

Crust

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about two 1-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process for about 15 seconds until dough resembles cottage cheese curd. Add remaining cup of flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into a medium bowl.  
2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. Fold the dough together with a spatula, pressing down on until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide into 2 even balls, flatten each into 4-inch disk, wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.  
3. Remove 1 disk of dough roll out on a generously floured (up to 1/4 cup – seriously) work surface to 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll into pie plate, leaving at least 1-inch overhang on each side. Refrigerate while preparing filling until dough is firm, about 30 minutes.

Filling

1. Mix together peaches and grated apple, if using.

2. Add tapioca and sugar, mix and let stand for 15 minutes.

Assembly and Baking

1. Add filling to the pie shell. Sprinkle with cinnamon and dot with small pieces of butter.2. Roll out second disk of dough on generously floured work surface to 11-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Use your favorite cookie or biscuit cutter to cut out a few portions of the dough. Roll dough loosely around rolling pin and unroll over pie, leaving at least 1/2-inch overhang on each side.3. Trim bottom layer of overhanging dough, leaving 1/2-inch overhang. Fold dough under itself so that it reaches the outer edge of the pie plate. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with tines of fork to seal. 4. Brush top and edges of pie with egg mixture.5. Place pie on a heated baking sheet and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until crust is deep golden brown.6. Let cool to room temperature… if you can stand to wait.