Peach Raspberry: The Odd Couple
I bought peaches on the side of the highway between Dallas and Houston, farm-fresh and proffered by a bored teenager. The bag sat in the car smelling of sun and promising a juicy pie all the way home.
Then I tried making it. Peaches, who knew? That is some hard-to-get fruit. My kitchen looked like a peach massacre site. My cookbook blithely says you can dunk the peaches in boiling water a minute to easily remove their skins. I burned my fingertips pulling off strips of mushy peach fuzz, only to run out of fruit. Turns out those little suckers had huge pits. All bone, no flesh, totally disappointing (hmm, does this apply to people?) Luckily, J.O.C. suggests a peach raspberry combo and I had frozen raspberries. I tossed in two cups and hoped for the best.
Hello, beautiful accident. The filling was deep mauve-orange and rich as a sunset. Thick, fruity slices held the firm sweetness of peaches with the tarter, brighter bite of raspberries. Just. Wow. I learned a couple of things. One, let the fruit cool after boiling (add twenty exclamation points)! Two, buy bigger peaches. And, well, three. Trust the odd fruit combos in life.
Peach Raspberry Pie
Prepare one double crust (no lattice this time, for me)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
4 cups fresh sliced peaches, peeled ‘n pitted
2 cups raspberries
¾-1 cup brown sugar (depends how sweet you like it)
6 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
Combine, let sit five minutes or so, and pour into bottom crust. Top with lattice or full, brush with milk if you want that golden sheen (see pic) and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 and bake another 30-40.
Note: I used frozen berries, but fresh would work. I also used brown sugar because I like the richer flavor with peaches. Finally, let this one cool a good while. It’ll hold together much better after at least four/five hours of cool down. Kind of like me after a workout.
Then I tried making it. Peaches, who knew? That is some hard-to-get fruit. My kitchen looked like a peach massacre site. My cookbook blithely says you can dunk the peaches in boiling water a minute to easily remove their skins. I burned my fingertips pulling off strips of mushy peach fuzz, only to run out of fruit. Turns out those little suckers had huge pits. All bone, no flesh, totally disappointing (hmm, does this apply to people?) Luckily, J.O.C. suggests a peach raspberry combo and I had frozen raspberries. I tossed in two cups and hoped for the best.
Hello, beautiful accident. The filling was deep mauve-orange and rich as a sunset. Thick, fruity slices held the firm sweetness of peaches with the tarter, brighter bite of raspberries. Just. Wow. I learned a couple of things. One, let the fruit cool after boiling (add twenty exclamation points)! Two, buy bigger peaches. And, well, three. Trust the odd fruit combos in life.Peach Raspberry Pie
Prepare one double crust (no lattice this time, for me)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
4 cups fresh sliced peaches, peeled ‘n pitted
2 cups raspberries
¾-1 cup brown sugar (depends how sweet you like it)
6 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of salt
Combine, let sit five minutes or so, and pour into bottom crust. Top with lattice or full, brush with milk if you want that golden sheen (see pic) and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 and bake another 30-40.
Note: I used frozen berries, but fresh would work. I also used brown sugar because I like the richer flavor with peaches. Finally, let this one cool a good while. It’ll hold together much better after at least four/five hours of cool down. Kind of like me after a workout.
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