Recipe :: Rustic Pie

Pie. Galette. Tart. I can make those now!
I’d never made a pie crust from scratch before. Proudly I can say that I have now! Technically I guess I made a Pâte Brisée. What’s that? After some research I learned that its a shortcrust pastry. No sugar added. And the butter-to-flour ratio is about 3/5 parts butter:1 part flour. Its so basic and relatively easy – just butter, flour, and ice water. That’s it! Then you just throw some seasonal fruit in the middle. Bake it. Dessert is done.
Okay, okay… I’ll give you more instructions than that!
So I wanted to bring a pie to my in-law’s for their 4th of July supper. I couldn’t decide on what to bring. Then I saw a Martha Stewart recipe for Stone Fruit Galette. Looked like a winner to me! Peaches and cherries (and blueberries) are in season and on sale. My oldest and I went to the store for supplies. We biked. Which makes us feel good about ourselves. We talked. He’s such a funny kid. Then we came home and got busy blowing stuff up and baking – guess which of us did what! 😉
First I made the dough because it has to sit in the fridge for about an hour before rolling it out. Which turns out is a fine amount of time — it took forever to pit all those cherries! I had help though, check it out. He likes that cherries are heart shaped. And for being seven he’s very handy with a knife. And a lighter… hmmmm… gonna keep an eye on this one!
After the fruit is all chopped we sprinkle a mixture of sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch over it. Then dump the fruit in the middle of the rolled out crusts, drape the edges over the fruit, brush egg on the crust, sprinkle with chunky sugar, and bake.
Take a look:

The results are beautiful. Golden crisp crust. The fruit is tender but not mushy. The fruit piles up high and the juice is hard to contain, but it doesn’t make the crust soft.
If I hadn’t had to transport it I would’ve sat down with a carton of vanilla ice cream and eaten half of the pie straight out of the oven! It smells like buttery fruit salad.
And for the biggest compliment of all, my youngest requested these be made for his sixth birthday party! I couldn’t resist. So I transformed the recipe into hand pies. I made about 36 of them with this recipe. They were a huge hit!

---

RECIPE:

Rustic Stone Fruit Pie

Pâte Brisée
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold, diced butter
1/4 cup ice water

Directions:
Combine flour and salt.
Chop in the butter, til its like big course crumbs. (Use a pastry blender or the like.)
Add in the iced water.
The dough should stay together without being too crumbly or too wet. -Its a fine line 😉 You may need to add up to 1/4 cup more iced water if its too crumbly, and conversely you can add more flour if its too sticky.
Do not over mix – the resulting crust will be tough if you do.
Divide the dough in half and wrap it in plastic wrap. Flatten the ball into a disk and store in the fridge for at least an hour. (If you store the dough in the fridge overnight be sure to give yourself enough time to let it become manageable before rolling it out.)

---

Preheat oven to 375°

Fruit Prep:
Ingredients – good for ONE pie:
1 1/2 pounds stone fruit (ie peaches or cherries), sliced/chopped (approx 5 cups)
    I made a peach pie and a cherry/blueberry pie
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
—
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Sanding sugar

Directions:
Mix the sugar, lemon juice, salt, and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Pour over the chopped fruit and mix it up by hand.
Cover a cookie/jelly roll pan with foil, then parchment paper.
Roll out each disk of pâte brisée to about 1/8 inch thick on a floured surface.
Put the dough on the pan.
Dump the fruit in the center – leave about 2 inches all around and fold it up over the fruit.
Leave the center uncovered.
Brush the dough with egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake for about 1 hour (maybe more depending on how thick your fruit slices are).
Crust should be golden and the fruit should be bubbly.
Cool on the pan for 10 – 15 minutes, then transfer (on the parchment paper) to a cooling rack.

It must cool completely for the natural syrups around the fruit to thicken.

This post was shared with the Frugally Sustainable Blog!

Advertisement