A Request was made for Peach Pie!

I was in the mood for a Peach Crisp. A simple and delicious dessert, right? Robert, on the other hand, thought a Peach Pie sounded much better, so I compromised by making a Peach Pie with Crumb Topping!

The peaches prepared and ready to be cooked:

Colorado Peaches

 Next comes the Crumb Topping, consisting of unused crust ingredients, oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon and a dash of ground cloves:

Crumb Topping

 Put it all together into a prepared pie crust:

Ready for the oven

 Fifty minutes in a 350 degree oven results in this:

Ready for Vanilla Ice Cream

For the recipe in it's entirety, see below:

Streusel-Topped Peach Pie

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup ice water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup regular oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves, divided
• 6 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 3 pounds)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in food processor; pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter; pulse 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly pour ice water and vinegar through food chute, processing just until blended (do not allow dough to form a ball).
2. Remove two-thirds of dough and press into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap. (Leave remaining dough in processor.) Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle. Place rolled dough in freezer 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can be easily removed. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap; fit dough, plastic wrap side up, into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove remaining plastic wrap. Fold edges under; flute. Set aside.
3. Add oats, brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, and a dash of cloves to the dough in processor; pulse several times or until crumbly. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 350°.
5. Combine 1/3 cup flour, peaches, granulated sugar, raisins, juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and a dash of cloves in a large saucepan; let stand 10 minutes. Place pan over medium heat; cook 10 minutes or until peaches are soft, stirring occasionally. Spoon peach mixture into crust. Top with oat mixture. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes or until top is browned.

Cooking Light  JULY 2003

Peach and Plum Jam

We bought our second lug of peaches over the weekend. The first lug consisted of Missouri peaches, the second lug comes from Colorado. I don't ever remember eating better peaches than those coming from both of these containers. They are sweet and juicy - what's not to like!

PEACHES!

I have already made one Peach Crisp and two Peach Cobblers, so today I decided to make a simple freezer Peach Jam. After peeling, seeding and slicing 2 1/2 pounds of peaches, I stirred in 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar and left them to soak in their juices for an hour, stirring occasionally. At that point, I squeezed half a lemon into the pot and started cooking down the mixture, skimming foam as it developed. Within half an hour, the juice had formed a nice syrup, sheeting off the spoon. This signaled it was time to put into half pint jars, cool and then place into the freezer for summer goodness during the cold, winter months. I love
preserving the best of summer's fruit in this fashion!

Cooking the Peaches down

I was delighted to see Italian Prune Plums in Fareway last weekend and knew it was time to make my version of Damson Plum Preserves. Though I love homemade peach jam, nothing quite compares to my memories of Damson Plum Preserves. My parents made this incredible jam when I was growing up in St. Louis, MO. I foolishly never bothered to help them with the process, but always kept a very special memory of this delectable treat. My favorite memory of eating this jam was on Christmas morning atop toasted English Muffins. Sharing this with the most special people in my life at that time, my mother, father, sister and brother, is a memory I will never forget. 

Plum Jam ready for the freezer

Baking Bread without Tristan's Help

I have not baked bread since Tristan and Kate moved to New York. In the past five years,
I rarely baked bread without Tristan at my side and the thought of doing so was somewhat sobering. Reminding myself that Tristan and Kate were now off on an exciting new adventure, I discarded my sadness at the thought of baking alone and got down to business. T & K have new jobs, a new house and new puppies - how can I be sad?!?!

Rainy Day = Baking Day

Fremont has been called into service a lot in recent months, so a one day feed was all he required to be ready to go. Trevor has been using the "Tartine" method of dough preparation with great success, so I finally discarded my old ways of kneading and turned to the "stretch and fold" method. I am now convinced of it's superiority and intend to use 
it in the future. The high hydration results in such an airy, chewy crumb and a delightfully crisp crust.

High Hydration Sourdough Bread

I made four loaves of Sourdough Cherry-Hazelnut Bread (SCHB) and two loaves of Sourdough Bread (SB). The first two loaves of SCHB were somewhat over-proofed, resulting in a somewhat flabby crust and a less than ideal rise. The SB rose beautifully, 
had nice oven-spring, a wonderfully crisp crust and chewy crumb. The second loaves of SCHB were well proofed, resulting in much better loaves than the first two. I count the day 
a success and I have renewed confidence in my solo baking. But, of course, anytime any 
of my family wants to join me, they are MORE THAN WELCOME!

Sourdough Cherry-Hazelnut Bread