I have a plethora of peaches. Youngest Hawthorne came home with 4 huge boxes of beautiful South Carolina peaches, so today I'm making 2 peach pies and some peach ice cream to go with the pies.
Rosie Note: If you're going with the peach ice cream, be aware that the custard mixture needs to chill, so allow yourself time for that. Either start early in the day or let the mixture chill overnight.
Rosie's Peach Pies
This recipe makes enough for 2 9-inch pies. You can make your own pie dough or you can save yourself the trouble and use the refrigerated dough that's rolled up and comes two to the box.
I used 3 of the rolls - 2 for the pies and 1 for the lattice strips.
Let refrigerated dough come to room temperature, then unroll two of the rolls and place into 9-inch pie pans. Crimp edges. Refrigerate pans with dough.
Unroll third pie crust and slice into thin lattice strips.
6 cups peeled and sliced peaches
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (You can use ground; I just happened to have the nuts on hand. Well, actually, it's not a nut. Nutmeg is a seed. They just look like little nuts.)
1/4 tsp kosher salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 TB vanilla
1 beaten egg
turbinado sugar (sugar in the raw) for sprinkling
Heat oven to 375°.
Peel and slice peaches and place in colander for 30 minutes to drain excess juices.
In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, flour, spices, and salt. Pour drained peaches into a large bowl, add dry ingredients, and toss together. Add lemon juice and vanilla and mix well. Pour filling into prepared pie pans.
Weave lattice strips atop each pie. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle turbinado sugar over top.
Place pies on sheet pan in case there's any run-off and bake about 45 minutes - until filling is bubbly and lattice is golden brown. I always check my pies during baking to see if the tops are getting too dark. You may need to tent with foil to prevent further browning.
Let cool for 20 minutes or so to allow the filling time to set up. Serve with my peach ice cream.
For the step-by-steps:
Let peeled and sliced peaches drain in colander.
Mix dry ingredients.
Pie ingredients ready. Clockwise from middle left side: mixed dry ingredients, sugar in the raw, drained peaches, beaten egg, lemon juice and vanilla.
Cut third pie dough into thin lattice strips.
Pour peaches into dry ingredients.
Toss to coat.
Pour in lemon juice and vanilla.
Spoon peaches into prepared crusts.
Weave the lattice strips on top.
Brush strips and edges with beaten egg.
Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
And bake.
Use up all the lattice strips. I made some decorative rosettes.
Now, let's make some peach ice cream.
Rosie's Peach Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
6 peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
juice of one lemon
1 cup skim milk
3 cups cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 vanilla beans
1 TB vanilla extract
Rosie Note: I use skim milk and heavy cream because that's what I always have in the fridge. You can use any percentage milk you want - 1%, 2%, or whole - along with the cream. It would only make the ice cream richer and better.
Peel and slice peaches. Place in a large bowl and toss with 1/2 cup sugar and juice of one lemon. Cover and let sit for at least an hour (or overnight) so they release their juices and you have a nice syrupy liquid.
Make the custard:
In a medium sauce pan, pour in the milk, cream, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt. Heat over medium-low until very hot but not bubbling. Remove from heat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar until light-colored.
Slowly, and whisking constantly, pour in 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolk and sugar mixture to temper the eggs. Slowly whisk in another 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture. Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan and add the vanilla extract. If you don't have vanilla beans, don't worry, but I like the extra flavor the beans offer. To prepare the vanilla beans, slice down the side of the bean and scrape out the seeds into the custard mixture. I add the scraped beans to the mixture too for the flavor. (Just remember to remove the beans when you pour the custard mixture into the ice cream maker.) Heat over medium low, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until temperature reaches 170°-175° and mixture thickens. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least four hours or overnight.
When chilled, combine custard mixture and peach juices and pour into ice cream maker. Churn away, occasionally scraping down sides. When mixture looks like soft-serve ice cream (25-30 minutes), add in the peaches and continue churning for another 10 minutes. Scoop into pint containers and freeze.