White Peach and Raspberry Pie, Pure Summer!

After a winter of nothing but citrus, I’m about ready to go crazy, which my husband claims I did during this past week’s trip to the market. I came home with a case of white peaches, a pile of plums and so many blueberries and raspberries that my kitchen looks like a fruit stand at the farmers market. I can’t resist, it is summer and I love fresh fruit! First I made a bunch of Brioche muffins studded with the peaches, plums and berries. But the real reason I bought all the fruit was to make pies. I love them, all of them and pies with ripe fresh fruit are my all time favorite summer dessert.

The first trick to a successful pie is a perfect crust, something I am always searching for. Unlike some families I didn’t inherit a pie dough recipe from my grandmothers. I got cookies and cakes and brisket, but no pie. So over the years I’ve tried nearly every recipe that I’ve ever seen. This time I used one found in the latest baking book by Dorie Greenspan Baking: From My Home to Yours and it was great! Click here to see my detailed steps of making the lattice top pie crust.

And to make the pie:

For the Pie Dough recipe and instructions: click here

For the Filling:

8 ripe, but firm white or yellow peaches, washed and chopped with skins on. (If you’ve never tried white peaches they are a wonderful perfumy and sweet version of their yellow cousins. They lack some of the acids which make them taste like honey.)

1 pint raspberries

1/2 lemon, juiced

1/4 cup brown sugar (more or less depending on the sweetness of the fruit and your taste)

3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (you can add more but you don’t want it to over power the fruit, just a little zing)

For the filling I simply chopped up the 8 white peaches, I even left the skins on to give the pie a nicer color and I find the skins break down when baked so it isn’t necessary to peel them.

I tossed them with a pint of raspberries and the lemon juice.

Combine the brown sugar with the cornstarch, salt and ground ginger in a small bowl. You want to mix all of these ingredients until they are well combined before sprinkling over the fruit.

Put the fruit into the prepared pie crust.

Once you’ve placed the top crust on the pie, shown here, brush with a little bit of egg wash, only on the lattice, not the edges.

sprinkle with sugar and then place in the freezer for about 15 minutes to set the dough. Preheat the oven to 425°.

Bake the pie on a cookie sheet lined with foil, to catch any dripping syrup. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes then drop the temperature to 375 and bake for 40 minutes. If the edges or top of the pie look to be browning too quickly then tent with foil and continue baking. The pie is done when the juices collecting on the sides start to boil, about 60 minutes.

Allow the pie to cool and serve slightly warm, although the filling may not be completely set if warm. Or serve at room temperature, but who can wait that long? Enjoy!