Recipe Review: Canadian Living’s Peaches and Cream Pie

Saturday night my husband came home after being away for work for six weeks. I knew the time was going to pass so slowly during the day so I decided to make a pie for his homecoming. I thought this recipe for Peaches and Cream Pie by Canadian Living was perfect because I had a bunch of peaches and time on my hands. I was also intrigued by the notion of a sour cream peach pie!

I brought water in a large Dutch oven to boil. I made an X on the bottom of the peaches and put them in the boiling water. I also threw in some frozen peaches too. They ambled around the water for approximately 30 seconds, just long enough to loosen the skins (or thaw). Then I put them in an ice bath and removed the peel under a running tap.

I sliced the peaches and just barely had enough.

Because of my sore shoulder (turns out I hurt my rotator cuff) I decided to make the dough for the crust in my food processor. I mixed together the sugar, pastry flour, salt and lemon zest with a quick buzz. Then I added in the cold butter and shortening and whizzed for just a second or two.

I had been using my Cyber-shot camera to take these kitchen shots but this was my last successful photo. *sigh* 

I added the egg yolk, some lemon juice and processed a bit. I could tell it was way too dry and would not be coming together so I added cold water. I pulsed until the dough came together. I wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

I tried one more time to take a photograph with my Rebel in my kitchen. With photo editing it turned out OK but I can not wait for my new point and shoot to show up. 

Due to technical difficulties, I do not have photos of how I rolled out the dough but do have many pie making posts including a tutorial you can read here. Believe it or not I decided to make this recipe because I heard of a sour cream peach pie while watching one of my favourite shows, The Gilmore Girls. As I added the sour cream to the sugar and flour mixture I began to worry. This is going to look weird! I did not have almond extract so I used vanilla instead and mixed everything together and put it in the hand fluted pie crust. I added the almond and brown sugar crumble to the top and put it in the oven.

The results? The pie was a huge hit with my husband, our friends and even me! Yes, it does look kind of weird but wow, talk about moist and delicious! Using pastry flour and the combination of cold shortening and butter created a light and beautiful crust. It was fascinating to make a pie with a crumble top but the almonds were a perfect combination with the peaches, who knew?! It smelled so good in the oven I really did not know how I was going to hold myself back from taking a bite until after my husband came home. Oh the things we do for love.

I give this recipe four out of five wooden spoons. I would have given it five but I know some people will be less enthusiastic about the visual appeal of the pie and the crazy moistness.

I feel all fired up and inspired to spend time in my kitchen now that my husband is home. The greatest inspiration when it comes to food is love. When there is love in the food, everyone has a happy tummy and kitchen.