Pastry School: Holle's Georgia Peach Pie
Holle's pastry school - Southern desserts
Welcome to my pastry school and online cooking classes! You don't have to attend one of those fancy pastry schools to learn to cook southern desserts like a pastry chef. Today's pastry is delicious peach pie - a great Southern food.
If you live in the United States, you probably know that Georgia is known as the Peach State. The reason is obvious – we grow a lot of delicious peaches here! Though most of the large commercial orchards are in the north-central section, we have a few small orchards here in South Georgia. Also, just about every farm and even many suburban yards have a peach tree or two.
Peaches are delicious and are very versatile. When you have something in abundance, you discover many different ways to take advantage of the bounty. Folks around here make all kinds of peach products: peach jam, peach butter, peach ice cream, pickled peaches, peach chutney, peaches and cream, and peach cobbler. Of course, one of the best ways to eat peaches is straight from the tree!
A trademark peach dish in the Deep South that's part of our culinary arts is peach pie. In today's pastry school, I’m sharing my recipe with you for what I call my Georgia Peach Pie.
Holle’s Georgia Peach Pie
What you’ll need:
5 cups fresh peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons plain white flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup melted butter
2 pie crusts
Directions:
For your pie to turn out great, be sure to choose fully ripe peaches. Peel them with a paring knife or use this method:
Half fill a large bowl with ice and water. Fill a large stock pot half full of water and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, thoroughly wash the peaches. Cut an X in the bottom of each peach. The bottom is the end with the point. When the water comes to a rolling boil, drop in the peaches. Let them blanch for 45 seconds. Remove the fruits from the boiling water and plunge immediately into the ice water bath. After the peaches have been in the ice water for 45 seconds, remove them. The skins should slip off easily.
Place the 5 cups of sliced peaches in a large bowl. Combine with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla.
Pour the contents of the bowl into a pie crust.
Drizzle melted butter over the peach mixture.
Top with lattice or with another crust. If you use an entire crust on top, cut several small vents into it with a sharp knife point. Crimp the edges of the crusts together.
Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes.
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