I’m entering the final stretch of my year-long pie project, and although I’m becoming more lax about reporting my efforts here on TheTownDish.com, I’ve still been cranking out pies monthly. When I last checked in I was halfway through, but three entire months have passed since then. In August (well actually on Labor Day—September 1!) I made this love-filled ginger-peach pie, just like Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet in the movie “Labor Day.” (I realized the coincidence while baking; I didn’t see the movie, though I did read the book.)
To impart some ginger flavor, I grated a tablespoon or so of fresh ginger root into 2 cups of sugar, stirred and let it hang out in a sealed container in the fridge overnight. Then I just used that sugar to toss the peach slices in, after blanching and peeling. I followed the peach (and cherry) pie instructions on The Modern Farmer. I made both regular and whole-wheat pie crusts, using Smitten Kitchen’s all-butter pie crust. The whole-wheat crust took slightly more water to come together, and resulted in a crust that tasted slightly nuttier without being overwhelming. I made sure to leave chunks of butter in the dough to give it a flaky consistency, and I ended up having enough crust to use for all of my September pies, too!
September was a double-whammy of failures, as I attempted mini crumb-topped cherry pies to gift to friends and family, and proceeded to make different versions of cherry-pie soup on both tries. Whether I strained juice away or left the cornstarchy juice with the fruit to bake, it didn’t seem to matter. Everyone kindly assured me they still tasted delicious. It’s still cherry pie, after all. How bad can that really be? [Crumb-topping recipe: 1 stick butter, 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, blended.] A baking friend has advised that she cooks her cherry filling on the stove a bit to get it to jell up before going into the oven. That’s probably the key, but I think I’ve been put off cherry pie until at least next summer.
But I’m ending my six-month run of fruit pies on a high note with a caramel-apple slab pie. The recipe I was adapting raised a lot of questions in my head. I wasn’t sure how a standard double-crust recipe would be big enough to make a double crust 9×13 pie, and I was in two minds about the suggested layer of panko breadcrumbs under the apples to soak up juice. On the one hand, it seemed genius. On the other, if the apples didn’t release enough juice, you could encounter sharp, crunchy bits in the pie. Not pleasant.
First, I gave the King Arthur Flour pie crust recipe a try, and it may end up being my favorite, for several reasons. One notable difference in this recipe is that it calls for the shortening to be mixed into the flour completely, before adding butter. The blog gives clear step-by-step instructions, as well as some notes on variations, which is very helpful for novices. I’d recommend this crust to anyone.
Miraculously, the crust even stretched to cover my 11×17 pan, and the panko did its job perfectly. It was the first pie since March that came out of the pan cleanly, dividing up into two dozen slices. It was like the feeding of the 5,000, or this baffling gif loop: a regular pie recipe turned into a different shape feeds twice as many people.
I drizzled some Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce underneath the top crust (in lieu of the “icing” the King Arthur recipe advised), and I will add way more of the caramel next time. There was only the faintest hint of caramel flavor to the pie, but it can definitely take a bit more. I WILL be making this again. Most likely very soon.
- Pie photography: Melissa Woodley
