Peach Crumb Pie
Every fall, when we get a few bushels of apples from the end of the season u-pick-‘em sale at the orchard, most of them would be turned into applesauce for canning, some would go into a pie or two, and some would find their way into a large pan of apple crisp. The pie was for my husband; the crisp was for me.
To my way of thinking, why would you want a crust made of flour and butter when you could instead have a crumbly, buttery, sugary topping? Not to mention the fact that crisp topping is much easier to whip up than pie crust.
But then we read Pie by Sarah Weeks (read about it here) and I began to see pie making as the culinary art form it is, one I wanted to learn more about. In the process of reading articles and watching tutorials, I stumbled upon the perfect compromise to our pie vs. crisp debate--the humble crumb topping.
Crumb topping on an apple pie turns it into a Dutch Apple Pie. Crumb topping on a peach pie turns it into...well, there is not a fancy name for it other than Peach Crumb Pie. But, fancy name or not, the choice is always yours--cover your fruit pie with a second crust or pile on the crumb topping.
The topping is finer and less chunky than your typical crisp topping because there are no oats, just flour. But it is sweet, adds an interesting texture, and both Andrew and I feel it is an acceptable compromise. I’ll admit that it doesn’t make the final pie look quite as fancy as a top crust, but it does mean that when I make my two pie crust recipe I have enough for two pies, instead of just one, and everyone is in favor of that.
Pie can of course be served all year round but some pies have a seasonal taste. This peach pie is all summer. It is the first fruit pie I tried after reading Pie because it was Alice’s favorite. It has become one of my favorites, too.
Notes:
Crust: I found the tutorials and tips from Tastes Better from Scratch to be especially helpful as I was doing research on pie crust. You can find Lauren’s “Perfect Pie Crust” recipe here along with all the tips and tricks. I use a palm shortening for the shortening and use whole wheat flour. I am pleased with the results though using all-purpose flour would yield a flakier crust.
Sweetener: As always, I use sucanat, an unrefined cane sugar, when a recipe calls for a granulated sugar. Polly’s recipe calls for 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 sugar so I use 3/4 cup sucanat.
Crumb Topping: I modified my recipe from Crazy for Crust (their recipe made too much and was a bit too sweet) but their tip to grate the butter is a good one.
Peach Crumb Pie
Ingredients
- 8 large peaches, peeled and sliced
- 3/4 cup sucanat or 1/2 c white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar (see note in post)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1/4 cup instant tapioca
- 1 stick of cold butter grated or cut into small pieces
- 1/2 c sucanat or sugar of your choice
- 1 c whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Mix all filling ingredients together in a large bowl and pour into a pricked, unbaked pie shell.
- For the crumb topping, put the grated or cut butter into a bowl. Add sweetener and flour and work the sugar and flour into the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives until you have a bowl of fine crumbs. Pile high on the top of the pie.
- Cover the edges of the crust with a tin foil crust guard.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees then lower temp to 350 and bake until filling is bubbly, peaches are tender, and the crust is golden, about 45 minutes more.
