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I had planned to make a blueberry caramel the other day, based on the raspberry caramel I made last week. Notice I said planned. I didn’t make it. I also had a half-dozen peaches that needed eating.

Now… I could have made a simple fruit salad and left it at that – but to paraphrase Tina Turner… we never ever do nothing nice and easy... It was time to bake a pie.

I thought of several possibilities, from crumb-top to lattice-topped to a biscuit-topped cobbler, but in the end, a traditional pie won out. A not overly-sweet traditional pie, I might add. I like my sweets, no question about it, but with fresh fruit, I want to taste the fruit. If it’s good, it’s sweet enough, already. And if it’s not good, no amount of sugar is going to make it better.

I made my standard pie crust and while it was relaxing in the refrigerator, I went to work on the filling.

I did a quick blanch-and-peel on the peaches and cut them into fairly thick slices. Ofttimes I will leave fruit unpeeled because I actually like the taste and texture of the peel, but this time around I went for it. I used a mixture of brown and white sugar and a bit of vanilla. No other spices. Feel free to add what you like, but I thought the fruit was too good to mask.

Pie Dough

for a double crust:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/3 cup cake flour
  • 1/2 lb butter, frozen
  • pinch salt
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 3 tbsp ice water
  • 3 tbsp chilled vodka

Using a food processor, add flour, salt, and sugar. Pulse to mix.

Chop up frozen butter and add. Pulse until butter is incorporated and mixture looks grainy.

Slowly add ice water and vodka. Pulse until mixed.

Turn out onto counter. Press and form mixture into 2 disks . Wrap in plastic and refrigerate about an hour to allow the flour to properly absorb the water and to relax the gluten.

Roll out crust and place in pie plate. Crimp edges and fill.

It really does make a difference refrigerating the pie dough. I usually end up pulling it out at 30 minutes, but an hour is best.

Today, I made a goodly amount of filling because I was using up what I had in the house and I was using a 10′ deep pie plate. And I used it all. The pie bubbled over, but I had placed it on a sheet pan, so it was not a problem. You can definitely get by with less. Adjust sugars and flour, accordingly.

Blueberry Peach Pie

  • 6 medium peaches
  • 1 1/2 lbs blueberries
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 3 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • pinch salt

Peel and thickly-slice peaches. With clean hands, gently mix in blueberries and remaining ingredients until well-blended.

Pile into prepared pie shell and cover with second crust. Crimp edges to seal and cut steam vents into top.

Place into a preheated 425° oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 375° and bake an additional 50 minutes – or until crust is browned and filling is bubbling and cooked.

Cool completely before cutting.

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This went over well. Really well.

When I was a little kid my grandmother would occasionally give me a piece of homemade peach pie and vanilla ice cream for breakfast. It wasn’t all of the time and she rationalized that it really was no different than a peach danish and a glass of milk.

I’m thinkin’ grandma would approve if I had a piece of this tomorrow morning…