peach and creme fraiche pie



Here's another summer time recipe I made from the bounty of peaches. This recipe, like some others I've tried out is not only delicious, but it's different enough that you won't be having just simple peach pie. Creme fraiche is one of my new favorite ingredients. It really makes this dish different and oh so good. Just out of the oven with some vanilla bean ice cream really ends the night on a high note.



Adapted from Martha and Smitten.



Streusel

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Filling
1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered
2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons crème fraîche

Take frozen pie dough out of the freezer and preheat oven to 400°F. Make streusel by stirring together dry ingredients then adding in cubed cold butter. You can add more flour if you need to get it to crumble. I have my grandma's pastry cutter which is excellent, but if you don't have one, you can use a couple forks.

Par-bake crust by placing aluminum foil around the pie and baking it for 10 minutes. When it comes out push down on the dough if you didn't have dried beans to weigh it down. Remove foil, but don't throw it out as you'll use it to place around the edges when you stick the pie back in. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.

Make the filling: Sprinkle quartered peaches with sugar (two tablespoons will make a just-barely-sweeteened pie; add the other two for a still not overly-sweet but sweeter pie) and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes so the juices can really get going. Spread two tablespoons crème fraîche in bottom of par-baked pie shell, sprinkle with one-third of the streusel and fan the peach quarters decoratively on top. They might not look as pretty as you'd like, but this is still going to look great and taste even better. This is not about stressing out people! Dot the remaining three tablespoons of crème fraîche on the peaches and sprinkle with remaining streusel.

Bake the pie until the crème fraîche is bubbling and the streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cover edge of crust with a strip of foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 15 minutes before serving, but if you can't wait, that's ok just serve with cold ice cream!

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