This “pie” with fresh peaches, baked in a creamy mixture is a beautiful pie dessert. I had leftover peaches and made this recipe in ramekins– without a crust. While the pie was delicious, I LOVED the ramekins of baked peaches and the cream filling. Either way, crust or not crust, you can’t go wrong. I kicked things up a couple more notches, by making a Creme Anglaise and a Raspberry Coulis sauce. That’s totally optional, but a beautiful presentation.
I wish we had a peach tree in our own backyard. So, instead, I wait for the first signs of California peaches at my local farm stand. At last, the first peaches were spotted, but they weren’t quite ripe.
I was craving peaches, and then I remembered a recipe in the June 2011 issue of Cook’s Country Magazine that I had bookmarked. Peaches and Cream Pie isn’t anything new. In the style of the family of Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country wanted to re-work the recipe so that the pie crust doesn’t get soggy. In order to accomplish this, this recipe required the roasting of the peaches, with a little sugar, to release it’s moisture. That made sense to me. The pie crust is also partially blind-baked with pie weights and aluminum foil. I’m not posting how I make my pie crust, as I have several different versions. If you want to use a commercially purchased one, please do so. Otherwise, my favorite pie crust recipe,is a mixture of shortening and butter and a “how to” is posted here.
The peaches are roasted, for about 30 minutes, on the top rack of the oven, while the pie crust is baking below. I liked the time-saving convenience of this procedure.
After chewing myself out, for not following the directions that were clearly there, I was saved by discovering that the peels came off quite easily. No harm, no foul.
Peaches & Cream Pie (Would you like crust with that?)
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
- 2 pounds ripe but firm peaches peeled, halved, and pitted
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup 3 1/2 ounces sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Cover pie shell with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes, then freeze for 20 minutes. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line chilled pie shell with two 12-inch squares of aluminum foil, letting foil lie over edges of dough. Top with pie weights.
- Place peach halves cut side up on aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake peaches on upper-middle rack until softened and juice is released, about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through baking.
- Place crust on lower-middle rack and bake until edges are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove crust from oven and carefully remove foil and weights.Continue to bake until bottom of crust is light brown and peaches are caramelized, about 5 minutes. Cool crust and peaches for 15 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Cut peaches lengthwise into quarters. Arrange peaches in single layer over crust. Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, flour, and salt in bowl. Whisk in cream, egg yolks, and vanilla until smooth. Pour cream mixture over peaches. Bake until filling is light golden brown and firm in center, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool pie on wire rack for at least 3 hours. Serve.
seriously… who needs dessert when I have your blog. this is hurrying up to the front of my "must make" list.
this looks fantastic. i have two wishes for my life before I die: have fruit trees and have chickens 🙂
y mouth is drolling…this looks so yummy…can you please send me a piece
Oh my, Debby! I love everything about peaches, especially their beautiful fragrance. I can only imagine how wonderful the peaches smelled as they roasted in the oven. I can't believe how gorgeous the raspberry coulis is with the pie (genius)!
I'm actually kind of obsessed with peach desserts but finding really good peaches up here is super hard. This sounds like the perfect recipe for me then!
OK you are scaring me here, LOL! I made the exact same pie last weekend, same recipe too! I used frozen peaches which does not work well at all mine was a mess, LOL!
Sounds like we are perfect dessert partners in crime because I also do not love crust. I loooove crumbles and the actual filling itself. So I would have been right there with you eating the crustless pie. What a great idea! You are always coming up with the best things Debbie!
This looks fabulous! I'm bookmarking right now!! Thanks so much for this share 😉
What a pretty presentation with the raspberry coulis and the creme anglais. THis looks so good and I can't wait til my neigbors peaches start ripening up!
This is a really lovely dessert. My husband loves peaches so I know this dish will have a welcome spot on my table. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
I can't wait till peaches are ripe to try this luscious dessert. I wonder if your peaches kept that bright red color on the outer part because you roasted them with the skin on?
Beyond delicious, Debby! My grandmother made something similar with poached rhubarb and it was one of my favorite desserts when I was young. Love that you roasted the peaches. That must have smelled like heaven when it was baking.
I baked this and it was wonderful! The peaches were difficult to peal and quarter and took longer than 30 minutes to release their water but assembling the pie could not have been easier. The result is sweet and creamy without being overly sugary or rich. It probably won't displace my favorite apple or berry pies from the top of my favorites list, but it was definitely a worthwhile addition to the catalog of great, seasonal pies. Also, I used the leftover dough and peaches together with fresh strawberries to bake some single serving deserts in ramekins which were wonderful.
Dear Garnet,
You don't have an email, so hopefully you'll check back. I made a mistake when I made this recipe by NOT peeling them before roasting. Guess what? My mistake actually was a blessing, as the skins peeled right off! As for quartering them, I didn't do that until AFTER the peaches were roasted and skinned. I love shortcuts, so this is a suggestion. Since this recipe, I made a peach sangria (most excellent) and I discovered that my apple peeler/corer (one that attaches to my counter) peeled my peaches like a charm. So simple. I also have a mango splitter (by OXO) that removes peach pits beautifully. I'm a gadgetholic! Thanks for your comment. Glad you enjoyed it.