Peach Streusel Pie

[kaci]

Peach Streusel Pie

A crisp streusel topping studded with walnuts and pecans perfectly accents tender, sweet peaches. Prep and Cook Time: 2 hours, plus at least 2 1/2 hours of cooling time. Notes: If your peaches are exceptionally juicy, toss with an additional tbsp. of tapioca. To peel peaches, make a small x on the bottom of the fruit, then plunge into boiling water for 30 seconds. Once cool, the skin will pull free.


1/4 cup walnuts, finely ground in a food processor
1/4 cup pecans, finely ground in a food processor
1 cup flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 pounds ripe peaches (about , peeled and sliced (see Notes)
About 1 tbsp. sugar
1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca (see Notes)
1 disk (1/2 recipe) Best Basic Pie Crust Dough*
1 disk (1/2 recipe) Best Basic Pie Crust Dough*


It's simple: Use shortening for a flaky texture and butter for a delicious flavor. Prep Time: 15 minutes. Notes: If you would like to use lard--which also contributes flavor and flakiness to pie crust--substitute 2 tbsp. lard for 2 tbsp. of the shortening. Try to get good-quality lard from a butcher shop if you can; it's generally much better than ordinary grocery-store lard.

This recipe goes with Peach Streusel Pie, Brambleberry Pie, Chunky Lemon Meringue Pie


2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
7 tablespoons very cold butter, cut into small pieces
7 tablespoons very cold shortening, cut into pieces

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Drop in butter and
shortening. Using your hands, a fork, a pastry cutter, or two knives, work
butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles cornmeal
with some small pea-size pieces.

2. Using a fork, quickly stir in 1/2 cup ice water (mixture will not hold
together). Turn dough and crumbs onto a clean surface. Knead just until
dough starts to hold together but some bits still fall away, 5 to 10 times.
Divide dough in half and pat each half into a 6-in. disk. Wrap each disk in
plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to overnight.

Keep the dough cold and the butter chunky. For a flaky crust, keep the
butter from melting into the dough before baking. Why? Those bits of butter,
which should be roughly pea-size, are meant to melt in the oven, giving off
steam that creates flaky pockets. If the dough seems to be softening too
much as you're working with it, throw it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
As you roll out the dough, you should see veins of butter running through
it.

Roll out from the center. It's much easier to roll dough into a circle if
you work from the center out to the edge in all directions.

Don't overdo it. Overworking the dough and using too much flour can make pie crust tough and dry. Try to keep a light hand with both, rolling just enough to reach your desired size and using only enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the counter.

Use a pie crust bag. This handy tool takes the strain out of rolling by
providing a nonstick round frame for the dough as you roll it out, allowing
you to use less flour and avoid shaggy edges. Simply put your chilled dough
in the bag, zip it up, roll it out, and transfer it to your pan.

Crimp the edges. Crimping or fluting the edges of a double-crust pie seals
the dough and keeps the filling from leaking out during baking. Even on a
single-crust pie, crimping can create a helpful dam effect. There are many
good techniques, but our favorite is to pinch the dough around the index
finger of one hand using the thumb and forefinger of the other. . 1. Put an
oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 350. Stir together
walnuts, pecans, flour, brown sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Add butter
and stir with a fork until mixture forms small clumps (break apart any large
clumps with your fingers). Set aside.

2. Gently mix peaches, sugar, and tapioca in a large bowl. Taste and add
additional sugar if you like. Set aside.

3. Dust your counter and rolling pin with flour. With short strokes from
center outward, roll dough into a 12-in. circle (about 1/8 in. thick),
turning 90 after every 3 or 4 passes of the rolling pin to keep it from
sticking. Transfer dough to a 9-in. deep-dish glass pie plate, letting it
fall into place (if you push or stretch the dough, it will shrink back when
baked). Trim overhang to 1/2 in., tuck edge under, and crimp edge. Pile
peaches into crust, then top with streusel.

4. Put pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until topping and bottom crust
are well browned, about 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature, at least 2 1/2
hours, before serving.

Yield Makes 8 servings