Intro
I asked her to teach me her secret to making pie. Grandma was after all the bringer of pie to all family functions so of course I thought to learn from her. I wasn’t a foreigner in the often intimidating land of pie making as my mother frequently gifted us children with pie. The process of incorporating cold butter into flour didn’t seem to frighten her so I too wasn’t scared. But Grandma’s pies were different. So tender not even a sharp knife could cleanly slice through it, instead victims of the pressure of the knife lay in the bottom of the pie plate in the form of sweet crumbs. I considered it my duty to claim those crumbs with my fingers as their liberator and my mouth their new home.
She gathered her ingredients; flour, salt, sugar, milk, and oil. OIL?! No butter, I repeat, no butter. A coffee cup was her measuring cup and it was sometimes filled to the top, other times not. Once all the ingredients were added she mixed it with her hands using her years of experience to determine if she needed “more of this or that”. She was reluctant to offer up a recipe as it was the “feel” of it that was a better judge than precise measurements. What emerged from the oven just over an hour later was a perfect pie just as Grandma always makes.
I find Grandma’s method of baking so comforting. Grandma doesn’t find herself in debates over how she measures flour, she just bakes. She has gifted people with pie, I imagine, no less than a thousand times. Her church, our family and her friends have all had the pleasure of enjoying her impossibly tender crust. It is Grandma’s experience that guides her baking.
While there is no arguing that baking is a science I find that often all the discussion of the preciseness necessary in baking can scare people away from actually attempting to form a dough. Experience is often the best teacher, as is the case with baking. If you, like me, had a mother who enjoyed baking and did so often in the home, than most likely that fear is minimal. But if you didn’t I can understand that there is fear in the unknown. Let me also assure you that there will be failed attempts. Happens to me still. There are at any moment many factors at play working towards the success of your baked good. Sometimes things happen that you simply don’t have an answer for.
What I often tell my baking students is that the key to successfully baking is a basic understanding of your ingredients. Get to know them and how they interact with one another. This knowledge will allow you to be in control rather than having the recipe control you. When taking this approach baking becomes more closely related to cooking than you think. The freedom and creativity found in baking opens up when you are able to predict what would happen if you use oil in the dough instead of butter, or egg instead of water, for example.
The best book I can recommend for this idea is Rhulman’s Ratio. It boils down the basics of baking into simple ratios. Following the simple ratio you can alter and add to it with great comfort and ease.
Most important is to simply get in the kitchen and start building your experience. As in life, there are many lessons to be learned in our failures. Learn from it and move on. Each attempt will be less and less intimidating and before you know it you will be the bringer of pie as Grandma is.
This post is part of the #pieparty!! It started on Twitter and the rest is history. You may have noticed that food bloggers around the web are going pie crazy today. Check out some of these beauties.
Garrett makes a stunning Blueberry pie with Thyme and honey.
Helene’s stunning mixed berry pie with Lemon Verbena
Irvin made a blood orange lemon vanilla shaker pie
Hannah made a peach blueberry pie and it looks darn good
Justin made a Chocolate Bourbon pie and tells how I invited myself along to the pie party
Check out the pie party details at GlutenFreeGirl.com and see our Facebook page.
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Tequila Peach Galette
You may think I’m crazy making a match like Tequila and peaches but I assure you it’s a winner. I happened upon the pair when they were both sitting on my counter. I picked both of them up and smelled them together and the rest is history, or it’s pie at least.
Galette Dough
This isn’t Grandma’s dough but it is a sturdy one that is more flaky than tender, making it the perfect choice for a free-form pie. It’s hardy crunch and buttery flakes are a welcomed contrast in texture and flavor to the almost jam-like peaches.
1 ½ cups (7 ounces, 200 grams) all-purpose flour
1 stick + 1 tablespoon (4 ½ ounces, 125 grams) butter, cold
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vinegar (such as champagne or cider)
1 tablespoon water, cold
Combine the flour, cornstarch and salt in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Cut the cold butter into rough ½” cubes. Scatter on top of the flour and pulse just a couple of times to evenly disperse the butter. In a small bowl, stir together the egg, vinegar and water. While streaming the liquids in pulse the machine. The dough will appear very crumbly. Once the liquid has been incorporated squeeze the mixture in your hands and if it holds together you are set. If not, sprinkle with a few more drops of water and pulse a couple more times.
Dump out the dough and form into a rough disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Tequila Peaches
1 ½ tablespoons tequila (I used Hornitos)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
½ teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 large peaches, ripe and fragrant
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Combine the tequila, lime juice and cornstarch in a small bowl. Slice the peaches about ¼” thin. In a medium bowl add the peaches and the juice/cornstarch mixture. Using your hands, toss to combine.
Pre-heat the oven to 385* You want to start with a nice hot oven to make sure your butter in the dough, quickly comes to a boil creating steam that puffs up the dough – this is the magic of flakes. Hot oven plus cold butter equals beautiful flakes.
Once the dough has chilled roll out to your desired size. Don’t worry about being neat, in my opinion pies are best when they are rustic and rough. Roll out the dough to ¼” thickness. Place the dough on a parchment lined sheet tray so you don’t have to awkwardly transfer the galette once assembled (can you tell I’m speaking from experience here?) Arrange the peaches or simply dump them in the center of your dough. Leave 1 ½ inches surrounding the peaches and fold this up on top of them pleating as you fold so that it securely encases the fruit. Brush the top of the crust with cream and sprinkle the sugar over the crust and the fruit. Scatter the zest on top of that. Chill the galette in the freezer for 15 minutes before baking.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. If the crust starts to color too quickly before the juices have begun to boil then simply turn the oven down to 350*. You will be able to tell your pie is done with the crust is a deep golden color and the juices have bubbled and look thicker than boiling water and more like bubbling jam.
Remove from the oven and let sit for at least two hours before enjoying.
tequila and pie? together? I’m sold.
I made my first from scratch pie this weekend and it was an amazing experience, even though I felt like a cluster the whole time I was trying to get the dough “right” … I can’t wait to try out this recipe, it sounds amazing! 🙂 Ps. If you ever have left over pie from your grandma, you can come to my house .
so gorgeous!! I would totally come to your real life pie party.
@Sara – In August we party.
I love peaches, and I love tequila…this will have to be a go in the near future! Thanks for the inspiration.
I love that fourth photo of all the triangles cut out of the galette. Your crust looks great! Sometimes I think baking is a journey we must take on our own. It’s good to have a grandma to guide us or get us started, but the only way to learn is just do it. In this world of instant gratification, baking is learned only by time and practice.
@Domestique – That is beautiful. I’ve had so much fun on my baking journey. Some things delicious, some things not, but the most important thing is that I’m always learning.
This is an absolutely beautiful spin on peach pie! Thank you for sharing it.
Absolutely stellar! I love tequila pretty much any way, so pie must be next on the list to try. I’m so enjoying the pie party! Stop by for a slice of rhubarb-raspberry cream if you have any room left. =)
@Aimee – I have plenty of room for pie.
Looks delicious! Love the free-form idea, too–perfect summer pie!
Yum! This is gorgeous and sounds amazing.
Excellent looking pie! Love the combination and what a delightful story. =D
i love freeform pies, this one is gorgeous! lovely photos and lovely story.
You galette looks fantastic, and I love the story about your grandma teaching you to bake. People lament that baking is such a science, and in truth, it is, but the more you do it, the less you have to rely on the science and instead rely on your own personal feel of the ingredients.
I love the idea of tequila and peaches though. Gorgeous galette.
@Irvin – I couldn’t agree more. I’m so glad I rudely invited myself along to this virtual party. So fun.
Oh it’s so true, baking is a matter of understanding the perfect equilibrium between the besic ingredients and the added ones. Failures always happen –I failed a zucchini bread recipe yesterday– but one learns so much from them –what to adjust and change. As for a pie crust, each has to find the favorite combination of sugar, flour, butter, eggs. Once mastered that, each pie will come sooo easily. Same for all the rest. This pie looks amazing by the way –tequila peaches are a great idea!
This is gorgeous. It looks like it belongs behind the counter at Tartine here in San Francisco. I love peaches too (and pretty much all stonefruit) and am sitting on 15 pounds of them, portioning out what will become preserves and what will (probably) go into a cornmeal crust galette. I may just try your dough and make two though.
@Anne Marie – Oh my goodness, what a compliment. Thank you. 15 pounds?! I’m on my way.
I love that you can just line stack the peaches in the crust like a sleeve of Oreos instead of worrying about precarious ‘mounding’ techniques. Also: very cool wedge-slicing method.
@Erin – This pie was so ridiculously easy AND so light in sugar I felt no guilt while eating is for breakfast.
It was booze and peach day! I made bourbon peach pie….next week after the farmer’s market I might have to try this combo.
Beautiful story & photos!
@Mary Fran – mmmm booze and peach, a perfect match. 🙂 Checking out your bourbon peach pie now.
There aren’t words to describe how much I want this. I don’t really bake, but I WILL be baking this!
Peaches and Booze = YES 🙂 I love that you made a galette with this, I tend to make galettes and tarts more frequently than a traditional double-crusted pie, and decided to switch things up this time. Your story about how your grandma bakes reminds me of my mother-in-law as well, with her trusted, imprecise measuring bowls. Women like these are the bakers I hope to be when I’m 65!
thanks for the link… and you know, i’m not normally a tequila guy, but you just changed my mind
Oh my goodnight…the sexiest fruit with a liquor of genuine notoriety…Scandal Pie. Spectacular!
I love my Grandmas crust too. I can never seem to replicate its perfectness. Great idea to pair peaches with tequila! Yum!
Beautiful story and a beautiful pie!!
Penciling this on the calendar. Tim will only eat peaches (not plums nor nectarines)…so thanks for this. Hope to surprise him.
This looks absolutely delicious, I’m always looking for good Tequila pairings with food & love peaches… I can’t wait to try it!
looks gorgeous, and sounds delightful. i’m starting my baking classes and had my first one last night, and my teacher’s advice was remarkably similar to yours – understand ingredients and practice. i’ll have to try this out – a good excuse to experiment with making pie dough. thanks for the recipe!
This is beautiful!
Beautiful! I love galettes and I love how you shaped yours! The filling in this looks particularly yummy 😀
That looks so good (especially cut into triangles)! I love when crusty, delicious thing are just… delicious. Messy, flaky, crumbly and wonderfully non-perfect. A lovely tribute to your grandma!
I got a little choked up at this…. Surprisingly, not at the memories of Grandma (though they were lovely), but in thinking of how sad it is that some people find it necessary preach such frightening dogma about baking. There is no one “right” way to go about any of it. It’s about the pleasure in creating and sharing, and precisely how a person gets there is a personal thing. “Grandma doesn’t find herself in debates over how she measures flour, she just bakes.” Yes, this. Thank you.
Hello Ashley! I have a question I am hoping you can answer. I am currently attempting your recipe but sadly the peaches I have are…well, not up to snuff. I have already successfully made the dough but unfortunately the next chance I have at completing this pie is tomorrow after buying some better peaches. It can’t be done before tomorrow because I have a bit of a crazy schedule (grad school + working full time), and I was wondering if the dough will survive 24 hours? That’s typically what I see with pie dough recipes, but since your recipe just called for at least 30 minutes I wasn’t sure.
I appreciate your help!
@Paula – email sent.
Grandmas and pies smell like an autumn afternoon full of sunshine.
Stunning … this is absolutely divine!
Thanks Deeba!
This “pie” is beautiful, and I bet it tastes amazing. 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I actually just tried this tonight, and it wasn’t as delicious as I expected (I followed the recipe exactly). My peaches were sweet and ripe, but overall everything tasted pretty tart. I think there just wasn’t enough sugar to balance out the lime and peaches. It did look absolutely beautiful though!
@Stephanie – I am so sorry the pie wasn’t all you dreamed it would be. I prefer my desserts on the less sweet side of things – which you are now well aware of I’m sure. I’ve not liked peach pie in the past because I found it too sweet so I was thrilled when I was able to achieve the tartness I so desired in this recipe. The good news is that it’s an easy fix. If you do try this again, and I do so hope you do, simply add more sugar to suit your taste buds. Again, I am sorry you didn’t like it as much as I did. Thanks for reading!
Best Pie EVER. Thanks for sharing…. baked it up and posted about it 🙂
http://www.gypsyforest.com/welcome_to_gypsy_forest/2011/07/tequila-peaches-monday-bites.html
the tequila-peach combination is definitely a winner–I went to grad school in Tucson, AZ and my roommate and I would always order peach margaritas at this one little Mexican restaurant…they were off the menu, and showed up on our receipt as “the widow’s kiss.” strange name, delicious drink. I often recreate them at home now with TX peaches!
@Nishta – The widow’s kiss? Spooky yet delicious. 🙂
It always amazes me to hear how -seemingly – no one’s grandmother has ever measured flour. Mine never measured anything…I do hope to learn to do that someday! Gorgeous peaches…I wish I could make them last all year long! xo
LOVE that book, Ratio. It taught me a lot about each ingredient, and how they interact with each other. Gorgeous pictures, I now, for breakfast, want tequila, peaches and pie. I don’t know that this is a good decision, but I don’t care, I want it.
@Julia – It’s a very good decision. There’s only 2 tbl of sugar so really it definitely qualifies as breakfast food.
i’m thinking these peaches would be pretty darn fine even MINUS the crust — tequila, lime and peaches? oh, my.
(not that i ever turn down a bite of flaky buttery goodness, mind you…
@Molly – You couldn’t be more right.
Boozy peaches? I’m all for it!
Looks amazing!
But let it sit 2 hours before eating?
What kind of hellish new torture is this that you’ve invented?!!!
Hahaha!
mmm I bet this tastes delicious! And such beautiful photos 🙂
I made this yesterday and it was gorgeous and smelled great. Sadly the flavor didn’t really deliver – the crust texture was amazing but the peaches (though ripe and juicy, I swear!) just didn’t taste like anything. I think I’ll revisit this technique with apples & cinnamon in the fall.
@Beth – I’m so sorry it wasn’t all you hoped it would be. Since there are only three ingredients in the filling the peaches must be full of flavor. I’m not usually a peach pie fan for the very reason you stated but these peaches were something special. Feel free to add more sugar and also cinnamon too. So sorry.
I’m new at baking and was wondering what type of cream is used for the tequila peaches.
@Ripple – Just sent you an email, but I’ll answer here. I use heavy cream. Although any cream will do.
I’m craving everything peaches right now… I posted a really simple peach recipe today – Peach Crostata. I hope you get a chance to stop by! http://jennysteffens.blogspot.com/2011/07/peach-crostata-simple-summer-peach.html
Holy yum town
This looks and sounds amazing. I’m heading over to the farmers market and the first thing I’m doing when I get back is make this!
how’d you do that? can ya show us please
Happy happy happy… Made this pie today, it´s wonderful!
I am going to use much more tequila… Definitelly…:)
Absolutely love your creative idea with tequila peach pie! Never seen something like this! Definitely i will try to make it too! Thx for sharing Ashley!
This tequila peach pie looks absolutely fantastic. Beautiful photos, too. I look forward to trying this.
Oh my! This tequila peach pie was delicious – and so easy to make! Will have to try this for my family. Thanks so much!
Thank you for posting this delicious looking peach pie recipe!
i love peach. your tequila peach pie is great idea. This pie look so gorgeous and healthy. i will taste it.