Peach and Apple Pie with Lattice Top

A splendidly unseasonal pie, using farmers' market peaches that we froze back in early September, and thawed for peach pie (by request for a treasured guest). Since the frozen peaches shrank in volume and looked like a dilapidated brown pool of limp dishrags when thawed, I added a sliced apple and some dried cranberries. The filling, amazingly, turned out terrific. This is also my first part-shortening crust, and the results were good enough (though I wound up underbaking the bottom crust) that there will be many more. Details, as always, below.

Dutch Apple Pie

This was my first try at an apple pie. 

It was, as so often happens, nearly a complete disaster, and imperfect in many ways. (Rest assured that I'll tell you all about them). Yet: it was also a success, insofar as deliciousness goes. Yum. Pie is good even when it's bad. 

As a pie seeker, I quest for piefection. But in the meantime, this stuff still tastes tasty.

Pumpkin Pie

The first pumpkin pie of the season!

Lemon Meringue!

I asked Suzanne what kinda pie to make and she said, without hesitation, Lemon Meringue.

I wound up taking photos at night, so they're not so great, but this is more or less what it looked like:

Double-Pie Birthday Edition: Chocolate Cream and Strawberry Rhubarb!

Yesterday, in honor of Suzanne's birthday, I made two pies: a chocolate cream pie with a whipped cream topping, and a strawberry rhubarb pie with a closed top.

For info about the making of, keep reading below.

Peach-Strawberry Pie with Lattice Top

This was the same recipe(s) as last week's Peach Pie, only with about a cup of sliced strawberries substituted in for peaches. By and large it was a success, though in some ways slightly disappointing after last week's peachy perfection.

Comments and reviews below, after the pretty picture.

Peach Pie with Lattice Top

This may have been even better than the Marionberry pie. I used exactly the same crust recipe, and it worked very well. The peach pie filling recipe is from the Baking Illustrated book.

How did it taste?

Pretty much like summer perfection. I was hoping for a bit more peach blast. But I think this is actually a good balance: not too tart, not too sweet. Definitely the taste of fresh summer peaches. I sort of craved more cinnamon, more lemon, more sugar- but all of those might have actually made it taste less like the fruit itself, and the fruit is what's important here. Next time I may be tempted to experiment a bit more but for now it's just right.

How Was The Texture?

Good. I'd put in a bit less starch next time, since it had a slight tendency to gumminess; but the texture of the peaches themselves seems unaffected, and the filling had great structure and wasn't loose at all.