Peach and Almond Custard Pie

For me, summer means peach everything. They're my favorite fruit to bake with and my favorite thing to bake is pie. I had some peaches in the crisper drawer and my go-to peach dessert, my mom's peach pie, on my mind...and then my husband and I started wondering what other types of peach pies there were that I hadn't tried yet.

The answer to that, my friends, is peach custard pie. And it is just as amazing as it sounds. Flaky pastry, juicy peaches, a custard spiked with almond extract, because I just can't have a peach pie without almond. So in that respect it tastes quite a bit like the pie I talked about here years ago, but custardy! I think it might be a new favorite here. 

The original recipe calls for thyme in the custard and cinnamon in the crust. I love them both separately, but together? I'll definitely be trying this one in the future; I'm intrigued by the combination. But for this pie, I wanted the familiar pairing of peach and almond. It was simple and delicious.

The only other change I would make is to cut the peaches in smaller, bite-size pieces. The slices look beautiful, but they weren't very easy to eat. My pie took a whole lot longer to bake than the recipe called for, but my crust didn't burn and the custard didn't separate, so although I was worried, there was no reason to be. It turned out perfectly!

Peach and Almond Custard Pie

makes 1 9" pie

A side note about the crust: I happened to have exactly 1/4 cup buttermilk in my refrigerator to make this, but if you don't have any on hand, use whatever crust you are comfortable with, or the crust recipe included in my previous peach pie post. This was delicious and fairly easy to work with for an all butter pastry, but I'm not sure I would have known there was buttermilk in it if I didn't know about it already.

Crust:

1/2 c. butter, cubed

1 1/4 c. flour

1/4 t. salt

1 T. sugar

1/4 c. buttermilk

Filling:

2 eggs

1 1/4 c. milk (I used half and half)

3 T. flour

1/4 t. almond extract

3/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 t. salt

3 c. sliced (or chopped) peaches

For pastry: Combine flour, salt and sugar. Cut in butter with pastry blender until crumbly. Slowly add buttermilk, tossing with spoon after each addition, until dough comes together. ( I didn't even need the whole 1/4 cup, maybe about half of that.) Wrap dough in plastic and chill for 1 hour. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface to 1/4" thickness. Roll dough onto rolling pin and transfer to pie plate. Fold edges under and crimp as desired. In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs, milk, flour, extract, sugars and salt until smooth. Place peaches in crust and pour custard over. Place on baking sheet and bake 40 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes (that's really how long my pie was in the oven before the custard finally looked set. I was a little nervous...) or until pie is only slightly jiggly in center and feels firm to touch. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving. Cover and chill if you don't eat it all in one sitting. (We were tempted.)

French Fridays with Dorie: Orange-Almond Tart

 

This tart embodies everything I love about French cooking; French pastries in particular. It has a buttery, flaky shortbread crust, a pastry-cream/frangipane-type filling using my favorite nut, the almond, and it showcases a simple fruit that takes center stage like it was born for it. I'm not sure mine would make the pastry shop window, but the flavor was incredible. The orange is unusual and that's why I love it so much. Anything a little bit different catches my eye and I have to try it.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Double Chocolate Loaf Cake with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread

 

This post is a little late for the Baked Sundays, but I wanted to participate in these blog groups more than I have lately. They have been sneaking up on me and catching me unprepared.... and I have been intending to cook more with vegetables and grains in an effort to eat better. But then this cake came up on the schedule and it's chocolate. And it's got peanut butter with it. I had to make it. Unfortunately, it didn't want to come out of the pan. In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, I cut a slice in half and spread the peanut butter cream cheese one one side to make a little sandwich. It was delicious. I'll definitely be trying this recipe again; it reminds me of Dorie Greenspan's World Peace Cookies- there's cocoa powder, chocolate chunks, brown sugar and a generous amount of salt. This just happens to be soft (and in my case, crumbly) instead of crispy and crumbly. Same flavors, different application. You can never have too many options for your chocolate, can you?

There will be other pictures of beautiful chocolate loaf cakes on the Baked Sunday Mornings home page. Check out what this treat was supposed to look like and get the recipe there, too!

French Fridays with Dorie: Caramel-Topped Semolina Cake

All the convenience of a bowl of cereal, all the elegance of a French dessert. Would you ever guess that this cake is made with Cream of Wheat? I never would have. This recipe is usually made with a box mix by the French; Dorie says that our Cream of Wheat cereal is a very close approximation. I have fond memories of winter mornings spent doctoring up bowls of porridge with a pinch of this, a dash of that     (mostly butter and sugar, and most importantly, salt). This tastes a lot like I remember, actually. The big difference is the caramel because the base is simply milk, cereal, egg, sugar and vanilla. Put them together and what do you get? A custard! Love. Love. Love.

French Fridays with Dorie: Marie-Helene's Apple Cake

  

 

This is a French apple cake and it's the easiest cake I've ever made. Really. No mixer required. This is also about half apple, half cake, so it's kind of healthy. Sort of. Something about this dessert is so comforting, so simple - and yet so decadent. The interior is like a custard, chock full of apples and laced with rum and vanilla. Sure, it looks like dessert, but just between you and me....I ate most of it for breakfast the next day.