Deep Dish Summer Fruit Pie
Hey y’all, sorry for the extended absence. There’s a lot of change going on in my life right now (again) and I’ve been super busy with getting ready for the transition.
Change is great but it can also be uncomfortable, irritating, overwhelming and downright stressful. I really needed a break from all that, so here I am, taking a few minutes to actually act like I’m a food blogger.
There are very few things that can cheer me up like pie. I love to make and eat it year-round, but especially during the summer time when particular fruits are in season, like stone fruits and berries.
When both became available at my local grocery store, I knew I wanted to make a pie, but I wanted to do something a little bit different with it than the typical 9-inch round with a lattice top or something else like that. I also had a LOT of fruit, that I didn’t think would fit in my regular pie pan.
So, what was a girl to do?
Deep dish pies are a favorite go-to of mine for when you have a lot of fruit you need to use, and when I was deciding how I would make it work for this one, I started wondering if it would be possible to use my 11 x 13 baking dish to make one (a first for me.)
I’m really happy with what I came up with. It’s a variation on several pies and fruit desserts I’ve made in the past and decided to smush together here as a sort of experiment. The bottom crust is a standard, all-butter one you’d find in most pies out there. My filling is a combination of peaches, nectarines, and blueberries, but as I’ve noted in the recipe, you can opt for what you most prefer here.
The top crust of the pie is where I deviated a little bit from the norm. It’s actually the ‘crust’ recipe I use for whenever I make peach cobbler. It comes together in minutes and doesn’t require any resting or intensive labor. You just scoop and plop it on top of the filling. It spreads and puffs as it bakes, creating a fluffy biscuit-dumpling crust that soaks up all the juices from the peaches wonderfully.
I know I talk a lot about certain foods tasting like the seasons, but this really does taste like summer time. The fruit is bright, tart and slightly sweet while the different textures of the crusts give it that buttery richness without overtaking the filling completely.
This was a successful ‘change’ for me when making pie. Here’s to other changes going well.
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Deep Dish Summer Fruit
Recipe Adapted from Williams-Sonoma
Ingredients
For Bottom Crust:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 16 Tbs. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, frozen
- 6 to 8 Tbs. (90 to 125ml) ice water
For Filling
- 3 lb. yellow peaches, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
- 2 lb. yellow nectarines, peeled, cored and cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
- 2 1/2 cups blueberries, blackberries or raspberries (or a mixture of both, it’s up to you)
- 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3 Tbs. bourbon
- 2 Tbs. vanilla extract
For Biscuit Topping
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
For Bottom Crust:
In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt and stir together with a fork. Using a box grater (or use a knife to cut it into cubes) grate butter directly into the dry ingredients. Add 6 Tbs. of the ice water and gently stir together. The dough should hold together when squeezed with your fingers but should not be sticky. If it is crumbly, add more water 1 tsp. at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape into a disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight, preferably overnight (the crust will be more tender).
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 20-by-14-inch rectangle about 1/8 inch thick. Fold the dough in half and transfer to a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Unfold the dough and press into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edges, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, and fold in the excess dough so it extends just beyond the rim of the dish. Refrigerate the pie shell for 30 minutes.
Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 375°F
For Filling:
In a large bowl, stir together the fruit, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cornstarch, bourbon and vanilla until well combined. Pour the fruit filling into prepared shell.
For Biscuit Topping:
Into a bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut or grate the butter into small pieces. Add it to the flour mixture and stir with a fork or a pastry blender until it looks like coarse bread crumbs. Pour in the cream and mix just until the dough comes together. Don’t overwork; the dough should be slightly sticky but manageable. Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls over the pie filling; There can be gaps, the dough will puff up and spread out as it bakes. Brush the top with some heavy cream and sprinkle with some turbinado sugar; put it into the oven on a baking sheet to catch any drips.
Bake on the middle rack of the oven 75-80 minutes, until the filling is bubbling, and the top is golden. (You may need to cover the pie with aluminum foil to keep it from browning too quickly.)
Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before serving.
Linking this up to Fiesta Friday #386.
Looks amazing
Thank you Susie 🙂
Perfect summer pie 😋
Thank you! It really is 🙂
Hello from Pennsylvania. Have you ever had strawberry rhubarb pie? I used to find it fairly commonly, but not any more.
Yes, Strawberry Rhubarb is one of my favorite pies! 😀