Heavenly Strawberry-Peach Shortbread Pie

Heavenly Strawberry Peach Shortbread Pie

This is the season that my family and I have eagerly awaited all year-- that peak time when peaches are at their sweetest, juiciest state of ripeness. On Saturday, we headed out to our local farm market and bought a basket of the most delicious peaches I have ever tasted. On Sunday, in celebration of both the peaches and our son’s fly-by visit, I made the best pie I have ever tasted in my entire life! Naturally, I want to share the joy, so I am sharing my recipe with you.

Fair warning: This is a sugary, buttery, white flourey indulgence and if you are looking for a health-food pie I suggest that you either look elsewhere or modify this recipe accordingly. If you are willing to allow yourself a gastronomically ecstatic experience and waive your nutritional restrictions momentarily, following this recipe should yield you an experience of sweet, tart, juicy, beautifully textured Heaven. The choice is yours. Whatever you decide, the primary ingredient in any recipe is Love: Sprinkle Liberally!

Preheat oven to 350; use center rack

Strawberry-Peach Filling

8 ripe, juicy, delicious medium sized peaches or 6 large, peeled, cut into slices, and the slices halved.

1 pint ripe strawberries, washed, dried, and quartered 

1 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbs flour

2 Tbs butter, in small cubes

In a large bowl combine the peaches and strawberries. Stir lemon juice throughout. Stir in the sugar. Next stir in butter pieces. Finally, stir in flour. Let sit as you prepare the crust; the sugar will help draw out the juices of the peaches and strawberries. 

Shortbread Style Pie Crust (Double Crust)

2 cups unbleached, organic all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cups cold, salted butter, diced

ice water-- you will use 6-7 Tbs of the water

Stir together the dry ingredients (let’s call this the flour mix). Add butter, and blend into flour mix with a pastry blender until the texture is like very small peas or large crumbs. Push all of the flour/butter mix to back of the bowl and then bring a small amount forward. Add one tablespoon ice water. Blend in with pastry blender, bringing in more mix until you have a doughy consistency. Now bring forward another bit of mix; blend in water. Continue to do this until you’ve got all of the dough made, blending the entire batch together to a workable consistencey. 

Now you will need to roll the dough into a ball and divide it in half. 

To roll out the dough, begin with a buttered surface such as a countertop. Yep, butter your countertop. Now dust it liberally with flour. Do the same to your rolling pin-- butter it and dust it with flour.

Press out a ball of dough and roll it out until you’ve got a circle big enough to fill your pie pan all the way up the sides and hanging slightly over (about 12” diameter).  Lift carefully, using your forearms to support it. Lay the dough in your pie pan and crimp the edges slightly.

Cover the edges only of the crust with tin foil shields. Crimp it tight so that the edges will remain uncooked.

Place the pie tin on a baking sheet which is wider than the pie’s circumference. You will have lots of juices running out. Bake the bottom crust at 350 for 8 minutes. If the bottom bubbles up, tap it down when you take it out, using a towel over your hand. 

While lower crust is baking, roll out the upper crust, also around 12” circumference.

Remove bottom crust (with baking pan) from the oven. Remove the foil wrapping from the edges. While crust is still hot, pour in the filling. Carefully lift top crust onto the pie and crimp together upper and lower crusts all along the edge.  Cut little vent holes in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape during baking. 

Again wrap the edges in foil.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.(Keep that baking pan underneath.) 

Remove the foil from the edges. Bake at 350 for 30 more minutes.

Let cool before cutting and serving.

Let me know how you liked it!