Monday, September 10, 2012

Vanilla Bean Peach Pie

 Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie by Jay and the Techniques
It's the season to be making all of these pies that Jay and the Techniques are singing about and that's about the best season there is!  I'm all for baking things up in a pie crust - especially the sweet kind!  Even if we just make them the "ordinary" way, it's always a good idea.  But since I've had vanilla beans on my mind, I decided to use one in my peach pie.  The result - something to sing about!  "Ready or not, here I come!"  Take it away, guys!


"Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie - soon your love is gonna be all mine!"
Yep - that pretty much sums it up!

It's birthday time at tune 'n fork.  We turned 1 year old on the 8th!
A year ago I finally put all the months of hand-wringing and doubts behind me and published my very first post - my beloved Groovy Granola - which is still in my top 5 posts of all time!

I appreciate every visitor that has stopped by to see what I've had to share and say.  At the time of this post I've had 10,374 page views.  I'm really, really happy about that!  And I owe it all to you who spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest!  tune 'n fork has accounts on all of those social media - did you know that?  It's true!

For myself - I have been overwhelmed with how fulfilling and satisfying and FUN this has been.  A year later, I'm still as enthused as I was at the beginning - even more so!

Again - thank you, thank you for stopping by and spreading the word!  Keep it up!

To celebrate this auspicious occasion - I've made a birthday pie!
Haha!  You knew it, right?

Peaches are on and, oh my goodness, I love them!  Next to Lemon Meringue it's probably my next favorite pie on the earth.  As soon as the peaches begin appearing I start buying - even though those first ones are of the cling variety - fighting those pits to relinquish the sweet fruit!  I'm so happy when the freestone variety appear!

As I said in my intro, with all the vanilla beans I've had around the house making my vanilla extract, it made me wonder what a vanilla bean would do to a peach pie filling.  Vanilla makes everything taste better and the vision in my head of those tiny dark brown specks throughout the filling made me head straight to the pantry and pull a bean out.  I split and then scraped those little guys on in with the peaches and other filling ingredients and gave it a stir.  It looked and smelled wonderful!  I couldn't wait!

My hunch was right.  It was delicious!  I served a piece to my husband, not telling him that I had added in the special ingredient.  I waited.  Finally, he asked if I had changed it somehow.  I owned up and said that I had but, before I told him what it was, I wanted to know if it was a good change or not.  He said that my usual way is always good (sweet, huh?) but that this new way . . . .  well, his exact words escape me but they were to the effect that the flavors were more rounded - or grounded.  Anyway, the results were two thumbs way up!  Make that four thumbs - his and mine!

Those specks of cinnamon and vanilla bean ARE tantalizing, aren't they?
Oh me, oh my, I LOVE peach pie!  And so will you!

 Vanilla Bean Peach Pie
Printable Recipe Card
1 double crust pie shell, unbaked
5 cups of sliced peaches, 4-5 large peaches
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
Beans from 1 vanilla bean
dash salt
2 T. butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out half of your pie dough and fit into a pie plate.  Keep cold in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Place the peeled and sliced peaches into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla beans (scraped from the pod), and the dash of salt.  Stir until well-mixed and the vanilla beans have distributed throughout the mixture.

Add the peach mixture into the pie shell and spread out evenly.  Dot the top with pieces of the butter, scattering around the surface.  Roll out the rest of your pie dough and fit onto the top of the filling.  Trim and crimp the edges to seal crusts together.  Sprinkle the top with sugar.  Use a sharp knife and cut slits into the crust for the steam to escape.

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes.  If crust starts to get too brown, cover with aluminum foil.  Remove and cool.

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