peach raspberry pie

What do you get when your husband leaves you for the weekend and fresh summer fruit?  Peach raspberry pie.  At least that's what I got this past weekend.

red raspberries

Hubby was working on the Island all weekend, and I decided that I'd spend my weekend cleaning, Jazzercise-ing, and making pie.  Oh, and re-watching Season 4 of Mad Men and my PVR'd episodes of History Detectives.  Have you ever watched History Detectives?  It's pretty much the best show ever, but then again, I also love Antiques Roadshow, so my opinion might not count for much.

Anyway, back to the pie.

When Hubby found out that I was planning on making pie while he was away, he casually mentioned that the likes apple pie, oh, and pumpkin pie too.  That's nice, I said, but there is no way that I'm going to make an apple pie when our local stores are stocked with so much wonderful summer fruit.

golden peaches

I had it in my mind that I NEEDED to make a peach pie.  Peaches are, by far, my favourite summer fruit.  A close second?  Raspberries.  

This pie turned out so much better than I had hoped.  The crust was buttery and flaky.  The fruit was the perfect mixture of sweet and sour.  The best way to describe the taste?  Summer in your mouth.

summer in your mouth

PEACH RASPBERRY PIE

Adapted from Canadian Living

(makes one 9 inch pie)

5 cups sliced and peeled peaches (I used about 6 peaches)
1 cup raspberries
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Pastry dough (recipe follows)
Milk and sugar for top of pie (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425 F.

Wash the raspberries and lay them in a single layer on a paper towel to dry.  

Wash and peel the peaches.  Separate the stones from the centres of the peaches and slice the peaches.

Put the sliced peaches and the raspberries into a large mixing bowl.  Add the flour, sugar, salt, and lemon juice and gently mix.  Don't mix too much or you'll just end up with mush.

Line a pie plate the pastry dough.  Pour the peach raspberry mixture into the pie shell.  Moisten the edges of the bottom crust and lay the top crust on top.  Pinch the crusts together.  Slice steam vents in the top of the pie.  If you like, brush the top of the pie with some milk and sprinkle sugar on top.

Place into the oven for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, decrease the oven temperature to 350 F and bake for another 30 - 40 minutes.

When crust is golden brown and filling has thickened remove from the oven.  Let cool and serve.

PERFECT PROCESSOR PIE PASTRY
from Canadian Living
(makes enough pastry for 1 double crust 9-inch pie)

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup cold lard, cubed
1 egg
2 tsp lemon juice
Ice water

In the bowl of your food processor (fitted with metal blade), add flour and salt. Pulse a couple of times to blend them together.  Open the lid and add in the butter and the lard.  Put the lid back on and pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs, with a few larger pieces.  This happened really fast for me, maybe 3 or 4 pulses.

In liquid measuring cup, beat the egg until foamy.  Add the lemon juice and enough ice water to make 2/3 cup.  Turn the food processor on and add egg mixture all at once.  Keep processing just until dough starts to clump together. Do not let it form ball. Remove and press together into 2 discs.
Wrap the pastry in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until chilled.  The pastry can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Let cold pastry stand for 15 minutes at room temperature before rolling it out.