Easy as Pie

Have you all seen the film The Help?  I've been highly anticipating it since I read the book for book club last year.

I definitely enjoyed the movie adaptation… but the book was a little bit darker and I missed that element in the movie.  It's hard to turn civil rights in 1960s MIssissippi into a feel good movie, but somehow they did it!  Anyhow, if you've seen the movie or read the book, you know that there's a famous scene with a scandalous chocolate pie.

This pie was not inspired by that one. It was inspired by the fact that I went a little crazy at the farmer's market last weekend and had a ba-jillion peaches lying around and no one to eat them.

 

Bourbon Peach Pie with Blueberries

The blueberries were a last minute addition because while I had a ba-jillion peaches in my apartment, I didn't quite have enough to fill my pie shell. Whoops.

If you're buying pie filling, get a grip on reality and make it yourself. It takes 30 seconds and is pretty hard to mess up. Below are some basic, loose guidelines that should turn out successfully. My personal pie recipe is more of a pantry raid -- let's toss a bunch of stuff in a bowl and see how it turns out!! Usually, delicious. Just don't accidentally grab the chili powder instead of the pumpkin pie spice. I learned that lesson the hard way.

The only super vital ingredient here is the 1/4 of flour (you could also use cornstarch, if you have that lying around, but I prefer flour).  You need this to thicken up the pie, or else it will be runny and gross.

• 1/4 c flour
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/4 c granulated sugar (you could flip flop the ratio of white to brown sugar depending on the flavors you like)
• Any spices you want to include - cinnamon, nutmeg (but don't invite me over if you make a nutmeg pie, you disgusting, disgusting baker), cloves, ginger, etc. Use 1/4-1/2 tsp depending on your preferences.
• Liquid flavorings - Liquor and extracts (like vanilla) if you choose. Hello, bourbon. 1-2 Tablespoons for the liquor, 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of the vanilla depending on your preferences.
• Fruit of your choice. I think about a pound of fruit works well for a 9 inch pie. Keep in mind that this is the edible part only, so for things with pits and cores, you'll want to buy over a pound.

Directions - whisk all the flours, spices, and sugars together. Dump in the fruit and liquid flavorings. Toss.

For this pie, I used bourbon and a little sprinkle of cinnamon. Because really, is there anything more delicious than peaches and bourbon?

I wanted to practice my lattice work, since I haven't made a pie since December. STILL GOT IT!!!

 

Here's the finished product. It was delicious with homemade cinnamon ice cream!