Fresh Peach Pie with Rosemary Crust
We’ve finally reached summer fruit season and there’s no better way to celebrate than with Fresh Peach Pie with Rosemary Crust. I know it sounds odd to add rosemary to the crust, but I’m telling you, it is sublime. Herbs pair beautifully with sweets and rosemary is no exception! Offset the herby flavor with sweet summer peaches and you have a winner, winner.
This is not an ordinary peach pie. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m not a master at pies. I’ve always been intimidated by pie dough. I always fear that it’s going to tear or I’ll never fit it nicely into the pie dish. I also can never seem to get a piece of the finished pie out of the dish so that it looks pretty.
This dough is very forgiving. It is easy to make, rolls out beautifully, lifts off the floured surface easily, and drops right into the tart pan perfectly. Yes, I said tart pan!
Because I have such a hard time getting the pie slices out without breaking the slice apart, I decided to try it in a tart pan with a removable bottom. It’s so easy and the slices are PERFECT! One little note: be sure to put a sheet pan under the tart pan when you fill it with the peaches and throughout the baking process. It can leak a bit so you don’t want to have a big mess.
Begin this gorgeous baby by making the dough. Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and add the vanilla bean paste and rosemary. It’s okay to use vanilla extract (same quantity) if you don’t want to indulge in the vanilla bean paste but the paste tends to give it a slightly richer flavor along with the tiny bean specs that I adore!
Add the butter and with your fingers or pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until small pea-size butter chunks remain. You want to work quickly as cold crust is the key!
After combining the water, ice and apple cider vinegar, add a bit at a time to the flour/butter mixture and mix it well. Keep adding water, a tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together (see the above photo).
Divide the dough into two portions. If I’m doing latticework on the top of the pie, I usually give the lattice a bit more dough than the bottom crust. Form the bottom crust piece into a round disc and the lattice piece into a rectangular and wrap both pieces in plastic wrap. Rest in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Once chilled, roll our both pieces (one at a time, leaving the piece you’re not working on in the fridge), one into the bottom crust, slightly larger than the tart pan with an overhang (approximately a 12″ circle) and the other into a rectangle about 10″ X 18″.
The round pie crust will fit nicely into a 9″ tart pan. Lift the crust so that it falls neatly into the bottom and runs up the sides without any space between the pan and the crust. Place that in the fridge while you’re working on the strips.
With the rectangle, use a pizza cutter and a ruler to cut strips 1/4-1/2″ wide. Place the strips in the fridge while you make the filling.
The filling is a luscious combination of ripe peaches, vanilla bean paste, some tapioca starch for thickening, sugar and salt.
Place the tart pan on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the crust. Arrange the strips of dough over the top in a lattice pattern, braids or strips.
Brush an egg wash over the lattice and sprinkle it with turbinado sugar. Bake the pie at a higher heat or 425°F, reducing the heat after about 20 minutes to 375°F. Bake until the crust is well baked, around 40-50 minutes.
Let the pie cool for a while and remove the pie from the tart pan. Now it should be very easy to cut. The crust will be flaky and tender with flecks of rosemary running through it. The filling will be sweet and flavorful and will hold its shape.
This is the best way to start off summer!
Share Your Thoughts...
Fresh Peach Pie with Rosemary Crust
Makes: one 9-inch pie
Prep Time: 50 minutes
Bake Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Ingredients
Rosemary Pie Dough:
- 3 & 3/4 cups (540g) flour
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 & 1/2 cups cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 cup ice
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Filling:
- 8-9 large fresh peaches, peeled (see Chef’s Notes), de-stoned, and cut into eighths
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1/3 cup tapioca starch
- 2/3 cup turbinado or raw sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg whisked with 1 tbsp water
- Turbinado or raw sugar to finish
Instruction
Rosemary Pie Dough:
Place flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Add the vanilla bean paste and fresh rosemary and rub through with your fingers. Mix to combine. Cut butter into chunks, and add to the flour. Toss lightly to coat. Working quickly, using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until there are only pea-sized chunks left. You want a few lumps of butter remaining to keep the pastry nice and tender.
Combine ice, water and cider vinegar in a bowl. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the ice water into the flour and butter mixture, and using a stiff spatula or your hands, mix in well. Continue adding water a tablespoon at a time ( I normally need about 1/2 to 3/4 cup, but add slowly) until you have a dough that holds together well, but is not too wet. Squeeze together with your fingertips to make a homogenous dough.
Divide the dough into two (I like to do a 1/3 to 2/3 split). Shape the smaller portion into a disc and the larger into a rectangle. Wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for at least two hours, or preferably overnight.
Filling & Assembly:
On a lightly floured surface, roll the disc into a circle approximately 12-inches in diameter. You want it to be approximately 1/8 inch in thickness.Transfer to a 9-inch loose-bottomed tart pan and allow the dough to settle into the bottom. You may need to lift the dough so that it falls into the bottom and fits into the edges. Leave the overhang (you will cut it after the lattice is placed over the pie). Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling and lattice.
Roll out the second piece of dough (the rectangle) into a rough rectangle approximately 1/8-inch thick. Use a pastry cutter to cut strips for your lattice. Place your strips onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and store in the fridge until ready to use.
In a large bowl, toss together the peaches and vanilla bean paste. Combine the tapioca starch, sugar and salt in a small bowl, then add to the peaches and mix to combine.
Place the lined tart pan on a sheet pan. Transfer the filling to the lined tart pan, mounding the filling in the middle. Remember that it will bake down a little, so it is ok for the pie to seem a bit full.
Arrange the strips of pie dough on the top of the pie, weaving into your desired lattice. To do as I have, use two thin strips to create a larger strip. Lay a set of horizontal strips all across the pie and place the second set of strips at 90°, alternating over and under the first set of strips. Press the strips onto the overhang and, using a kitchen shears, trim the overhang tight to the tart pan.
Rest the pie in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. While the pie is resting in the fridge, preheat the oven to 425˚F.
Brush the pie with egg wash, and sprinkle liberally with raw sugar. Bake at 425˚F for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is set and beginning to go golden. Reduce the temperature 375˚f / 190˚c, and bake until the pastry is deeply golden and the filling is bubbling, 40-50 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil and continue baking.
Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Chef’s Note:
To peel the peaches, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cut an “x” into the bottom of each peach, and when the water boils, drop the peaches, a few at a time, into the water for 45-60 seconds. Remove from the pot to a colander and repeat until all peaches are par-boiled. The skins should easily slip off.
Recipe adapted from Cloudy Kitchen
Leave a Review