Spiced Peach Pie
I happen to have a few frozen peaches left from this summer, so this pie will be on my holiday table this year. If you don’t want to bother making the crust, you can use a ready-to-use crust from your grocery store’s refrigerator section. However, the cornmeal in this crust does add a little something to this pie, so it really is worth the extra effort.
Crust:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
Filling:
4 or 5 peaches peeled, sliced 1/2 inch (can use canned or frozen instead)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons ground almonds
8 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons all purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (can substitute 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Prepare crust: Beat butter and 1/3 cup sugar together until fluffy approximately 3 minutes. Mix in egg yolk and vanilla. In separate bowl combine flour, cornmeal and salt. Slowly beat into butter mixture to form dough. If the dough it too sticky to work with add a very small amount of flour and knead a few times. Roll dough on floured service to form a piecrust shape. Press dough into a 9-inch pan being sure to go completely up sides. Freeze until ready to use.
Prepare filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place peaches in a large mixing bowl. Add lemon juice and toss being sure to cover all the peaches. In a separate bowl stir together ground almonds, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of flour. Place in crust. Mix together the last 6 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add to peaches and toss. Spoon the mixture into the crust. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until bubbly and crust is browned.