Maple Bourbon Peach Pie

After having been away from the amazing farmer's market in Baltimore earlier in June, I've gone a bit overboard the last two weeks. It's not a bad thing, mind you. Having to decide what to do with 3 lbs of squash, 6 ears of fresh, sweet corn (actually, I think I'll just eat that raw), and another $1 pound of kale (best.deal.ever.) is certainly burden I'm happy to bear!

While the vegetables may take some consideration, when I got to the tables piled high with ripe peaches, I knew there was only one option. PIE. 

I made a delicious deep dish caramel apple pie last fall and wanted to apply the same caramelly goodness to these peaches. After scouring the internet (read: one google search) I found a plethora of honey caramel peach pie recipes. I was all set to play with one of these and suggest in the recipe that strict vegans should replace the honey with maple syrup when I thought, now hang on a second. Why don't I just do that to begin with?

 

I love honey, I put it in and on everything. When a recipe calls for liquid sweetener, honey and maple syrup are interchangeable, but because good maple syrup can be pricey, I buy it sparingly, though I usually have enough around that I can sub it when I'm out of honey. But why throw that in as an aside? This time, rather than a second choice substitution, I decided to make the maple syrup shine! It changes the flavor profile a little bit, and is enhanced by the bourbon (because alcohol + baking = awesome!) and some additional spices to become an ingredient worth paying a little more for! And worth lauding as an essential ingredient in this pie.

 This also gave me a chance to work on my pastry crust. I used the buttery double crust recipe from Vegan Pie in the Sky, I'm happy to report that this one turned out really well!  A few tips, though, before you get started, which can be applied to any flakey crust recipe. 

• Keep things cold! I put my pastry rolling mat and my rolling pin in the freezer for 30 minutes before I needed to roll dough. I actually used ice water, which I stored in the freezer, (along with the pieces of vegan butter and shortening), until I needed it. 
• If you have a food processor, use it. Seriously. Pulsing the fats and the flour took zero effort and the pie crust dough came together in 3 minutes. Which leads me to...
• Prep ahead of time, and be ready to work quickly. If the dough is overworked, or the fats get too warm and melty, you won't get a nice flakey crust. Have your kneading surface and your plastic wrap ready to go before you start the whole shebang, and you won't be scrambling around your kitchen leaving flour hand prints everywhere!

 

Maple Bourbon Peach Pie

Ingredients

3 pounds ripe peaches

2 TBSP cornstarch

1½ TBSP all-purpose flour

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

¹/₈ tsp allspice

a dash or two of cardamom

½ c. plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

¼ c. maple syrup

2 TBSP bourbon

2 TBSP water

3 TBSP Earth Balance Margarine

Cut an X in bottom of each peach, then blanch peaches in batches in boiling water 15 seconds. Transfer with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop cooking. Peel peaches and cut into ½ inch-thick slices. 

Toss peaches well with cornstarch, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, and salt in a large bowl. 

Put a foil-lined large baking sheet in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 425°F. The foil lined baking sheet is really important, because this pie gets oozy. If you don't put something underneath the pie plate to catch the drippings I promise you, your oven will be a mess!

Bring ½ cup sugar, maple syrup, bourbon, and water to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber, 3-5 minutes. 

Remove from heat and add butter, swirling pan until butter is melted. Pour over fruit and toss. My caramel didn’t harden at this point, but if yours does don’t worry. It’ll melt again in the oven. 

Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining piece chilled) into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim excess dough, leaving a ½ inch overhang. Chill shell while rolling out remaining dough. 

Roll out remaining piece of dough into an 11-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. 

Transfer filling to pie shell, mounding it. Cover pie with pastry round. Trim with kitchen shears, leaving a ½ inch overhang. Press edges together, then crimp decoratively. Brush top all over with some of milk, then sprinkle with remaining tablespoon sugar. Cut 3 steam vents in top crust with a paring knife. 

Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Continue to bake until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbling, about 45-50 minutes more. Cool pie to room temperature, 3 to 4 hours.
 

I had a slice for breakfast with my coffee. Obviously you can top it with a scoop of ice cream, but I prefer it plain so all you can taste are the peaches! Enjoy!