Topped with a special design for a special lady, teff flour gives this whole grain peach pie a nuttier crust flavor and more nutrients.
Just The Food:
Whole Grain Peach Pie with Whiskey Whipped Cream
Don’t let the length of this whole grain peach pie recipe scare you. I go into greater crust detail because this method has revolutionized my pie making. It has removed the frustration I always felt in incorporating the liquid into the crust and fearing overworking the dough. The result is a whole grain crust with the flakiness you desire. The recipe will yield enough to create a pie with a full crust top and extras for design elements, or as my pie pictured, I created an open-faced design and saved the additional dough for a separate pie base.
Just The Personal:
I made a pie I felt good about, a pie I enjoyed making. Whole Grain Peach Pie. Peaches and sugar. Teff flour and butter. For so long, friends and even minor acquaintances associated me closely with pie because of the The QT Pi(e) Project I created ages ago. The ironic reality was, I really hated making pie crust.
It never seemed to come together properly. I always worried about over watering the flour mixture, over working the butter. Then I learned the fraisage method (thanks to Alanna Taylor Tobin). I learned to scrape the flour and butter over the cold surface of marble. In this method, I found a new peace with pie, and in that peace, I found a new bloom of creativity.
This pie-crust peace felt like a reflection of my life. In the strangeness of social distancing, I’ve realized how much resistance I was harboring. I’ve learned how much quiet I need for my creativity to emerge. There are ways to make ingredients come together more harmoniously just as there are ways to make my heart and mind work together more harmoniously.
In this harmony of butter and grains, a blank canvas emerged, and I found true delight in working with a small knife, carving out peaches for Annie.
Annie, is my good friend Chris’s girlfriend. The first time he mentioned her, his eyes were gleaming. His whole face beamed. Even after a tough breakup, I find the glow of love to be so heartwarming, maybe even more so.
I met Annie at my rollerskating party, and I had the chance to see the mutual glow, to experience her sweetness, her genuine energy. She’s a woman who wants to experience the world in full and leave it better than she found it. When her birthday rolled around, in the midst of this pandemic, Chris wanted to find ways to celebrate her despite the challenges. He asked if I might be able to help him make a pie for her – a peach pie because she is a peach!
“It would be my pleasure,” I assured him. I love birthdays, and a woman should feel extra special on her birthday. If I could help make that happen with dough, I absolutely wanted to bust out my rolling pin.
As much as this whole grain peach pie was a gift for Annie, it was also a gift for me. It felt so good to be able to bake for someone else again, to share, even if sharing looks differently these days. It felt reviving to truly play with food again, not for work, not for money but for the delight of someone else.
This pie awakened my passion for quietly working in the kitchen, for the calming effect of leveling flour, for the deep fragrance of homemade vanilla, for thinking of someone else while drawing in dough.
There are more visions of pie swirling in my head, more people I want to celebrate and thank through simmered fruits and sifted flours. I’m ready to be associated with pie again, but there are new pie stories to tell. I can’t wait to share them with you.
You Might Also Like:
If it’s a peach dessert you crave, you might also like the Frozen Peach Pie Bars with a Graham Cracker Crust from my book, The Gluten-Free Grains Cookbook. This recipe is extra special to me because it was inspired by one of my mom’s summer staples.
Julep’s Corner:
Not quite a pie but a little something sweet for my sidekick…
Whole Grain Peach Pie with Whiskey Whipped Cream
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour or white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups teff flour
- 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar
- 1 1/4 cups butter chilled and cubed
- 1/4 cup vodka chilled (or more chilled water)
- 1-2 Tablespoons water chilled
- 1 egg for egg wash
- Extra sugar for dusting the top crust coconut or granulated
Filling
- 32 oz. frozen peaches thawed and drained
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup teff flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 Tablespoons butter cut into 4 chunks
Whiskey Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream chilled
- 1-2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1-2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tablespoons whiskey
Directions
For the Crust:
- In a large bowl,, whisk together the flours and coconut sugar.
- Scatter the butter pieces over the top, and work with a pastry blender or your fingers to combine until the mixture resembles gravel, with lots of butter chunks the size of large peas.
- Stir together the chilled vodka and water, then drizzle the mixture into the flour mixture 1 Tablespoon at a time, tossing the dough with a rubber spatula to moisten evenly. Add just enough liquid for the dough to hold together when you give it a squeeze, and add it directly to the dry floury bits that like to hang out on the bottom of the bowl.
Working The Dough:
- Knead the dough in the bowl 10-20 times to bring it together.
- Dump the dough out onto the counter or a cutting board, and fraisage by dragging portions of the dough across the counter with the heel of your hand (this makes for a flakier dough). Gather the dough up into a ball (a metal bench scraper helps if using the fraisage method). Divide the dough into three discs, wrap them loosely in plastic wrap, and flatten them into disks. Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
For An Extra Flaky Crust:
- On a lightly floured surface, roll each of the chilled dough disks into a rough square that is about ¼” thick. Fold it in thirds like you’re folding a letter, then roll up from a skinny end into a loose spiral. Gently press to flatten it slightly, and chill for 30 minutes.
Optional:
- For extra, extra flake, repeat this step once more.
Shape The Crust:
- Remove one disk from the fridge, unwrap it, and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a circle large enough to cover the pie pan, dusting the dough lightly with flour as needed to prevent sticking to the rolling pin, rotating and flipping it to prevent it from sticking to the surface. Ease the dough into a 9″ glass pie pan, and trim the top edges. Chill the crust for 20 minutes, then freeze it for at least 20 minutes, until solid. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
For the Filling:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, toss the peaches with the brown sugar, teff flour, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, and ground ginger.
- Add the peach filling to the chilled crust. Top with the 2 Tablespoons of butter cut into four pieces (for even distribution).
For A Pie With A Top Crust:
- Whisk the egg and add a little splash of water to thin it. Roll out the second dough disk and cover the top of the pie. You should have extra dough, which you can use to decorate the top. Roll out the third disk to create a design. Once you have your design cut out, brush a light coating of egg wash to the top crust where you want to add the design crust pieces. Press the dough together to seal. This will help to make sure your design doesn't move around while baking.
- Bake at 350°F for 50-60 minutes. Check on the pie after 30 minutes to make sure the edges of the crust aren't browning too fast. If they are, remove the pie from the oven and carefully wrap the edges in foil. Then continue to bake.
For An Open Pie With A Crust Design:
- Roll out the dough and use a small knife to carve your artwork. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Set aside to chill. Bake the pie base for 30 minutes, then carefully remove from the oven and add the top design pieces. Continue to bake for 20-30 minutes, until the peach filling is set, and the top crust design is golden brown.
- Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing into it. In the meantime, prepare the whipped cream.
For the Whiskey Whipped Cream
- For the best result, chill the cream in a mixing bowl in the freezer until the cream just starts to freeze. Remove from the freezer. Add the maple syrup and vanilla. Using a mixer on medium speed, beat until soft peaks begin to form. Add the whiskey, and continue to mix until combined. Keep chilled until ready to serve.
