Friday, July 8, 2011

No Bake Peach Pie

This week has been crazy, but crazy good! Stephen’s baseball team just won their district tournament, and they are heading to state! With that being said, I haven’t had time to cook. I haven’t had time to gather with my other blogger buddies, but I was able to find a few minutes to make this recipe. That is how quick and easy it is to whip up. Even if you are having one of those hazy, crazy days of summer, you still have time to make a sweet dessert for your family or friends.
It’s July, and it is hot.  Who wants to turn the oven on this time of year? It just causes your air conditioner to have to work overtime; therefore, you will have a higher power bill.  A perfect excuse for you to make this pie!  This pie was the easiest treat I have ever made, and it is delicious. It didn’t hurt that I had fresh from the orchard peaches on hand.  My mom and granddaddy go every summer (twice for different varieties) to pick up fresh peaches from a local peach farm.  So when they went this year, I knew that I would have to make something using them.  A cobbler came to mind first, but I feel like we as Southerners get the chance to eat those at just about every single family gathering, at mine anyway.  I wanted to try something different, and boy, did it pay off!

I ran across this recipe after searching what felt like hours.  It’s from a blog called Sprouted Kitchen, and she calls her recipe Peach Cream with Gingersnap Crust.  Yum.  She had me at peach cream.  I’m sure the gingersnap crust would be delicious in this recipe, but I don’t own a food processor. Apparently no one in my immediate family does either, so I opted to use a store made graham cracker crust. I’m not disappointed.
The ingredients list is short and sweet. 1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk She suggests using low-fat. I don’t.  ½ cup of crème fraiche I used sour cream. You can also use a plain yogurt. Both work as its substitute. ¼ cup of lemon juice I used one whole lemon, and it wasn’t quite enough, but it didn’t hurt anything. 1 Tbsp of cinnamon This ingredient scared me. It looked like a lot of cinnamon. Lastly, 1 ¼ cups of fresh peaches, peeled and diced.
1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk 
½ cup of crème fraiche
¼ cup of lemon juice
1 Tbsp of cinnamon
1 ¼ cups of fresh peaches, peeled and diced

First you will need to peel and chop your peaches. Peeling and chopping peaches is a dirty job. I suggest doing this near a sink.  Next, you have to figure out how many peaches equal 1 ¼ cup. I peeled five peaches, but one was probably consumed during this experiment.  Four peaches should do the trick depending on their size. Chop them into tiny pieces and give them a good squeeze in your hand before dropping them in your mixing bowl. This helps to break them up and get a little juice in the mix.  Then pour your can of sweetened condensed milk in as well as your sour cream.  Next, goes your lemon juice. You could always use the pre-juiced lemon juice (does that even make sense??). You know the kind in the little plastic lemon.

Lastly, add your cinnamon.  Stir all ingredients together very well.  I used a spatula and was kind of rough in order to break up the peaches a little more. After a few minutes of stirring, I still found pockets of cinnamon. That doesn’t sound like good eats to me. (Did Alton Brown trademark that?)


After it comes together, pour the mixture into your pie crust. Place in the refrigerator to set for four hours.  The author of this recipe even suggests placing it in the freezer, then letting it sit a few minutes before serving.  Four hours is key.  The lemon juice reacts with the milk which makes the pie firm.  I could not wait four hours, so I tried it after about two. It was a little runny, but that will be the last thing on your mind! I was tempted to lick the plate, so maybe the runny-ness isn’t such a bad thing?

Next time, I may not add quite as much cinnamon, and one day I will attempt the gingersnap cookie crust.  Regardless, I think it was a homerun!

Happy summer! Kirby

Gingersnap Cookie Crust
10 oz. Gingersnap Cookies
3 Tbsp. Butter
In a food processor, grind together the cookies. While pulsing, add the butter. Press into a pie plate and let firm in the freezer.

2 comments:

  1. The pie was very refreshing. I agree about the cinnamon. I think you could have just left it out, but I am not a fan of cinnamon. Keep cooking and experimenting. We love being the samplers.

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  2. I hate I missed this one. I LOVE peaches and cinnamon. Looks like something I'll have to add to my recipe book!

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