Sitting in class at our final class on Driftwood Sculpture, we started talking about pies, then to Marie Callender's Fresh Peach Pie. (Sorry no picture available). My new found friend Peggy agreed with me when I mentioned how much I loved it, and how my husband and I literally feast on it in one sitting. I tell you it's that great. She had the same wonderful experience.
Living in Sequim, WA is almost like moving to a foreign country when it comes to finding a Marie Callender's. So, every summer I get into a "trying to see if I can make a fresh peach pie a la Marie Callender". Searched on the internet for a recipe each year, and couldn't find one just right. I tell you, I feel like a pregnant woman every summer time craving for this pie.
When removing the skin off the peaches, the first step is to put the whole peach in hot water for a few minutes so the skin will easily peel off. But that process softens the peaches causing it to ooze juice. Nothing like Marie's where the peaches are firm but ripe, glistening under the glaze.
There's also the pie crust. How do you keep the crust from getting soggy with this juicy peach? Recipes all over the place on to how to cook the pie to achieve this result. But,that's just the problem. You have to cook the pie with various things such as cornstarch, flour, tapioca, arrowroot powder, etc. Definitely not like Marie's.
Back to the internet looking for a solution and followed this thread:
Heavenly Peach Galette. Rose Levy Beranbaum wrote an extensive instructional recipe with a lot of favorable comments from her followers. The result is not anywhere close to Marie's. But the favorable comments and the idea of a galette appealed to me (I make my Pear Frangipane Galette this way too, recipe courtesy of Food Network).
After several tries, it turned out great. Here's how Rose's galette look like:
Here's my finished product:
Anytime I try a different recipe, I end up with disappointing results. Guess I'll adopt Rose's recipe for my peach pie recipe until Marie Callender responds to my request for a recipe. Better yet, like my friend Peggy said, submit it to America's Test Kitchen and see if they can do it. I just might do that.
P. S. America's Test Kitchen responded and this is what they recommend:
Do not blanch the peaches. Just use the peeler designed for peeling thin skinned fruits like tomatoes, peaches, etc. Also, blind bake the crust.
We'll see how this works next summer.
