Skillet Peach Pie Recipes

Steps:

• Use a bench scraper to cut butter into ½-inch cubes. (If butter begins to "sweat," dust with flour.) In a large, flat-bottomed bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter cubes and toss to coat with the flour mixture. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour; do not smash or smear the butter. Scrape butter off the pastry blender during the mixing process and continue mixing. (If butter is softening too fast, put the bowl in the refrigerator until butter firms up, 2-5 minutes.) Continue cutting, working quickly, until butter is broken down and looks like a coarse crumble with only a few larger pieces.
• Combine vinegar with water and ice; you'll use 10-12 tablespoons of this liquid in the pie dough. Begin by sprinkling 4 tablespoons of liquid over the flour mixture; use a bench scraper or your hands to incorporate until the mixture begins to come together. Sprinkle in 4 more tablespoons of liquid and continue the mixing process. Squeeze a fistful of dough: if it holds, like wet sand, it's ready. If it falls apart, add 1-2 more tablespoons of liquid at a time, squeezing the dough to check if it holds. Bring all the dough together, sprinkling dry bits with more small drops of liquid as necessary; dough will look shaggy. Knead in the bowl just until incorporated.
• Turn dough onto a work surface and use a bench scraper to divide dough into two equal pieces. Shape into flat disks and wrap in plastic; refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and frozen up to 1 month, tightly wrapped.
• Crust: Generously grease a cast-iron skillet with butter. Dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Place one of the chilled dough disks on the work surface and roll it out, starting at the center and lightly pressing down with the rolling pin to flatten slightly. Continue rolling, rotating the dough a quarter turn at a time, until it's an evenly flat circle, about ⅛- to ¼-inch thick and 2-3 inches wider than the skillet all the way around, allowing an extra inch or two if the skillet is deep. (If dough softens too fast, chill in the refrigerator until firm, 2-5 minutes.) Use a pizza wheel to trim the rough edges of the dough circle. Transfer dough to skillet by folding in half and positioning the seam in the center. Unfold the dough, gently center, and fit it into the skillet, leaving no gaps. (Try not to stretch the dough.) Chill in the refrigerator while rolling out the top crust and assembling filling, 30 minutes.
• Prepare a decorative pinwheel top crust: Roll the second disk of chilled dough as in Step 1, but ¼-inch thicker than the bottom crust. Place on a sheet of parchment paper. Use a pizza wheel to cut dough into 4 quarters; then cut each quarter into thirds, leaving you with 12 wedges. (They don't have to be exactly the same size.) Transfer to a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator while preparing filling, 20 minutes.
• Filling: Bring a pot of water to a simmer. Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Score an "X" into the bottom of each peach and place into the simmering water, 30-60 seconds. Remove peaches and immediately place into the ice water. When peaches have cooled slightly, remove from ice water and peel with your hands, using a paring knife to remove any remaining skin. Cut peeled peaches into ½-inch slices and place in a large bowl.
• In another bowl, mix together brown sugar, potato starch, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Add bitters and mix again. Add lemon juice to peaches and toss to coat; then add peaches to the spice mixture. Mix thoroughly to coat the peaches.
• Spoon peach filling into chilled pie crust, including some juices, until the filling is level with the top of the skillet. (If there is extra filling, save for a smaller pie or freeze for future use.) Arrange top crust wedges in an overlapping pinwheel pattern on top of the filling, tucking the last wedge under the first. Use your finger to poke a hole in the center to tuck in the crust points.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Use scissors to trim the top crust wedges to the edge of the skillet. Roll and tuck any excess bottom crust dough inward around the top crust. Crimp the edge of the pie all the way around, making sure the final fluted crust sits directly on top of the skillet's rim. (Remove some of the dough as you crimp whenever the edge seems too thick.) Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
• Brush egg wash evenly over the top of the chilled pie, being careful not to spread any peach juices across the crust. (They will burn during baking.) Sprinkle with raw sugar and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Pie will bake for a total of 1 hour. Bake on the lowest rack of the oven until crust is set and beginning to brown, 20 minutes.
• Lower heat to 375 degrees F, move pie to the center oven rack, and continue to bake until crust is a deep golden brown and juices are bubbling throughout, about 35-45 minutes longer. Allow pie to cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into it, 2-3 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Prepare the puff pastry: Cube 1 cup/226 grams of butter (2 sticks) and place in the freezer while you measure out remaining ingredients.
• In a food processor, pulse to combine flour and salt. Add remaining 1/4 cup/57 grams butter (1/2 stick) to food processor; pulse to combine. Add the chilled butter cubes from the freezer and pulse twice, 1 second or less for each pulse.
• Add 1/3 cup/80 milliliters water, pulse very quickly once, then add another 1/3 cup/80 milliliters water and pulse once. Dough will still look dry and floury in spots, but it should look as if some areas are starting to clump together. But it will not form a ball. If the dough looks very dry, add another tablespoon or two of water, taking care to pulse it in only once. Do not overpulse this dough; the butter must remain in distinct large chunks, or the dough won't puff.
• Turn out the floury dough crumbles onto a lightly floured work surface and press them together into a rough rectangle. Using a floured rolling pin, roll rectangle out until it's 1/2 inch/13 millimeters thick (about 6 by 9 inches, or 15 by 23 centimeters) with the short side of the rectangle closest to you. The dough will be dry and still very crumbly in spots, but don't worry: It will come together as you continue to fold and roll.
• Use a pastry scraper or spatula to fold the top third of the dough down, then the bottom third of the dough up, so it's folded like a letter. (Dough will still be crumbly, and that's O.K.) Turn the folded dough 90 degrees, using a pastry scraper to push edges together if they fall apart. Press rolling pin on top of the layered dough several times to seal it, then roll into a rectangle that is 1/2 inch (13 millimeters) thick, always rolling from open end to open end. Continue rolling, folding and turning until the dough looks smooth and comes together, about four 90-degree turns.
• For the final fold, fold the edges of the dough rectangle like a book. To do this, fold the top and bottom parts into the center of the rectangle, so their ends meet. Then fold one half over the other. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill it for 45 minutes (or up to 3 days).
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cut peaches with 1 tablespoon sugar and let sit while you make the caramel.
• In a 9-inch ovenproof skillet, combine 2 tablespoons water with remaining 2/3 cup/150 grams sugar and cook over medium heat, swirling the pan, until very dark amber brown in color, about 8 minutes. To test the color, dribble some of the caramel on a white plate.
• Pour the peaches and their juices into the skillet; the caramel will sizzle a bit, so stand back. Cook peaches, stirring gently once or twice, until they start to soften, about 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Stir in tapioca, vanilla, cardamom and salt. Taste and add 1 teaspoon or so lemon juice, if necessary, to bring out the flavor of the peaches if desired.
• Using a sharp knife, cut chilled puff pastry in half. Wrap half the pastry back up in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Then roll out the other half on a lightly floured surface into a round that is 1/4 inch (6 millimeters) thick. Prick the round all over with the tines of a fork. Place pastry on top of the peaches in the skillet, tucking the edges into the skillet. (Be careful: The skillet may still be hot.) Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
• Put the skillet on a rimmed baking pan to catch any overflow, and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake until top is golden brown and has puffed, and juices are bubbling, about 20 more minutes. Let pie cool for at least 20 minutes before serving from the skillet, preferably with ice cream.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine sugars; add peaches and toss gently. Cover and let stand for 1 hour. On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate or iron skillet.Trim even with rim. Refrigerate while preparing filling. , Preheat oven to 400°. Drain peaches, reserving juice. In a small saucepan, combine cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt; gradually stir in reserved juice. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in lemon juice and butter. Gently fold in peaches. Pour into crust. , Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; cut into 1-1/2-in.-wide strips. Arrange over filling in a lattice pattern. Trim and seal strips to edge of bottom crust; flute edge. Cover edge loosely with foil. Bake 40 minutes; remove foil. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 10-20 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. If desired, serve with vanilla ice cream.

Steps:

• For the pie dough: Pour 1/4 cup water into a small container with 2 ice cubes.
• Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the granulated sugar and whisk to combine. Add the butter and shortening to the bowl and use a pastry cutter to work the fats into the flour mixture until pea-size lumps form. Sprinkle the ice water onto the mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, using your hands to pull the dough together, until the dough becomes just sticky enough to form a ball; you may not need all the ice water. Press the dough into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough to chill for a minimum of 1 hour. This step can be done several days in advance.
• When ready to bake the pie, pull the dough out of the refrigerator and rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Sprinkle the counter and rolling pin with additional flour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the filling: Set a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the butter and heat until melted. Cook until the bubbles subside and the butter is light brown and smells like toasted nuts, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle the brown sugar over the butter. Add the cinnamon and salt and stir to combine. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes more. Pour in the spiced rum and honey and stir until incorporated. Add the peaches to the sauce and sprinkle with the cornstarch. Carefully stir the peaches to coat in the brown butter sauce. Let cool for 5 minutes.
• While the filling is cooling, roll the dough into a 12-inch circle that is about 1/8 inch thick. Gently lay the pie dough circle over the peaches, working carefully as the skillet will still be warm. If the dough is hanging over the edge, trim it with kitchen shears. Moving around the rim of the dough circle, tuck the edge of the dough into the skillet. Using a paring knife, vent the top of the pie by cutting a few small slits in the dough.
• For the topping: Gently brush the dough with the beaten egg and sprinkle evenly with the demerara sugar. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is hot and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.