![]() He probably thought he could bore me out of there, and he was right. ![]() ![]() At last, he mumbled something about the intersection of shipping costs – clearly, these things only traveled first class – demand, and the disadvantageous scale of small organic growers. If he was being watched by one of the local peach cartels, I didn’t want some thug planting a bomb under his pickup. He seemed at a loss for words, so I leaned in a little closer. I shouldn’t have to take out a second mortgage just to bake a pie. I explained that I like to make pies, but I thought the price of produce was getting out of hand. No mushy pie filling! It’s like magic, except that it’s science.So I was having an otherwise great week when I walked into my local Too Expensive Food Emporium to buy peaches for the pie you see here and about had a heart attack when I saw the price per pound.When uncooked fruit is tossed with sugar, the sugar is drawn into the fruit and reinforces the cell walls, thus allowing the fruit to maintain it’s shape while baking.The fruit or vegetable looses it’s structure and becomes mushy. When fruits and vegetables are heated (e.g., baked in pie) the cell walls weaken and the water contained in the plant leaks out.The sugar will draw out excess water from the fruit so we can pre-cook it with the corn starch to ensure that the starch will be fully activated (under cooking the starch could result in a runny pie filling).Macerating the fruit is an important step for two reasons to allow pre-cooking of the starch, and to help the fruit maintain it’s shape while baking.If you find the butter or crumble topping becoming too soft, refrigerate it to firm it up a bit before topping the pie. You want to use butter that is cool but slightly flexible. If your butter is very warm and soft the crumb topping will melt and spread in the oven. If you use very very cold butter it will be too firm to cut evenly into the dry ingredients. For a perfect crumb topping the temperature of the butter is very important.See the section below for a detailed explanation why we macerate fruit. To prevent your peach filling from becoming mushy and runny you need to macerate the peaches.Grab the crumb topping in big clumps and sprinkle it over the peaches.See the recipe card for exact ingredient measurements and detailed instructions. See the tips section below for a detailed explanation. Butter – Use cool but not very cold butter for best crumble texture.Granulated sugar is drier and helps the crumble stay crisp. Molasses in the brown sugar has a lovely flavor and softens the crumb. Brown Sugar/Granulated Sugar – Using a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar creates a crumble topping that is soft yet crisp.Lemon Juice – A dash of lemon juice will spark the flavor of the fruit.You want the peaches to be juicy under the crumble topping but you also need the slice to hold together on the plate. Corn starch – This recipe uses just enough starch to thicken the peach juice without making it pasty.When good seasonal peaches are not available, your next best option is frozen peaches. Fresh peaches – I recommend making this pie with ripe seasonal peaches for the absolute best flavor and texture.But hey, why not also bake them into a pie while they’re bountiful? Ingredient Notes I mostly prefer them as they are, in all their fuzzy, juicy glory. I have to indulge enough to carry me through to next summer! I eat as many as I can while the gettin’ is good. Like tomatoes, peaches really are only worth eating when they’re in season. Though I love all fruit and try not to play favorites, there is something very special about a tree-ripened peach. I’ve talked about my love of all things pie, and I’ve talked about my fruit obsession.
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