Pie Anxiety Be Gone!

A deconstructed rye-ginger peach pie celebrates summer fruit.

I bought a box and swear they ripened on the 20-minute car ride home. I had in mind to make a peach pie with a rye-ginger crust for my incoming guests, but after eating one of these beauts while standing over the sink, I just couldn’t bring myself to adulterate these peaches in any way.

But, but, but, I wanted to have my pie and eat it too.

And the deconstructed fresh peach pie experience was born with the rye-ginger crust baked as one enormous cookie on a sheet pan, then broken into large shards of flaky crust and served in a bowl atop sliced peaches and vanilla ice cream. The result, if I do say so myself, is delicious, easy-to-make, and allows you the pleasure of playing with your food.

The best bit? This preparation is about 96 percent easier than making an actual two-crust pie. There is no pie pan to struggle with, no crimping or worry about the dough cracking, and no soggy pie bottom.

The crust can be baked a day or two in advance, leaving you only to have to cut up the peaches and scoop the ice cream when it’s time for dessert.

If your fruit is less than perfect, or you are just craving the warm gooey comfort of pie filling, you can cook fruit, some sugar, lemon zest and a touch of thickener (tapioca or corn starch) on top of the stove. I’ve done it with apples for one of the family’s more low-key Thanksgivings, and it was popular.

This dessert works nicely as an elegant dessert you can plate for guests. My preferred method, however, is to serve this as a make-your-own pie bar, with all the components laid out (fruits, pieces of crust, ice cream), allowing everyone to indulge in their own ratio of crust to filling to ice cream.

Baking Notes:

I used a blend of white, wheat, and rye flour to create a nutty-tasting, crunchy dough.

If buying rock-like unripe peaches and nectarines is your only choice, make sure the skin color nearest to the stem is yellow and not green. At home, place the fruit in a brown paper bag to ripen.

Warming the crust before serving is a nice touch and creates a nice contrast to the cold ice cream and lush peaches.

And, obviously, make up your own fresh fruit combinations to suit what’s in season near you.

The attached video will show you two different ways to make the dough–in the food processor (my preferred method–even if it means more things to wash), and by hand.

Deconstructed Peach Pie with a Rye-Ginger Crust

Serves 6

This makes enough crust to serve six6 people generously. The recipe is easily doubled or halved. But if you are thinking of halving, ponder how nice it would be to have leftover crust “cookies” to nibble all week

This pie crust recipe is adapted from pie royalty, Kate McDermott, and her book The Art of Pie.

What You’ll Need

For the crust:

½ cup + 2 tablespoons (75 grams) all-purpose flour

⅔ cup (75 grams) whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons (32 grams) rye flour

¼ teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons (98 grams) butter, cold and cut into pieces

¼ cup (60 grams) ice-cold water (plus 1 or 2 extra tablespoons, if necessary)

1 ½ (19 grams) tablespoons granulated white sugar

For the crust topping

2-3 (30 to 45 grams) tablespoons heavy cream or one egg beaten with a teaspoon of water

@⅓ cup (70 grams) demerara sugar or “Sugar in the Raw”

3 tablespoons (40 grams) minced crystallized ginger

For the pie filling

9 ripe peaches, sliced into wedges. (I estimate at least 1 ½ peaches per person, and sometimes 2 because I am genetically programmed to worry there won’t be enough for everyone)

For the ice cream

Vanilla ice cream (my choice is Tillamook old-fashioned vanilla)

What You’ll Do

Make the pie crust

Food processor method:

1. Add the white flour, wheat flour, rye flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor with the metal blade in place. Pulse 10 times until blended.

2. Sprinkle the butter over the flour mixture and pulse 15 to 20 times or until the butter is cut up into pea-sized pieces and the mixture looks sandy. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, and pour over the ¼ cup of ice water. Quickly toss the water in with two forks, as if you were tossing a salad. When the flour is completely moistened, grab a handful of the dough and squeeze. Does it hold together when you let go? If so, great! If not, toss in one tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture holds together. Things to avoid: Adding too much water, and finding yourself with a gummy, sticky dough.

3. Gather the dough and gently shape into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or up to 3 days ahead. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 400°F/200°C and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment. On a well-floured pastry board or cold counter, roll the dough out into as much of a rectangle as you can muster. It should be ⅛” thick. Transfer to the baking sheet. Using a fork, lightly “dock” the pie crust: Prick the dough all over with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing. Do not poke the fork through the dough, just leave indentations.

4. Brush the top with the heavy cream or egg wash. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and crystallized ginger. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the dough is crisp and a light toasted color.

Hand method:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours and salt. Toss the butter pieces in the flour, then, using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut the flour up into pea-size pieces and smaller. The mixture should look sandy.

2. Pour over the ¼ cup of ice water. Quickly toss the water in with two forks, as if you were tossing a salad. When the flour is completely moistened, grab a handful of the dough and squeeze. Does it hold together when you let go? If so, great! If not, toss in one tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture holds together. Things to avoid: Adding too much water, and finding yourself with a gummy, sticky dough.

3. Gather the dough and gently shape into a disk. Wrap and refrigerate for an hour, or up to 3 days ahead. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 400°F/200°C and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment. On a well-floured pastry board or cold counter, roll the dough out into as much of a rectangle as you can muster. It should be ⅛” thick. Transfer to the baking sheet. Using a fork, lightly “dock” the pie crust. (See above for description.)

4. Brush the top with heavy cream or egg wash. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and crystallized ginger. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the dough is crisp and a light toasted color.

To assemble each bowl:

Layer in a large scoop of peaches, then ice cream, and top with dramatic shards of pie crust. Spoons are optional.

Marissa Rothkopf Bates writes about food for the New York Times, Newsweek (RIP) and Publishers’ Weekly among others. Her newest book, “The Secret Life of Chocolate Chip Cookies,” is available wherever fine books are sold. Find her on Substack here.

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