Aunt Grace’s Fresh Peaches & Cream Pie

Eat pie, share with others.

When my mother was about seven, she remembers padding barefoot along a well-worn sandy path that connected her southern West Virginia farm to her aunt Grace’s. Great-Aunt Grace lived in a weathered wooden structure flanked by two great pine trees, resting in a horseshoe of luscious green hills. In addition to the sweet scents of roses, phlox, and heliotrope, my mother remembers the delicious smell of freshly baked pies wafting from her aunt’s kitchen window. Best of all, dear Aunt Grace lovingly welcomed my mother and always shared from her table. My mother can attest that her peach pie, unbeatable at the county fair, had the taste of heaven.

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

—Mother Teresa

Recommended: Flaky Classic Piecrust, frozen (page 1)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Line a frozen piecrust with one layer of aluminum foil and fill with one layer of uncooked pasta.
Bake in the oven until the bottom of the crust is light brown, approximately 25 minutes.
Carefully lift the foil from the crust. Let the crust cool.
Continue with the filling instructions below.

Filling

2½ cups whole milk

3 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

Dash of salt

¼ cup cornstarch, sifted

1 tablespoon butter

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¹/₈ teaspoon almond extract

Mix the milk, half-and-half, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a medium pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture boils and thickens.
Remove from the heat. Add the butter and extracts.
Pour the filling into the piecrust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Fresh Peach Glaze

2 cups sliced and mashed fresh peaches

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

¼ cup cornstarch, sifted

¼ teaspoon orange zest

¼ teaspoon almond extract

4 cups sliced fresh peaches

Mix the sliced and mashed peaches, sugar, water, cornstarch, orange zest, and almond extract in a medium pan on medium heat until thickened. Chill until cold.
Place the fresh peach slices in a large bowl; add the peach glaze and stir until the slices are completely coated. Top the pie with the peach glaze. Best eaten on the first day. Keep refrigerated.

Sweet in-season peaches are a must for this pie.

Sharie’s Summer Pink Lemonade Cream Pie

Eat pie, share your talents.

My fellow baker and dear friend Sharie has many gifts. She is a wonderful cook and talented baker, has a great sense of humor, and completely lives out simple abundance as a way of being. But her greatest gift of all is her innate giving spirit. She truly understands that if you give of yourself, it will come back to you twofold. If anyone is in need, she is the first to their aid with a pie, a loaf of lemon bread, or pan of macaroni and cheese. Sharie’s compassion for others has always been a joy to witness; as for her, doing for others fuels her joyful spirit like nothing else.

At the shop her sense of fun and her baking talents often spill into her giving heart, as she can create wonderful desserts from leftover ingredients at a moment’s notice, often making someone’s day at the local assisting living home a whole lot yummier and brighter! Sharie’s love of anything summer is always as refreshing as this delicious pie.

art

Recommended: Flaky Classic Piecrust (page 1)

Filling

1 (12-ounce) can pink lemonade concentrate, thawed

2 cups milk

½ cup sugar

Dash of salt

¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch, sifted

Zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons lemon extract

Garnish

Sweetie-licious Whipped Cream (double recipe on page 8) with added pink food coloring

Mix the pink lemonade, milk, sugar, salt, and cornstarch in a medium pan.
Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat and add the lemon zest and lemon extract.
Pour the filling into a piecrust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
Garnish with Whipped Cream.

Mom’s Comfort Chocolate Chess Pie

Eat pie, spoil loved ones!

No child wants to be sick, and I was no exception. Being sick meant no play whatsoever—which for us meant no indoor board games, outdoor team games, make-believe, Easy-Bake, Barbies, bike riding, running through the sprinkler, sledding, or skating up the road. When you were sick as a kid back then, there was only one thing good about it—the good eats!

I remember my mother revamping our bedroom for sick stays. She would fluff the pillows with rose-scented pillowcases, lay the Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt at the end of the bed, set up the Vicks Vaporizer in the corner of the room, and place a TV tray next to the bed. The special food she put on the tray was my favorite part of the convalescence period, as it made us feel special too. It might be sassafras tea made with cream and sugar, or a small glass of Vernors ginger ale. But what I remember most fondly were her puddings: creamy rice, brown sugar butterscotch, vanilla, and my cherished chocolate made with Hershey’s cocoa, milk, and butter, always chocolaty, warm, creamy, and perfect. It always amazes me how comforting food makes us feel so lovingly content.

Recommended: Sweetie-licious Cream Cheese Crust, frozen (page 2)

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Line a frozen piecrust with one layer of aluminum foil and fill with one layer of uncooked pasta.
Bake in the oven until the bottom of the crust is partially baked, approximately 8 minutes.
Carefully lift the pasta-filled foil from the crust.
Continue with the directions for the filling below.

Filling

¹/₃ cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1½ tablespoons flour

¹/₈ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

¼ cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

½ cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Set aside.
Combine the eggs, butter, and vanilla until well mixed. Add the evaporated milk and mix with a hand mixer. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Pour into the piecrust and bake for 45 minutes or until the pie is set in the middle.

This pie is over-the-top yummy served with cherry ice cream!