Corduroy Orange

Here’s something else to do with the streusel topping you made for the pretentious blueberry muffins. It’s delicious for any meal of the day–especially breakfast. If someone tells you that pie’s not a breakfast food, have them consider the main ingredients: fresh fruit and oatmeal. Yeah, all right, there’s a fair amount of sugar in there, too–but I guarantee you that it’s a more wholesome breakfast choice than a toaster pastry and that it’s both tastier and lower in preservatives than a breakfast bar.

Peach and Blueberry Streusel Pie

Preheat oven to 450 F
Crust:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 3-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling:

• 1 pint blueberries
• 6 or 7 peaches
• scant 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (optional)
• streusel topping

To make the crust, combine all of the dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl and toss them together with a fork until they’re well combined. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. Work it through the flour mixture with your hands until the butter pieces are about the size of peas. Working it with your hands instead of a pastry blender gives you greater control over which pieces of butter you’re breaking up and the consistency of the mixture.

Once the butter is well mixed through the flour in appropriately-sized pieces, add about half of the water and mix it through with the fork. Slowly add the remaining water while stirring, until the bulk of what you’re working with has coalesced into a clump into the center of the bowl, with a few smaller bunches on the outside. When the state of your mixture resembles the state of the banking industry, stop adding water and press it all together into a monopoly. Flatten it into a disk, and refrigerate, covered, while you prepare the fruit.

Wash the blueberries and pick through them for any stems. Peel the peaches and slice them thinly. Toss the fruit with the sugar, flour, spices, and maple syrup (if you’re using it), and let them sit while you roll out the pie dough.

Spread flour on a clean work surface. Put the dough in the center of the flour, and dust it with a bit of flour, too. Roll it out evenly in all directions until it’s about an inch or an inch and a half wider than your pie plate in all directions. Fold the dough in half and in half again. This will make it easy to pick up and transfer to the pie plate. Put the corner of the dough in the center of the pie plate and unfold it. Then, pick it up at the edge and push it gently into the bottom of the pie plate, turning it as you go so that you get it resting in the bottom all the way around. Roll the excess crust to the edge of the pie plate and then use your thumb and forefinger of one hand and your forefinger of the other to pinch and push it to make a fluted edge.

Add the filling and then cover it liberally with the streusel topping. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 350 F without opening the oven and bake it for 40 minutes more. Goes great with cinnamon ice cream!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 25th, 2006 at 4:58 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.