Recipe: Brown butter peach pie

blind bake the shells

By now, many of you have come to the conclusion that I like my brown butter.  Guilty!  I love how it adds a nuttiness to the mellow deliciousness of butter.  In this case it makes a nice complement to the fresh and crisp flavour of the peaches in the pie filling.  As far as the pictures go, I made 12 individual pies with this recipe (minus sampling), so you could get two regular pies or really load up a deep dish crust.  I didn't use my brown butter malted beer pie crust recipe in this case, but you certainly could, the flavour power of the peaches could handle the job.  It is important that you use a wide bottom pan and quite high heat when preparing the filling as you want the peach juices to reduce fast as they get released - this way you retain the firmness in the peach slices and avoid just making a cooked compote pie filling.

prepare the peaches

You will need:

2kg / 70.5oz                       peaches (peeled and pitted)
15ml / 1Tbs                        unsalted butter
60ml / 1/4C                        brown sugar
30ml / 2Tbs                        honey
150ml / 5.1oz                     brown butter (just melted)

Method:

 - prepare your pie crusts - dock and blind bake them and set aside
 - peel and pit the peaches, then cut them into wedge slices
 - get a wide bottom pan good and hot (a non-stick would work well here)
 - add the unsalted butter and follow in with the peaches
 - as the peaches start to release juice, keep the temperature high and toss lightly

fill the pies

 - once the juices start to reduce out, add the brown sugar and toss
 - add the honey and toss
 - when the juices are almost gone, add the brown butter
 - toss and let the brown butter emulsify the sauce
 - remove from the heat and let cool so the sauce thickens up
 - toss the cooled peaches so they are coated with the sauce
 - set the oven to 350F / 177C
 - scoop the peaches into the pie shells - let excess sauce fall away (it's great on ice cream!)
 - vent your pie tops and cover the pies
 - egg wash and dust the tops with sugar
 - bake for 15 - 20 minutes until top crusts are cooked and golden brown
 - cool on a rack
 - serve

add the top crust and bake