Recipe of the week: Out-of-the-Pan Peach Pie

Our Cookbook of the Month for September comes from the Loveless Cafe. If you’re not as lucky as we are and can’t take a drive down Highway 100–or simply want to bring it home for the family—Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe by Alisa Huntsman is a must. Classic Southern desserts belong on every table.

Be sure to check out our front porch interview with Hunstman, then try your hand at this peachy-keen recipe. Yum!

Out-of-the-Pan Peach Pie

Makes 2 small flat pies, about 7 inches in diameter; serves 4 to 6

Lightly sweetened ripe peaches are heaped on a round of dough set right on the baking sheet. The edges of the pastry are folded over, leaving most of the fruit visible in the center, like a French galette. Omitting the pan means you don’t have to worry about fitting, tearing, or crimping the pastry. This pie is best still warm from the oven, served with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups fresh peach slices, peeled or not (21⁄2 to 3 pounds fresh peaches)
• 1⁄4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1⁄4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1⁄2 recipe Easy-as-Pie Dough (page 51)
• Egg wash: 1 egg, beaten with
  1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons coarse sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 sturdy baking sheets with parchment paper and lightly grease the paper.

2. In a medium bowl, toss the peaches with the granulated sugar, flour, and pumpkin pie spice.

3. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll out one piece on a lightly floured board or parchment paper into a 10-inch circle. Carefully invert the dough onto one of the lined baking sheets. Scoop 2 cups of the peach filling into a mound in the center of the circle of dough, leaving a 11⁄2- to 2-inch margin all around. Fold the edges of the dough in toward the center, pleating as necessary; do this all the way around so that the peaches are visible in the middle.

4. Brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the coarse sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough, peach filling, egg wash, and coarse sugar.

5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling.

Excerpted from Desserts From the Famous Loveless Café by Alisa Huntsman (Artisan Books). Copyright 2011. Photographs by Karen Mordechai. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Read our review of this book.