Peaches & Cream Crustless Pie (or crust, if you wish!)

By Foodiewife

In the June 2011 issue of Cook's Country, there's a recipe for Peaches & Cream Pie. In the style of America's Test Kitchen, it was discovered that by roasting fresh peaches, and pre-baking a pie crust, the pie crust would not become soggy. The "cream" portion of the pie is a mixture of flour, sugar, heavy cream and eggs, with some extra egg yolk for richness. The pie turned out great-- except that I had extra peaches and filling leftover. On a whim, I make a crustless pie in two ramekins. While the pie was delicious, I LOVED the ramekins of baked peaches and the cream filling. Either way, crust or not crust, I think that Cook's Country created a delicious recipe. I kicked things up a couple more notches, by making a Creme Anglaise and a Raspberry Coulis sauce. Wow! If you love pie crusts (which I don't), I've included full recipe. Otherwise, skip the crust part and bake this "pie" in ramekins.

Ingredients

• 1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell (see note)
• 2 pounds ripe but firm peaches , peeled, halved, and pitted
• 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 30mins
Cooking time 90mins
Adapted from foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Cover pie shell with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes, then freeze for 20 minutes. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line chilled pie shell with two 12-inch squares of aluminum foil, letting foil lie over edges of dough. Top with pie weights.

2. Place peach halves cut side up on aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake peaches on upper-middle rack until softened and juice is released, about 30 minutes, flipping halfway through baking.

3. Place crust on lower-middle rack and bake until edges are lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove crust from oven and carefully remove foil and weights. Continue to bake until bottom of crust is light brown and peaches are caramelized, about 5 minutes. Cool crust and peaches for 15 minutes.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Cut peaches lengthwise into quarters. Arrange peaches in single layer over crust. Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar, flour, and salt in bowl. Whisk in cream, egg yolks, and vanilla until smooth. Pour cream mixture over peaches. Bake until filling is light golden brown and firm in center, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool pie on wire rack for at least 3 hours. Serve.