Several people emailed me after Thursday’s post, asking, “Where’s Wolf’s cake?”
Well…I had all sorts of plans. I wanted to make a massive cone-shaped cake with colorful, whimsical and mischievous designs all over it. But I had a deadline to meet. Not just in this economy but in my unpredictable line of work, paid work has to take precedence over everything. Then I realized that I would need certain equipment, including a croquenbouche mold – do you have any idea how expensive those things are? – and a few other utensils that I couldn’t acquire locally. My plans for an insanely ridiculous and ultimately unforgettable cake were squashed.
I found another cake, this time an airy, orange genoise cake that I had bookmarked a while back. It was simple, didn’t require icing, just powdered sugar, whipped cream and fresh fruit on top. Somehow, it didn’t come out right. Wolf liked it, I didn’t, and I just didn’t feel like photographing it. Honestly, I think if you had seen it, you, too, would have wondered if I had suddenly caught some hand-crippling (and also brain wrecking) disease last week. It just wasn’t worth remembering.
With my creative juices still not flowing as much as I’d like, I decided to skip coming up with a new cookie design. I did, however, want to make a Nectarine and Blueberry pie that I saw at Paz’s blog (which she, in turn, found at Sweet Paul’s blog). Here in southern Cali we get all sorts of fruits and vegetables year-round, and I was pretty certain I’d find both good nectarines and ripe blueberries at the local farmers market. I did. Score! I was feeling pretty good about this.
It has been over a year since I made a pie. The last one was an orange flavored pie which was reportedly the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite. I can picture him taking a few bites, and for just a few moments, managing to put the tensions that surrounded him aside. That, to me, is what a good pie can do. More than cake, more than cookies, more than home-made ice cream, pie makes you live in the moment. Fresh fruit baked in a thick, flaky crust that comes out of the oven just right. One bite and mmm, mmm, mmm. Fuggeddaboudit.
There’s a trick you should know about baking pies: the crust on the edges can burn easily, so about halfway through the baking process, pull it out of the oven, and wrap a strip of foil around the edges, and let it finish baking that way. You won’t regret it.
And you won’t regret making this one, either. I used nectarines that were just about to ripen because I like ‘em tart. The sweetness of the blueberries balanced everything out. This recipe yields too much dough, so you’ll have enough for…a second pie. Go for it!
Nectarine and blueberry pie (from Sweet Paul)
Pastry:
4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 3/4 cups unsalted cold butter, in cubes
1 tablespoon white vinegar (this makes the crust very flaky; personally I think it’s optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup iced water
Combine flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl.
Add butter and use your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Mix vinegar, egg and water in a bowl. Add one tablespoon at a time until dough holds together. Don’t add too much!
Press the dough gently together, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. (Paul’s recipe says 450; I found this too hot).
Take it out the dough, and roll it flat.
Fill a 9 inch pie plate with it.
Cut of excess dough. Flute edges with your index and thumb.
Filling:
5 yellow nectarines, pitted and sliced (I needed only 4, but the ones I used were large). Don’t use white nectarines when baking. They become very mushy.
1/2 cup blueberries (I needed only 1/4 cup; I think add as much as you want)
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
Place the nectarines and blueberries in a bowl and toss with flour. Place it in the pie shell. Pour over the lemon juice and sprinkle with sugar. Line the edge of the pie with the small dough circles. Beat egg and milk and brush the dough with it. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until golden. Cool and serve.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, Mari! Your pie looks soooo good. I want some more. Thanks for the extra tips. When I make this again, I’ll be covering the edges with foil.
Glad to read that Wolf liked his Orange Genoise Cake.
Happy Monday!
Paz
wow, if I was your neighbor you’d never get rid of me, I’d be knocking at your door every day for sweets! Our cherries are about to ripen so when they do, I will be working that tin foil secret because I am not the best baker & I need all the help I can get! Thanks for the tip Mari!
You’re so lucky to have a pro photographer interested in helping you shoot your cookie designs–but I have to say that I love these photos of the pie.
My favorite paragraph: “… Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s favorite. I can picture him taking a few bites, and for just a few moments, managing to put the tensions that surrounded him aside. That, to me, is what a good pie can do. More than cake, more than cookies, more than home-made ice cream, pie makes you live in the moment. Fresh fruit baked in a thick, flaky crust that comes out of the oven just right. One bite and mmm, mmm, mmm. Fuggeddaboudit.”
& thanks for the tip about the crust on the edges!