Author Notes
Confession number 1: I used a store-bought pie crust. I KNOW (she says with a wail), but I haven't made a pie since home economics class back at some point during the Reagan administration. I am more of a cookie or cake kinda gal. But since this week was pie or tart, well, I figured I'd rather have a tasty pie with tasty filling than tasty filling surrounded by a crumbled, half-scorched disaster of a crust. So sue me.
Confession number 2: I love bourbon. I really love bourbon. Very few of life's experiences couldn't be enhanced with a wee dram of the golden stuff. In this case, I've just made the participation a bit more....direct. For this recipe I would recommend using a decent quality bourbon - Maker's Mark or Knob Creek. I kept the sugar to a minimum, adding agave because I prefer not to wonder if I have developed type II diabetes after eating dessert. And rounded it out with some pepper, thyme and lemon to balance out the sweetness. —Niknud
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Ingredients
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1 cup
water
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2/3 cup
bourbon
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1/4 cup
agave
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1/8 cup
plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
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10
pink peppercorns (whole)
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2
sprigs fresh thyme
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4
strips of lemon peel (no pith - I use a veggie peeler)
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3
peaches, halved, seed removed and thinly sliced
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2 tablespoons
flour
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1 teaspoon
lemon zest
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1
store bought pie crust (you couldn't make me feel more ashamed than I already feel), but you can use your own favorite crust recipe
Directions
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Perform a quality check on the bourbon.
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In a small sauce pan, combine water, 1/8 cup sugar, agave, bourbon, thyme, lemon peel and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Continue to boil until the sauce is reduced and slightly thickened. Strain the liquid and discard the solids. You can do this part ahead. I made the sauce last night and just put it in the fridge until this morning.
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Quality check the bourbon again.
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Preheat your oven to 425. Roll out your pie crust until it will overhang the edges of a prepared shallow pie dish about 2 inches.
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Slice your peaches and put them in the thin syrup you made earlier. Feel free to pause here for a while and let the peaches get all happy with the syrup.
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In a small bowl, combine flour, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and lemon zest. Stir to combine and spread evenly on the bottom of the pie crust.
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Arrange peaches on the pan bottom adding a few layers if you like. Fold up the edges of the pie crust and drizzle more of the syrup over top
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Repeat Step 1.
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Put the tart on a baking sheet and cook for around 25-30 minutes or until the pie crust is golden brown and the liquid is bubbly in the center. Remove and brush the crust with a little of the leftover syrup. Cool and enjoy.
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Left over syrup can be boiled down even more and served over vanilla ice cream. I'm just saying......
Full-time working wife and mother of two small boys whose obsessive need to cook delicious food is threatening to take over what little free time I have. I grew up in a family of serious cookers but didn't learn to cook myself until I got married and got out of the military and discovered the joys of micro-graters, ethiopian food, immersion blenders and watching my husband roll around on the floor after four servings of pulled pork tamales (with real lard!) complaining that he's so full he can't feel his legs. Trying to graduate from novice cooker to ranked amateur. The days of 'the biscuit incident of aught five' as my husband refers to it are long past but I still haven't tried my hand at paella so I'm a work in progress!
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