Monday, August 10, 2009

Nectarine Raspberry Cream Pie


I had nectarines going soft. I had raspberries. I had crust. I wanted pie. I searched and found this rather interesting sounding pie which uses cream, but in a baked base. Intrigued, I made it. I think this recipe has definite possibilities, because it was interesting and tasty, but, I wasn't too fond of the rather undercooked base. If I had left this in my oven until it was browner, I think it would have been more the texture of a clafouti, and less the texture of slightly undercooked cake. Still, it was very pretty and tweaking the baking time would have made it perfect. I skipped the entire boiling/skin removal process and this made the pie come together really quickly. My notations and adaptions are shown.






NECTARINE CREAM PIE
  • 2/3 cup white sugar (I always add sugar to taste; I only added 4 tablespoons)
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I also added 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla bean)
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 5 nectarines (I used four nectarines, quartered, and 1 cup of frozen black raspberries)
  • 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Place a large pot of water over high heat, and bring to a boil. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, heavy cream and almond extract. Set aside. Place the nectarines in boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds. Immediately place nectarines under cold running water and remove skins. (I skipped the boiling process entirely because nectarine skins are edible). Cut nectarines in half and remove pits. Place halves in the pie shell with the cut side down. (I did this, but quartered the nectarines, and, added a cup of frozen raspberries). Pour the cream mixture around the nectarines.

Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 35 to 40 minutes. Good served warm or cold.