I've had pie on my mind lately. You know that feeling where you sense things slipping away before they necessarily even begin? That's how I've been feeling with summer pies. I haven't had a chance to buy any farmers market strawberries or raspberries for baking yet this year, and it's time. It's time to start talking about pie.
NPR ran a pie survey and a little piece on pie last week, finding that apple pie is the true favorite among many Americans, about 17% of folks surveyed. Apple pie was follwed by pumpkin, cherry and blueberry. The survey didn't mention hand pies or slab pies or even homemade pop-tarts, but these are all really wonderful in the warmer months of outdoor running around and eating.
This got me thinking more specifically about summer pies. Perhaps some of you stick to seasonal fruit pies while others might gravitate to cream pies or chocolate and nut pies. Where do you find summer pie inspiration? What do you find yourself baking in the warmer months of June, July and August?
A Few of My Favorite Summer Pie Recipes:
• Blueberry Lemon Verbena Pie - 101 Cookbooks
• Banana Cream Pie - Seven Spoons
• Sour Cherry Slab Pie - Smitten Kitchen
• Peach Pie - Sweet Amandine
• Fresh Strawberry Pie - Lottie + Doof
Related: End of Summer Plum Prune Pie
(Image: Megan Gordon)
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Strawberry Pie is my favorite, the kind that's basically just a crust and sweet, glazed strawberries. Blueberry pie and peach pie are a close second!
I am really loving icebox pies this summer. Here's a blueberry icebox pie I just made: http://www.nothinginthehouse.com/2012/06/blueberry-icebox-pie.html
But I ALWAYS love a classic tart cherry pie. That and more summer pies on my pie blog Nothing-in-the-House here: http://www.nothinginthehouse.com/
Strawberry & rhubarb is always a winner... My close second would be peach & apricot !
oh my god that crust looks incredible! i love all pies :) my boyfriend likes tart ones - i made a black currant pie last summer with currants from our garden, and he looooooved it even though it was not sweet at all. yay for pie!
Key lime!
My mom's strawberry pie, my grandmother's dark sweet cherry pie (made only with Michigan black sweet cherries) and I make a blueberry cobbler that everyone seems to love.
Favorite pie EVER would be pear, but those don't happen until Fall, so I guess it doesn't count.
I'm from Belgium so I grew up eating tarts and prefer them over pies. Some of my favorites would have to be apricot, plum, and strawberry rhubarb :-)
In New England there is only one summer pie--Maine blueberry! Well, in my opinion anyway!
I've never cared for raspberry or strawberry pies--or peach pie either, come to think of it. Too sweet usually, naturally, even without a lot of sugar. I like a pie to have a bit of a bite to it.
I am a huge fan of sour cherry pie, but I don't have any access to sour cherries although they will grow around here. Time to plant a tree?
I could talk about pie all day, but break time's over!
This is my favorite berry pie recipe: http://www.asweetsimplelife.com/home/2012/1/30/heart-stopping-berry-pie.html Every time I make it, it gets rave reviews. It couldn't be easier since it uses frozen fruit (cheaper than using fresh fruit, too!).
I don't think I could make a choice between sour cherry, peach, strawberry-rhubarb, and blueberry pies for delicious summer eating. Happily, summer is a progression (with some overlap, I know :P) from one tasty fruit to another!
My favorites are key lime and strawberry rhubarb!
Lemon tarts, blackberry cobbler, and cherry pie. LOVE LOVE LOVE a fresh cherry pie.
Blueberry pie...
I make an awesome cherry clafouti (not a pie, but I guess I'm not much of a summer fruit pie person), as well as a Czech Fruit Buchta, which has a thin cake-like bottom, covered in stone fruit or bluerries, and topped with a streusal topping. Looks like this:
http://www.pecenijeradost.cz/recepty/ovocna-buchta-1
I absolutely love the filling from this recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Old-Fashioned-Cherry-Vanilla-Pie-14181.
I have my own crust recipe, so I use that. I love that the filling is thickened with tapioca! It holds up beautifully and the crust stays lovely and crisp.
peach blueberry with homemade crust yum.
Sour cherry crostata! The crust stands up to the filling better than regular pie crust.
My dad loves remind me how we used to make a fruit pie nearly every week from June to October while I was growing up: strawberry, cherry, peach, apple.
Gooseberry. I'll happily eat most other kinds of pie, but my favorite is definitely a butter crust gooseberry. Tart as can be, with sanding sugar on the top crust.
Apple I'd rather have in crisps, and peach in ice cream. And lemon curd straight out of the pan on a spoon.
Lemon meringue, peach, cherry and blueberry. I've been trying to do at least one pie a month to strengthen my pie crust making skills. Every time it's getting easier and easier.
blackberry!
Chocolate meringue ftw!
Strawberry/raspberry/rhubarb - I can't get enough of it right now!
concord grape pie is worth baking... even in the heat of the late summer!
strawberry rhubarb without a doubt!
I will second the comment about the pie crust! Couldn't stop staring at it! Which recipe did you use?
While I love pretty much all summer pie (especially peach, berry, or a mix of the two), they are really just warmups for me til I am ready for autumn pies. I am already eagerly awaiting the first pear-fig-walnut pie of the season!
I was introduced to cooked strawberry pie years ago (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-old-boys-strawberry-pie/) and it's been my favorite ever since, aside from blackberry cobbler of course. That is a once-a-year joy -- though, this year I didn't catch the dewberries before the heat got them. :(