Honey Caramel Peach Pie

This is the real deal. Summer, in a crust. While I know some who object to pie because it's runny and messy, I believe that's a strength. And this pie is runny and messy. The caramel will spill across your plate, and the peaches will slide around, but the crust remains crispy and buttery, and it's heaven. This is a fairly labor-intensive recipe by my standards, but it's well worth the effort.

Honey Caramel Peach Pie
adapted from this recipe from Gourmet

 Crust:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup plus 1 to 4 tbsp ice water

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. 
2. Blend in butter with your fingertips until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some  pea-size butter lumps. 
3. Drizzle 1/3 cup ice water over mixture and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.  
4. If the dough doesn’t hold together, add more ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, stirring until just incorporated, then test again. The dough should not be sticky. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough. 
5. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. With heel of your hand, knead the dough a few times in a forward motion to help distribute fat. There should be no large chunks of butter left, but small ones are okay.
6. Gather dough together and press into a ball. Divide in half and form into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Filling:

• 3 - 4 ripe peaches
• 1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp lemon juice (fresh from a lemon is best)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp milk

1. Peel the peaches. This can be done easily by blanching them: Cut an X in the bottom of each peach, then drop them in boiling water for 15 seconds. Transfer them to a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking, then peel them.

1. Cut peaches into 1 inch thick wedges.
2. Toss the peaches with flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place aluminum foil over a large baking sheet. You'll place the pie plate on this in case of spillage.
4. Bring 1/2 cup sugar, honey, and water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Brush down sugar from the sides of the pot. Boil without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber, about 5-10 minutes.  
5. Remove from heat and add butter, swirling pan until butter melts. Pour over fruit and toss thoroughly. The caramel may harden, but will melt again in the oven, so don't worry about it.

1. Remove chilled disks of pie crust dough. With a rolling pin or anything vaguely cylindrical, roll out the dough into a thin, flat circle between two pieces of was paper. The first should go into the pie plate, with the edges just reaching the edges of the pie plate. The second will go on top, so hold onto that one for now.
2. Place filling in pie plate with dough. Make sure the filling is evenly spread. Place other rolled out pie crust round on top. With a fork, press the edges together along the circumference of the pie. This has the added benefit of making your pie look very pretty.
3. Brush the top with the milk, and sprinkle with sugar. Cut three "vents" in the top crust with a knife.
4. Bake pie on the foil-lined baking sheet for 20 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees, and bake until the crust is golden and filling is bubbly--about 50 more minutes.

Happy baking!