Delicious Summer Peach Pie with an Elegant Braided Crust by Style Sweet CA
This quintessential summery peach pie, featuring a perfectly flaky crust and a playful braided top, is designed to be savored when stone fruit is at its peak. It’s more than just a dessert; it’s a celebration of summer’s bounty, handcrafted to bring warmth and joy to your table.
Welcome to Our “Cooking with Friends” Series!
As I dedicate my time this spring to exciting new cookbook projects, I’m thrilled to open up my kitchen and invite some of my dearest blogger friends to share their incredible recipes with you. This series is a true passion project, a way to connect with talented creators and bring diverse culinary inspiration directly to your home. My hope is that you’ll find as much delight and inspiration cooking and baking alongside them as I do.
Today, we are absolutely delighted to welcome the exceptionally talented Tessa from Style Sweet. Tessa is a true baker extraordinaire, and I have been a long-time admirer of her exquisite cake decorating talents and innovative dessert creations. Her website is a treasure trove of beautiful recipes and stunning visuals that never fail to bring a smile to my face. I’ve personally experimented with countless of her recipes, and her gorgeous book, Style Sweet, remains one of my absolute favorite go-to resources for perfecting cake-making techniques. While she’s a master of cakes, today Tessa takes us on a delightful journey into the realm of pies, demonstrating how to craft a truly gorgeous braided top to adorn a perfectly summery peach pie. Get ready to be inspired and enjoy every sweet moment!
The Quest for the Perfect Summer Peach: A Vancouver Story
One of the aspects I was most excited about when my husband and I made the move to Vancouver was the incredible convenience of being able to simply walk to the farmer’s market from our new city apartment. A few years prior, we had made the significant decision to trade our spacious house with a sprawling yard for a cozy, one-bedroom shoebox in a bustling high-rise. While the process of downsizing could have been daunting, it surprisingly didn’t bother me in the least. In fact, the added perk of being able to leisurely stroll down vibrant city streets, discovering a bustling farmer’s market nestled between gleaming glass buildings, felt like an unexpected and utterly delightful bonus. This simple pleasure promised a connection to local produce that I deeply cherished.
Having grown up in Sacramento, California, I was accustomed to robust, year-round farmer’s markets, but it was always the vibrant summer produce that held a special place in my heart – and still does. The anticipation of summer’s bounty, with its succulent berries and abundant stone fruit, was always exhilarating. So, when the market finally opened for the season during our first summer living in Vancouver, my expectations were high. I envisioned flats brimming with juicy, ruby-red berries and an overflowing selection of ripe stone fruit. To my initial disappointment, however, the stalls were predominantly filled with various greens, an array of preserves, and local baked goods. As I walked home, empty-handed and sans the fruit I craved, a realization dawned on me. Of course, the offerings would be different! How could I possibly expect the sun-drenched orchards of California and the milder climate of Vancouver to yield the exact same local products at the same time? It was a simple truth, yet it left me with a touch of culinary anxiety.
From Worry to Relief: The Abundance of BC’s Summer Harvest
I couldn’t help but begin to worry. Would the Vancouver markets ever truly carry those luscious, sun-ripened peaches I adored? Do they even cultivate stone fruit near here in British Columbia? Was I destined to settle for imported, often tasteless, fruit from the supermarket shelves instead of the vibrant, local gems I craved for my summer baking? The thought was genuinely disheartening, casting a shadow over my culinary aspirations for the season. The idea of a summer without truly flavorful peach pie seemed almost unthinkable.
Then, mid-summer arrived, bringing with it an immense wave of relief! The markets finally burst into full bloom, joyously stocked with an incredible array of produce: succulent peaches, blushing apricots, an abundance of juicy BC blueberries, sweet plums, and so much more. It was a veritable feast for the senses, confirming that Vancouver, too, had its own spectacular summer harvest. Thank goodness! The fear of tasteless fruit vanished, replaced by the delightful certainty that I could now, finally, make all the pies my heart desired, starting with this glorious peach creation.
Crafting the Perfect Peach Pie: Beyond Just Sweetness
It can feel almost criminal, at times, to “waste” perfectly ripe, sweet peaches by baking them into a pie. Their vibrant flavor and delicate texture are so exquisite on their own. However, there’s a distinct magic that happens when high-quality fruit is transformed by the heat of the oven, evolving into a warm, comforting dessert. Even when baked, the fruit within your pie should truly be “pie worthy.” This means selecting peaches that are not just sweet, but also bursting with deep, complex flavor. The ideal peach for pie holds its structure well when sliced, offering a delightful chewiness even after baking. If the flesh is exceedingly soft, overly juicy, and barely holds its shape, those are the peaches you should definitely enjoy fresh, right now! For my peach pie filling, I love to add a thoughtful pinch of cinnamon to introduce a touch of warming spice, complementing the natural sweetness of the peaches without overpowering them. Occasionally, I’ll even swap out a portion of the peaches for tangy apricots, which add another layer of fruity complexity and a beautiful tart contrast. But honestly, a pie made with straight-up, perfectly ripe peaches is probably the most amazing experience, especially when served à la mode with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream melting deliciously over the warm fruit.
The Art of the Braided Pie Crust: Elevating Your Baking
While the filling is undoubtedly the heart of any pie, the crust is its crowning glory, especially when it features an elegant braided design. A beautiful braided crust isn’t just a decorative flourish; it transforms a simple dessert into a work of edible art, showcasing care and craftsmanship. Creating a braided top might seem intimidating at first, but with a little practice, it’s a surprisingly achievable technique that adds significant visual appeal and a unique texture to each slice. The intertwining strands not only look stunning but also create additional nooks and crannies that catch the sweet juices of the peach filling as it bakes, enhancing the overall experience. A flaky, all-butter crust is essential for both flavor and structure, providing the perfect counterpoint to the soft, sweet fruit within. This combination of a rich, tender crust and a vibrant, fruit-forward filling ensures that every bite of this summer peach pie is a delightful harmony of textures and tastes.
Unlock the Recipe and More Pie Inspiration
Ready to create this stunning dessert yourself? You can get the full recipe for my Cinnamon Peach Pie with Braided Crust directly on my blog. Beyond the recipe, I encourage you to check out my comprehensive tutorial to create various pretty pie decorative designs, perfect for adding that extra touch of elegance to any pie. For even more delectable summery pie and tart inspiration, explore these other fantastic recipes from the blog:
Rhubarb Berry Pie
Strawberry Basil Tartlets
Black and Blueberry Pie
Meet Tessa Huff: The Creative Mind Behind Style Sweet CA
Tessa Huff is a highly accomplished and multi-talented professional in the culinary world. She is a trained baker, a meticulous recipe developer, a gifted food photographer, and the visionary creator of the renowned cake and pastry blog, Style Sweet CA. Her expertise is further solidified by her acclaimed first book, Layered: Baking, Building and Styling Spectacular Cakes, which was successfully released with Abrams Books. Tessa is also a regular and respected contributor to prominent culinary platforms such as The Kitchn, Food Network CA, Brit + Co., and The Cake Blog, sharing her knowledge and inspiring countless home bakers. Her talent has not gone unnoticed; Huff was recognized as one of Better Homes and Gardens’ 2014 Best Baking Bloggers, and her exquisite work has graced both online and print publications for esteemed brands like West Elm, Cake Central Magazine, and Better Homes and Gardens. Originally hailing from Northern California, where she owned and operated her bespoke custom cake boutique, Tessa now brings her passion for baking and creativity to Vancouver, BC, where she lives with her loving husband and young son. Her journey from California to Vancouver, and her dedication to seasonal, flavorful baking, truly shines through in every recipe she shares.
Make sure to follow Tessa and Style Sweet CA for more baking inspiration through her blog and on social media:
- Blog: Style Sweet CA
All photos above this point: © Tessa Huff.