I experimented a bit with the pie. First, I read somewhere that there's no reason why we shouldn't pre-bake pie crust even with fruit pies in order to get crispier shell. So I pre-baked the crust for about 15 minutes before filling and then baked for 40 minutes more.
The result: Meh. I didn't get any crispier or flakier shell. So, no pre-baked pie crust in my future fruit pies.
Second, I was wondering why we only use cold water in the pie dough. Why don't we use buttermilk? My wise friend, Hannah, said it's because we want all the liquid to evaporate leaving flaky crust from layers of fat and flour. I argued that buttermilk is acidic and it can prevent gluten from forming in the dough which makes the crust tough. So I used buttermilk instead of water.
The result: The crust wasn't as flaky as usual. Maybe buttermilk has leftover residue that affected the crust texture. Hannah was right.
Finally, I didn't add any spice to the fruit (about 6 pounds of peaches) - just 1/4 cup sugar, zest of a lemon plus half the juice and 3 tablespoons of flour to thicken. I thought the filling came out great - a little tart and not at all watery to which a few people agreed and a few didn't. Hannah said the balance of sweet and tart was just right but she preferred more juicy pie. My friend, Tim, said the filling was way too sour. Not tart. Just SOUR! Dude has sweet tooth...
Anyway, by the end of the day, the whole pie was gone. I didn't even have to sell it to hard.
