I love the names of rustic desserts.  I mean, who came up with this stuff?  Pandowdy, buckle, galette, fool, etc.  Pandowdy is such a fun word to say and always makes me think of the phrase ”howdy dudey.”  Huhuhuh…she said doody.  (Anyone else miss Beavis & Butthead?)

Ahem.  Sorry.  Moving on.  So, with my giant bucket of blackberries I’ve made mojitos and a few buckles, which I posted on over the last few weeks.  I also used up a few more cups of berries to make this delicious and gingery pandowdy.  I really enjoy making rustic desserts because they don’t have to be perfect.  They are always going to look homemade and that sort of makes them taste better.  Plus, for someone who can get frustrated easily, rustic means I can succeed.  ”It was supposed to look lop-sided…it was supposed to be broken there.”  Life is much easier this way, trust me.

A pandowdy is basically a pie without a crust on the bottom.  It’s impossible to present nicely on a plate, but man does it taste fabulous!!  Plus it’s really good practice at making and rolling out dough.  Eventually I’ll be ready for pies, but for now I’m sticking with rustic!  It’s safer here in my bubble.

My peaches were way over ripe when I used them in this recipe.  I really don’t recommend baking with over ripe peaches.  They are hard to slice and completely collapse into juice.  Even with reducing the peach juice prior to filling and baking the dessert, I still had a soupy mess.  Although don’t get me wrong…it was a delicious soupy mess.  If you have very ripe fruit or just one that produces lots of juice, there are a few tricks to overcome the soupy-ness.  You can add more cornstarch or instant tapioca pearls or even allow the sliced fruit to dry out a bit in the fridge.  Another way is to let the pie cool down all the way so the insides can congeal a bit and then reheat slightly before serving.  I don’t think I have the will-power for that last one though.  Do you ever have desserts that wilt when baking them?  What solutions have you found to overcome this dilemma?

Gingered Peach & Blackberry Pandowdy
Rustic Fruit Desserts (told you this was my new fave)

1 disk of pie pastry (see recipe below)
4 peaches, pitted
1/2 cup sugar
juice of 1 large lemon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons candied ginger, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 pint (2 cups) blackberries

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees and butter a 9-inch deep dish pie pan.

Wash peaches and pierce skin with a fork.  Slice peaches and place in a bowl with sugar and lemon juice.  Toss to coat and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to draw out some of the juice.  Strain peach juice into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally,  until juice has reduced by half.

In a small bowl, rub the cornstarch, candied ginger, ground ginger, and salt together.

Roll out pastry dough until a little larger than the diameter of the pie pan.  Place the pie pan upside down over the dough and cut the pastry to size.

Add the cornstarch mixture and reduced juice to the peaches.  Add the blackberries and stir gently until combined.  Pour the fruit mixture into the pie pan and top with the pastry circle.  Tuck any extra dough into the pan and make a few small slits to the top of the dough.

Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes or until crust is golden and the fruit is bubbling.  Cool for 1 hour before serving.

Pie Pastry

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup ice water
1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon  juice

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, stir to combine, and place in freezer for 10 minutes.  Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes and add it to the chilled flour mixture.  Using a pastry blender or food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of peas.

Stir the lemon juice and water together and drizzle over the dry ingredients, tossing with a fork until mixture looks shaggy.  If the mixture still looks dry, add another tablespoon or two of cold water.

Place mixture on a lightly floured surface and press down on the dough, folding it a few times until it holds together.  Shape the pastry dough into a disk 1 inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for one hour.

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