A Slab Pie Kind of Summer

Last summer, I spent some time in the tiny cowboy town of Dubois, Wyoming playing in the most amazing little bakery. I taught the baker about slab pie which is baked in a 15×10-inch pan. She taught me all about sourdough bread and homemade goat cheese.
Fellow traveler, Michelle, and I (in photo) made Rhubarb-Bing Cherry slab pie because the rhubarb was ready to be picked and Michelle had just bought bing cherries at the market. The experiment was a success.

It was such a favorite that when I came home to Des Moines, I made a Peach-Blueberry version…because that was the season here. (A couple of months later I made another version using canned tart cherries with frozen peach slices to feed a crowd in the winter.)

Here’s the slab pie recipe for those who’ve asked about it. You can load it with the fruit of your choice. Apples are great, too.

The key is to use a total of at least 8 cups of fruit.

Peach-Blueberry Slab Pie

3 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup butter (or 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup shortening)
1 egg yolk
Milk

1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
5 cups sliced peaches
3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, do not thaw)
1 recipe Vanilla Glaze (below)

1. For pastry, stir together flour and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in shortening and butter til mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Lightly beat egg yolk in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to the egg yolk to make 3/4 cup; mix well. Mix egg yolk mixture into flour mixture until dough holds together in a ball. Divide dough into two-thirds and one-third portions.

2. On a floured surface, roll the larger portion of dough into an 18×12-inch rectangle. Transfer carefully into a 15x10x1-inch baking pan (jelly roll pan). Pastry should hang over edges of pan. (I roll pastry around rolling pin and then unroll over baking pan.)

3. Preheat oven to 375 F. For filling, stir together sugar and cornstarch. Add peaches and blueberries (or fruit of choice). Toss to coat. Spoon into prepared crust.

4. Roll remaining dough into a 16×11-inch rectangle. Place dough over fruit. Bring bottom pastry up and over top pastry. Seal edges with tines of fork. Prick top of pastry surface all over with fork.

5. Bake in preheated oven about 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on rack. Drizzle with Vanilla Glaze.

Vanilla Glaze
Stir together 1 1/4 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, and enough milk (5 to 6 tsp) to make of drizzling consistency.

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