Strawberry Peach Icebox Pie

A couple of weeks ago a co-worker of mine let me borrow her HUGE pie cookbook.  Since then I've marked probably about 50 pies that I'd like to try.  I think this amount is pretty good considering there were over 600 pages in the cookbook.  This icebox pie is the first one I've attempted so far and I think it was pretty darn good.  I did do some modifications when it came time to make the crust because the directions in this book are pretty in depth and it didn't adhere to my last minute nature....but all the same I think it was just fine. 
Here is a link to the cookbook, if you're interested: Pie: 300 Tried-And-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie

First things first, lets make the crust OR if you're short on time go buy a graham cracker crust.  There are a million different recipes out there for homemade crust and I used the one for a single crust made with shortening from this cookbook.

Add the flour and sugar

Salt

Shortening (it was supposed to be cold, but mine wasn't).

Use your pastry blender until you get pea sized pieces of shortening.  This makes for a flaky crust.

Use ice cold water to mix the dough until it forms a ball - do not overuse the water. Just add water until the dough comes together.

Roll the dough out until it'll fit the circumference of your pie dish. 

Fold it in half...

Place it in your dish and unfold.  Patch up any torn spots by pressing the dough together.

This is where you might want to do something differently.  I'm not a huge fan of too much crust so I cut mine off as shown above.  If you like more crust you'll want to leave enough around the edges to fold under and use your fingers or a fork to flute the edges.  You'll also want to account for the dough shrinking up a bit in the oven and leave some room for that.

Poke holes along the bottom to prevent it from puffing up.  You can also use baking beans if you have any.

Bake in a preheated oven until golden.  As you can see, mine shrunk up in the oven - but that's OK with me.  I'm in it for the filling anyway. Refrigerate this so its nice and cool for the mixture.

Time to prepare the fruit.  Fresh Strawberries and Peaches, washed.

Skin and pit the peaches.

Cut the peaches into bite sized pieces.

Place the peaches in a medium sized sauce pan and add sugar.

Zest a lemon.

Add the zest to the peach/sugar mixture.

Turn the heat on and let the peaches come up to a boil for about 5 minutes.

Get the lemonade and cornstarch ready.

Mix the cornstarch into the lemonade right before its needed in the peach mixture.

Pour the cornstarch/lemonade mix into the peaches.  This will thicken very quickly.

Once it's thickened, pour the mixture into a large 9x13 inch dish to let cool. Spread it out as much as possible to speed things along.

While the peach mixture cools, cut up your strawberries.

Once the peach mixture is cool, pour the cut strawberries in and mix together.

Pour the fruit mixture into the cooled pie shell, cover with plastic wrap and put into the freezer for at least 3 hours.

I had to take mine out after two hours to try it.  It was late and my bedtime was quickly approaching and I just wanted some OK?

I made a quick whipped cream to top this with.  What a great summertime treat.  Healthy (OK not so much) but it's filled with fruit so that's how I'm going to justify it. You get three important food groups here, wheat, dairy, fruit so it's practically diet food. 

I hope you'll give this a try on a hot day this summer.  Its very refreshing and delicious.

Strawberry Peach Icebox Pie

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold shortening (mine wasn't)
1/4 cup ice cold water

Filling:
4 cups Peaches, peeled, seeded, cut into bite sized pieces.
2 cups Strawberries, hulled and cut into bite sized pieces
1 tsp Lemon zest
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup lemonade
1/2 cup sugar

Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Prepare your pie crust, bake and leave to cool.

Combine the peaches, sugar and lemon zest in a medium sized saucepan.  Cover and cook on medium heat and bring to a low boil stirring frequently.  Cook for about 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium low or low and add the cornstarch/lemonade mixture.  Sauce will thicken quickly so keep stirring for another 2-3 minutes. Pour this mixture into a shallow dish and let cool to room temperature.
Fold the strawberries into the peach mixture.  Once combined, pour the fruit mixture into the pie shell, cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least 3 hours.

Shortly before serving, make the whipped topping by putting the heavy cream in the bowl of your electric mixer using your whisk attachment.
Whip the cream on medium to medium high until the cream has stiff peaks.  Add the sugar gradually while whisking on low speed, then add the vanilla and serve immediately.

Enjoy!