It is peach season in the South right now, and I couldn’t pass up bringing home some of these perfectly ripe beauties!

Originally Published 07/12/2020

My go-to peach recipe is a Rustic Peach Custard Pie. Second only to Strawberry Rhubarb, each slice of this pie is heaven. With perfectly ripe, juicy peaches swirled in a delicious vanilla custard, topped with crunchy crumble in a flakey crust… it really doesn’t get much better! You need to make this pie!

Picking a good peach can be kind of tricky – most of the time, they’re either too hard or already turning to soupy mush. I feel like peaches are best when they’re still somewhat firm to the touch but dent pretty easily with a gentle squeeze 🍑😂🤷🏼‍♀️ 

This recipe came from my Great Aunt Darlene. I only have a handful of memories of her, but she seemed like a fancy lady. Growing up, we had two large watercolor paintings of carousel horses she did hanging up in our house. And although I’m sure it wasn’t real, in my mind, she walked around with one of those super long cigarette holders, Audrey Hepburn style! I do know, though, that she must have had good taste because this pie is delicious!

You might be surprised to find sour cream on the list of ingredients. It is the perfect base for the custard, though. It adds a little bit of tang and body to the custard. Sour cream isn’t necessarily something you’d expect to pair well with peaches, but let me tell you, it’s a match made in heaven! So let’s make some pie!

First things first, the peach fuzz has got to go!

Once you get your pot full of water boiling, it just takes a quick dip to loosen the peach skin right up! You really don’t need to leave them in their long, just a couple minutes; otherwise, you start to cook the peach itself, and that’s what baking the pie later is for! Even still, they come out hotter than Hades, so give them a minute to cool before attempting to peel them!

As a kid, when we used to make this pie, I would marvel at how fast my mom could slice those peaches up! I loved her knife’s clicking noise as it sunk in and hit the pit. I tried to look as skilled as her in the video, but I definitely almost nicked myself in the process, and the clip got cut lol.

After you get all the peaches cut up and de-pitted, add in your sugar, lemon juice, and flour. The lemon juice keeps the peaches from turning brown, and the flour soaks up some of the peach juice while it’s baking, so your pie doesn’t come out super runny.

Now for the custard filling in this Rustic Peach Custard Pie!

Sour cream becomes something else entirely with some sugar and vanilla in it! You’re gonna be amazed! The three eggs help the pie set up nicely too! I like to add just a drop of almond extract as well. It goes so well with the peach flavor!

Sour cream is an excellent base for making custard because it adds a rich, tangy flavor that enhances the overall taste of the dessert. Its creamy texture helps create a smooth, velvety custard, and the fat content contributes to a richer, more luxurious mouthfeel. Additionally, the acidity in sour cream can help balance the sweetness of the custard, making for a well-rounded and flavorful dessert. When I first wrote this recipe/blog post, it was titled “Sour Cream Peach Pie”. That’s what we grew up calling this pie and what my family knows it as. However, I feel like a lot of people could be turned off by the thought of this and never give the recipe or pie a chance. So in updating this post, I updated the title too. It’s such an amazing pie, I don’t want anyone’s biases keeping it from being made!

I’ll be honest, making crust from scratch has never been my forte.

I always seem to overhandle it, making it tough and super crunchy! My crust game is a work in progress. But in any case, mix your flour and salt together, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs and finally add in a 1/4 cup of ice water to bring it all together. Add 1 tbsp at a time more water if your dough seems dry!

When it comes to rolling the crust out, make sure to keep the counter floured. If you’re like me and get lazy about this step, you’ll go to lift it and … rip … half your pie crust is stuck to the counter. Once you get it a large enough circle to cover your pie plate, gently fold it back on itself with the rolling pin in the center and place it over your greased pie dish. Tuck it in the bottom and sides and finish off the crust! This time, I cut off the excess and used a fork pattern.

Finally, it’s time to assemble this Rustic Peach Custard Pie.

You can mix the custard and peach filling together and then pour it into the pie. It’s delicious, and this is the original way I used to make this pie. Or, you can put the peaches down first and then the custard so it comes out somewhat layered! You want your filling almost to the top of the crust, I’d say leave like a 1/4” to the top. The egg part of the custard expands so too much that it will overflow in your oven, and nobody wants that. (Also why a baking sheet under your pie dish comes in handy) I’ll be honest I didn’t fill mine full enough this time because I was worried about that!

Once, you’ve got it filled, carefully put it in the oven at 400 for 15 minutes, then turn it down to 350 and bake another 20-30 minutes. If you layered the custard filling on top, it will start to dome up! That’s normal, don’t worry! You’ll know it’s ready for the crumble topping when the middle of the pie looks set and not liquid anymore. Give it more time if it’s still super sloppy-looking.

When it’s set, bring it out and sprinkle your crumble topping over the whole pie, and then return to the oven for another 10 minutes. Once it’s done, get it out and let it cool for about 45, then you can serve it warm!

Print Recipe

Rustic Peach Custard Pie

An amazingly sweet and flavorful peach pie with a sour cream custard and crumble top!

Prep Time45 minutes mins

Cook Time55 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 8 slices

Equipment

• Two medium mixing bowls
• One small mixing bowl
• 9″ Pie plate
• Mixing spoons
• Measuring Cups and Spoons

Ingredients

Peach Filling

• 4 cups Peaches (blanched and sliced) 600-700 grams
• 1/4 cup Sugar 50 grams
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice 15 grams
• 4 tbsp All-Purpose Flour 32 grams

Custard Filling

• 1 cup Sour cream 240 grams
• 3/4 cup Sugar 150 grams
• 3 Eggs
• 1/4 tsp Salt 1.5 grams
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract 2 grams
• 1/8 tsp Almond Extract (optional) 0.6 grams

Crust

• 1 1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour 170 grams
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Unsalted Butter 125 grams
• 1/2 tsp Salt 3.5 grams
• 1/4 cup Ice Water 2 oz

Crumble Topping

• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar 67 grams
• 1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour 43 grams
• 1/4 cup Salted Butter room-temperature 57 grams

Instructions

Prepare Peach Filling

• Bring a large pot of water to boil. Place peaches in the pot for 1-2 minutes and then remove. Allow peaches to cool on the cutting board. Once the peaches are cool enough to handle, the *skin should be easy to remove. Discard skin.
• Using a pairing knife, cut the peaches and place slices in a mixing bowl. Discard pits.
• Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp *lemon juice, and 4 tbsp flour to peach slices and set bowl aside.

Prepare Custard Filling

• In a second mixing bowl, combine 1 cup. sour cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 eggs, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and optional 1/8 tsp almond extract. Mix well and set to the side.

Prepare Crust

• Preheat oven to 400. Grease 9" pie plate.
• Place 1 1/3 cups of chilled all-purpose flour in a bowl and mix in 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Next, cut 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter into the flour/salt mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Finally, add 1/4 cup of ice water and mix just until the dough starts to form. You may need more water; if the dough seems dry, just add a tablespoon more water at a time. Do not over-mix, or the crust will become tough.
• Flour counter and place dough ball in middle of it. Flour the rolling pin, as well as the top of the dough and gently begin to roll a circle. Keep checking under rolled out dough to make sure counter stays floured or dough will stick and rip when you lift it to place it in the pie pan. Roll until 1/8″ thick, or circle is big enough to cover pie plate. Gently fold rolled dough in half over rolling pin to lift and place over pie plate. After making sure the crust is sitting right in the pie plate, cut off any excess crust and use a for to crimp around crust edges.

Assemble Pie

• Place pie plate on a baking sheet before filling. This will make it easier to transfer the filled pie to the oven! Now, pour peach filling into the bottom of the pie crust and level out.
• Next, *pour custard filling over the top of the peach filling. (The crumble topping is put on at the end of the bake.)

Bake

• Carefully put your pie in the oven and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 20-30 minutes.

  I usually find that you need 30 minutes for the custard to set up.
• While pie is baking you can make your crumble topping. Put 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and a 1/4 cup room temperature butter in a bowl and mix together until coarse crumbs form.
• Once pie has baked 20-30 minutes, open oven and carefully sprinkle crumbs all over the top of the pie. Put back in the oven and finish baking 10-15 minutes.
• When pie is done, allow to cool on cooling rack for 30-45 minutes and enjoy!

Notes

*If the peaches you bought from the store aren’t ripe enough, or are too ripe, the skin may take extra work to get off. It can be a frustrating task! The perfectly ripe peach will feel slightly firm to the touch, but dent easily when you press it. 

*Lemon juice helps to keep the peaches from turning brown 

*I usually get a glass of ice water and measure out my water from that so it’s extra cold!

*This pie is also delicious if peach filling and custard filling are mixed together before pouring it into the pie crust! But, if you prefer the layers to be somewhat separate, assemble as the instructions above suggest

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