Who else’s brain immediately thinks of  this South Park episode at the sound of creme fraiche? Creme fraiche, which once sounded so perfectly foreign, whimsical, and light, as if I was galavanting through clouds of whipped deliciousness in heaven, is now tainted forever by Randy Marsh. I can’t say creme fraiche in the same way anymore, while frolicking around Paris in front of the Eiffel tower eating a dainty macaron or baguette in my mind, now it’s totally “creme fraiiiiiiiiiche”. This isn’t a necessarily a bad thing, as South Park is covertly genius and brilliant.

Nonetheless, creme fraiche, which is technically a soured cream but denser and more subtley flavored than sour cream, but lighter than cream cheese, is extremely luscious. As we saw in the above clip, it can be put on pretty much anything. It can be used to creamify sauces, eaten along with honey or on toast, or anything else you can imagine. But I think it’s best paired with a fruit that has equal amounts of acid and sweet.

Like the peach, maybe. Peaches are also notorious for being wonderful with cream and it’s almost as if they were made for each other. (At the mere mention of this combination though, my brain automatically goes here.) And in this pie, the creme fraiche bakes up wonderfully and the peaches get soft and tender, both a great addition to a buttery, flaky pie crust. One things for sure: when I eat this fitting Spring pie, my brain is going nowhere, it’s only swooning about its magnificent taste. Yum.

Peach & creme fraiche pie

Adapted from Martha Stewart via Smitten Kitchen

Notes: creme fraiche can be purchased at pretty much all supermarkets, in the specialty cheese section. But if you cannot find it, thanks to Deb, we know that we can make our own if we want which I actually did for this pie. Check out how to do it here, it’s super easy, largely unattended, and it turned out great! Plus, I cannot resist a from-scratch cooking project.

The recipe below makes 2 pie crusts, but it’s all good, freeze one for later! Pie crusts can stay frozen for up to three months, and can last up to one week in the fridge.

For pie dough (makes 2 crusts)

2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon table salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

8 tablespoons vegetable shortening (chilled)

6 – 8 tablespoons ice water

For streusel

1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

3 to 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cold (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For filling

1 1/2 pounds ripe (4 to 5 medium) yellow peaches, pitted and quartered

2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

5 tablespoons crème fraîche

Make Pie Crust

Pulse flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor work bowl fitted with the steel blade. Add butter and pulse to mix in five 1-second bursts. Add shortening and continue pulsing until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, four or five more 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl. (To do this by hand, freeze the butter and shortening, grate it into the flour using the large holes of a box grater, and rub the flour-coated pieces between your fingers for a minute until the flour turns pale yellow and coarse.)

Sprinkle 6 tablespoons ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 2 tablespoons more ice water if dough will not hold together. Squeeze dough gently until cohesive and divide into two equal balls. Flatten each into a 4-inch-wide disk. Dust lightly with flour, wrap separately in plastic, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 days, before rolling.

Remove dough from refrigerator. If stiff and very cold, let stand until dough is cool but malleable. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll one dough disk on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle. Fold dough in quarters, then place dough point in center of 9-inch Pyrex regular or deep dish pie pan. Unfold dough.

Gently press dough into sides of pan leaving portion that overhangs lip of pie plate in place. Pierce bottom of dough all over with a fork. Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°F right before you take it out.

Make streusel

In a small bowl, stir confectioners’ sugar, baking powder, salt and three tablespoons flour together. Add bits of cold butter, and either using a fork, pastry blender or your fingertips, work them into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add additional flour as needed. Set aside.

Par-bake crust

Tightly press a piece of aluminum foil against frozen pie crust. From here, you should fill the shell with pie weights or dried beans, but I risked it, hoping the foil would do its trick and it did. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove carefully remove foil and any weights you have used, press any bubbled-up spots in with the back of a spoon, and return the crust to the oven for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until it is lightly golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.

Make the filling

Sprinkle quartered peaches with sugar (two tablespoons will make a just-barely-sweeteened pie; add the other two for a still not overly-sweet but sweeter pie) and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Spread two tablespoons crème fraîche in bottom of par-baked pie shell, sprinkle with one-third of the streusel and fan the peach quarters decoratively on top. Dot the remaining three tablespoons of crème fraîche on the peaches and sprinkle with remaining streusel.

Bake the pie

Until the crème fraîche is bubbley and the streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cover edge of crust with a strip of foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 15 minutes before serving.