Mini Peach Pies

Happy Labor Day everyone!  I hope everyone is having a fun and safe holiday weekend!  As for this laborer...I still have to work!  How unfortunate, right?  However, the best part of this Sunday is having the time to blog about peach pies!!  I don't know if you know this, but I love (like seriously love) peaches.  You know how everyone has a birthstone that coordinates with their birth month?  I'm beginning to think that there should be a birth fruit too...and peaches are my birth fruit!  Well, I kind of take that back...I love peaches and nectarines...but I tend to go for nectarines because they don't have the fuzz..but very similar in taste...yummm!  I'm not sure what it is about peaches and nectarines...I definitely love the flavor...and that slightly tart but more sweet taste...when it's juicy and not mealy.  And pretty much when it gives that fresh, fruity, peachy smell!!  In a way, I also think it's the coloring of this fruit.  See, I tend to pick up orangey colored drinks too.  For some reason, they  just really appeal to me!  Same goes for jams...my hands itch to pick peach jams!  Anyways, I haven't had any peaches this whole summer.  But as luck would have it, the day I went into my favorite local Mexican market, the peaches were on sale!  And you know the problem with fruits (especially your favorite fruit!) on sale right?  Of course I end up buying like ten pounds of peaches...and of course I can't eat ten pounds of peaches before it becomes super ripe.  So what do I do?  Make peach pie of course...my most favorite kind of pie!...the best kind of pie out there, in my opinion!  And of course I can't make any ole regular pie...I just had to make mini ones!  OH, and what's pie without it's partner in crime?  You know, good ole vanilla ice cream.  From scratch, of course!  So, here we go...mini peach pies with home-made vanilla bean ice cream!

This was my first time doing a lattice top on pies.  I usually like crumble topped pies more so than crust topped pies.  However, I adored the thought of mini latticed topped pies...so mini lattice it was!  Oh, and the other difference in these pies...I decided to go the puff pastry route instead of traditional pie crust.  Originally, I was going to make some pate brisee, but laziness got the better of me...I know, I know..pie crust isn't too hard to make, I admit it...but hey, I'm allowed a lazy day every so often right?? I already had puff pastry in the freezer...and I needed a way to use it all up...so puff pastry peach pie it was!  Anyways, after making twenty four mini lattice peach pies...I now know exactly why I love crumbled topped pies more.  Crumbled tops are certainly a lot less work!  These lattice tops took forever and a day to finish up!!  Oh, the bright ideas I have sometimes....My new motto should be "anything for the charm of cuteness."

In my mind...twenty four super mini peach pies is so not enough pie!  So, I made twenty four more.  But now that I know how long it took to do mini lattice tops...I decided to just make regular round tops for these extra twenty four.  Notice how they are kind of puffy...yep, those were puff pastry pies too...
Oh, where's the vanilla ice cream you ask?  No fear, I won't forget about them!  Come on now...they're partners in crime, after all!

Yum...can you see the vanilla beans in my ice cream?  I used Tahitian vanilla beans.  It gave off a slight floraly vanilla flavor.  There is just something about those black specks that just elevates vanilla ice cream to a new level.  The ice cream went perfectly with these mini peach pies.  I decreased the sugar in the peach pie because I'm deathly afraid of overly sweet pies.  And what ended up happening was my peaches were still a tad tart, so extra sugar would've been welcomed.  However, with that vanilla bean ice cream.  Sheer perfection.  Yep, I said it.  Perfection!

Have a great holiday dear readers!