Rustic Whiskey Peach Galette is a bright and nuanced pie, with complex notes from the whiskey combined with the natural roasted sweetness of the stone fruit. It’s an elegant and easy addition to your summer dining table!
Whiskey or Whisky? Or Bourbon?
I think a lot of people are as confused about this as I was. This article from The Kitchn (seriously LOVE The Kitchn don’t you?) will help explain the differences. Which is, well, not much:
Before we get going, let’s define the liquor in general:
No matter how you spell it, whisky/ey is an umbrella term for a type of spirit distilled from a mash of fermented grains.
And just in case you’re confused, they go on to add that, “Within the broad category of whisky/ey are many sub-categories, including bourbon, rye, Tennessee, Scotch, Irish, and Canadian style whiskies.As a result, Canadian whisky, for example, is a whole different animal from Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, and American-style whiskeys such as Tennessee, bourbon, and straight rye.”
So basically, it’s all whiskey. Or whisky. Or bourbon.
Except, of course, they are all made in different ways, and with different nuances.
Moonshine and Edinburgh
I first really began appreciating whisky in it’s place of origin – Scotland.
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society is a members society that recently opened up their Edinburgh Queen’s Street location to the public, at least part of the time. I have big, deep love for this place, because its the first place I actually LIKED whisky.
You’re talking to a girl, here, who was fed moonshine mixed with honey when she was sick as a kid. Yeah, I’m from THAT kind of southern family.
I was also the girl who, in her 20s, drank a lot of Jameson because it was the done thing. I still remember some of those hangovers.
Jameson hangovers aren’t pretty.
I thought all whisky was like this, rough and ready. The kind that bites back, hard, if you try to get too friendly with it. It wasn’t until I experienced the nuance – well, I didn’t understand that there was nuance.
But a friendly bartender at TSMWS helped me learn how to drink it properly.
I thought it was weak if you had it with ice. Also, I thought it ruined it if you added water. Though why anyone really actually cares about ordering a weak drink is crazy I think. You do you!
Honestly, too, I thought all whiskey tasted like a peat bog.
I thought many, many wrong things.
This bartender patiently helped me.
He explained that some single malt whiskies are MEANT to have water added, as it helps release more of the aroma and flavor. Some are not, but no one bats an eye if you add a bit of distilled water to your whisky in Scotland. In fact, most pubs have a spot on the bar with a distilled water spigot that patrons can help themselves to, and TSMWS itself places little pitchers of water on the table for their patrons.
And adding just a touch of water to cut the whisky, for me, was a game changer. I could actually sip on some whiskey and NOT feel like a moose had been let loose inside my brain the next day.
No offense to moose intended.
EYES. OPENED.
He also had me go through their menu – which is extensive, and select a few whiskies based on their tasting notes for me to sample. You can check out their flavor profiles online here. It’s worth a resad purely for entertainment value.
I sampled several, and started out in the light and delicate arena, but fell in love with a very honied light to medium bodied whisky called Jar Jar Binks in Trouble Again.
No, seriously, the names for their whiskies ALONE make me love them. I ended up buying a bottle of this whisky. It ain’t cheap, but damn, it’s worth it.
And just like that, I became a whisky drinker. I particularly love how I can sip it with just a splash of water and not have that horrible headache the next day.
And also, truly, on a cold day, there’s nothing like a nip of whiskey or whisky to warm you inside and out.
This is me now in cold weather: yoga pants and a long, oatmeal colored sweater that’s soft enough to use as a blanket. Two fingers of whiskey in a glass in one hand, with just a single ice cube. A book in the other.
Socks. There must also be socks, and purring. A cat in my lap purring.
Bliss.
Sazerac Rye
Whiskey isn’t JUST a winter warmer, though, and I was determined to find a way to incorporate some summer fun with it.
These days I’m still a nursing mama, so I can’t have much to drink anyhow. I typically have a single glass of wine that I sip on for hours in the evening. But when I do have a cocktail, I like it to be really good. And since I’m a little far from the SMWS, my husband and I have been buying Sazerac Rye.
This is a lovely rye whiskey, with the e, as it’s American made. It’s very affordable, but is still a good sip it on ice choice.
Stone Fruit
There’s something I just love about stone fruit. Perhaps it’s the heart of summer juicy sweetness. Perhaps it’s the fact that those center set stones slow you down, make you savor the fruit.
Or maybe it’s just more simply that I grew up in Florida, where oranges and grapefruit and even mangos were common. Stone fruits were the exotic treat for my hot-under-the-sun childhood.
I love them so much I buy tons of them in the summer, which means I am often looking for ways to use them up before their delicate sweetness turns brown. I love to make spicy peach jam, but I also love pie and cobbler.
Bourbon plus Peaches Equals Awesome
This year, though, I decided to play a bit. Bourbon and peaches go really well together. So I thought I would see what happened if I soaked some of those delicate sweet peaches in a little of our Sazerac Rye.
The result was so, so good.
The delicate sweetness of the peaches blends nicely with the rough rye. I chose to use only brown sugar in this because I didn’t want the pie to taste of simply sweet. I also used butter because I wanted those peaches to caramelize nicely with the booze and the sugar for this peach galette.
A Crust for the Easy Win
I used my go-to Easy Flaky Butter Pie Crust because, well, it IS easy, and it is so, so good. The crust itself is rich with butter, but the dough is easy to work with, and so folding the edges around these beautiful peaches is easy peasy. It makes a beautiful peach galette crust.
This is a great easy pie, or peach galette, to make for company. It comes together quickly, though of course, the longer you soak the peaches the more whiskey-y they will be. I actually plan on serving this as a dessert for a brunch party soon. When it’s warm, and topped with a scoop of creamy ice cream, it’s absolute summer fruit heaven.
Rustic Whiskey Peach Galette
Ingredients
- 4-6 Ripe Whole Fresh Peaches, Peeled and Sliced This is about two cups of fruit
- 1 shot Sazerac Rye Whiskey or Other Whiskey
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cardamom
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 Pie Crust Prepared
Instructions
- Soak the sliced peaches in the shot of whiskey for 30 minutes to two hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom to the peaches and toss to coat.
- Lay your pie crust out flat. Place peach mixture in center of crust.
- Fold up the side of the crust over the peaches.
- Slice butter in to pats and place over the top of the peaches.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.