History

Palisade peaches arrived in the Grand Valley of western Colorado in the 1880s and grew into the state's signature fruit by the 1920s. Denver bakeries source from August to early September, when the Palisade Peach Festival draws weekend crowds to the orchards. The Denver pie tradition runs through bakeries like Rebel Bread; the Palisade peach is the canonical August pie filling here and a fixture on every Front Range farmers market table.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield 8Hands-on 45 minTotal 3 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • For the crust: 350g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 230g cold unsalted butter cubed
  • 120ml ice water
  • For the filling: 1.2kg ripe Palisade or Colorado peaches, peeled and sliced
  • 150g granulated sugar (less if peaches are very sweet)
  • 30g cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cream (for wash)
  • 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Method

  1. Make crust: pulse flour, salt and sugar. Add butter, pulse until pea-size pieces. Drizzle in water; pulse until dough holds when pinched. Divide in two, flatten into disks, chill 90 minutes.
  2. Peel peaches: score an X on the bottom, dip in boiling water 30 seconds, then ice water. Slip skins. Slice into 1cm wedges.
  3. Toss peaches with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon, almond extract and salt. Let macerate 20 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 200C (400F). Roll one disk to fit a 23cm pie dish. Fill with peaches and their juices.
  5. Roll second disk; cut into 2cm strips for a lattice. Weave the lattice; crimp edges. Brush with egg wash; scatter turbinado sugar.
  6. Bake 25 minutes at 200C. Lower to 175C (350F); bake another 50 to 60 minutes until juices bubble thickly through the lattice. Cool 3 hours before slicing.

Tip from the editors. Resist slicing while warm. Pie needs 3 hours at room temperature for the cornstarch to gel; a hot cut gives you peach soup.

Where to eat palisade peach pie

Palisade peach pie in Denver

Rebel Bread ★ 4.7

$ BakeryNaturally-leavened sourdough and laminated pastries

Rebel Bread in Denver is Zach Martinucci's South Broadway sourdough bakery, milling Colorado wheat and selling at farmers markets across the Front Range.

Worth the queueCountry sourdough loaf

Directions

All Denver signature dishes →

Palisade peach pie in Fort Collins

Buttermilk Bakery and Pie Shop ★ 4.2

$$ BakeryHandmade pies, cakes and tortesSouth Fort CollinsWalk-in only

Buttermilk Bakery and Pie Shop rolls grandmother-recipe pies with local flour and farm eggs in a South College Avenue shopfront in Fort Collins.

Worth the queueFruit pie from the family recipe book

TipSummer hours run Thursday to Monday 09:00-15:00; whole pies for holidays need ordering well ahead.

Directions

Ginger and Baker ★ 4.6

$$ $12-22BakeryCafe brunch in the Feed and Grain buildingRiver District

Ginger and Baker fills the restored Feed and Grain building on Linden Street in Fort Collins with a pie-first bakery, market, cafe and teaching kitchen.

OrderA slice of pie, whatever the season says

TipThe phone number spells PIES for a reason: buy a whole pie from the market counter even if you only came for coffee.

Directions

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