Fried Fruit Pies

[jsmeeker]

Yesterday, I had a really nice peach dessert. Part of it was a peach upside down cake. The other part was mini fried peach pies (my server also referred them to empenadas). Here is a pic of the dessert. You can see them in the upper right hand corner. I would guess that a lot of people that grew up in the South have had fried fruit pies. Some sort of dough, fruit filling, deep fried, then coated with a sweet glaze that sets up a bit to be "crunchy"

So, help me re-create these at home.

What kind of dough should I use? For the fruit filling, should I prepare the fruit in anyway before filling, or would nice ripe sweet peaches be OK on their own without any additional work? How about the glaze? Is it as simple as some powdered sugar, water, and maybe some lemon juice?

[chefpeon]

For fried pies, I have always used my regular pie dough, fruit filling that is pre-cooked (pre-thickened), and built them like turnovers/empanadas and glazed with powdered sugar, water, and lemon juice.

You do want to pre cook the filling because the pies don't stay in the fryer long enough to cook raw fruit. Also, SEAL the pastry well, or you'll have leakage, and you don't want that!!! No vent holes either (duh).

[HungryC]

My fave fried pie dough is a biscuitty short crust made from self-rising flour, shortening, and an egg. It can be sticky to handle, but if you keep it chilled, it's not impossible to work. 2 cups self-rising (White Lily), 1/4 cup shortening, 1 egg, 1/2 cup milk, 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar if you'd like; cut in shortening, beat egg & milk together, then stir into flour mixture. Stir until all of the flour is hydrated, then scrape from bowl & divide into two parts & chill in fridge 1 hour before rolling. This basic dough can be used for savory pies, too. The dough can't be rolled as thin as regular pie crust, but the thicker, breadier texture stands up well to deep frying.

Fillings must be cooked first (raw fresh fruit has too much water in it to cook during the relatively short frying time). A little rum or bourbon is a nice addition to fruit pie fillings.

Also try adding a little heavy cream to powdered sugar for a good drizzle/icing.

[jsmeeker]

I had intended to make some on Sunday, but I realized I was almost out of flour. I didn't want to make a special trip to the store in the morning just to buy flour, as I was going to go out in mid-afternoon. So figured I would pick some up then.

So, last night I made a basic pie crust dough (flour, sugar, salt, Crisco, butter, ice water). Made the filling, too. Diced some fresh peaches. Sprinkled with some sugar. Let them sit a bit to get juicy. Added a small pinch of cinnamon. Into a small sauce pan. Added heat to get them cooking. Then, added a small amount of a corn starch slurry. Got it up to a boil qucikly. Since the peaches were diced, it didn't take long to cook. Really, I am not totally sure of I over did it with this cooking. But they are cooked.

Tonight, I'll roll out the dough and cut some small rounds using a biscuit cutter. Plop down some of the peach filling, fold it over, and crimp. Drop into hot oil (I am thinking 350) and cook till GBD. I guess it won't take too long. Remove from oil, place on rack. I'll glaze with a mixture of powdered sugar, water and a touch of lemon juice.

This should work out, I think. It will be interesting to see what size they come to using the biscuit cutter I have. I also want to experiement with how far I can prepare these in advance. Can I cut dough, fill and seal, then keep them in the fridge for a day? Could I make them up that way, then freeze them? I'm thinking I could do the freeze for sure. Just like I pre-form drop cookies and then freeze them. Would the refrigerate method work OK? Or would it maybe be better to simple cut the dough into little rounds and somehow strore them like that, then assemble immediately prior to frying?

[ruthcooks]

The fried pies I've had in the South have been made from dried fruit: peaches, apples or apricots. I've loved them, but have always been puzzled by the crust. It seems very thin, although thick where it has been rolled or pinched together. Nothing like a flaky crust, more crunchy and similar to good pasties dough.

[Chris Amirault]

I have a big haul of apples and a father who loves McDonald's hot apple pies, so I'm bumping this up in hopes of having them for a meal shortly.

Does anyone have a dough that uses leaf lard that works here? Or is that just a dumb idea? I'm trying to get a sense of how sturdy it has to be to survive the frying and then to be a viable container for the molten insides.

[pringle007]

These are HUGE in the Amish community where I live. Every store carries them, every eatery serves them, and the Amish crank them out in about 15 different varieties - including Paw Paw!

[prasantrin]

I don't have a recipe for fried fruit pie crust, but judging from McD's (they still fry their apple pies in Japan), it needs to be a fairly sturdy crust. I don't know if that means no leaf lard or not, though.