When I think Of the 4th of July, I think of the sweet fragrant smell of an Apricot Pie.
Los Altos, the little town I grew up in at the northern end of the famed Silicon Valley, was a fantastic place to have a childhood in the 60s and 70s. Back then it was a sleepy little hamlet with the idyllic charm of the classic US town. The whole city would show up for homecoming football games or to watch as all the children paraded their pets in the town’s pet parade. There was a local fruit stand that everyone shopped at for the bounty of the Santa Clara Valley, which until the Tech Boom had been known as the fruit basket of the world. By the time I was born, the vast orchards of plums, peaches, cherries, and most importantly for me, apricots, had begun to disappear. Even the memory of that Fruit basket of the world was mostly gone by the time I had moved on to college in Montana. At its height, there were almost 100,00 acres of fruit orchards blanketing most of what now is covered by Netflix, Lockheed, Google, and of course, Apple. If you look closely, there are still signs of that beautiful idyllic past, but you have to look past all the money and the power that laid siege and conquered my beautiful valley.
My Hometown was founded to be a town to serve the new Southern Pacific Railway rail line from Los Gatos in the south to what is now Palo Alto. 140 acres of orchards and rolling hills were purchased from Sara Winchester, the famed widow of the inventor of the Winchester rifles, whose house is still one of the best things to see in San Jose. My part of town used to be a vast apricot orchard. The original farmhouse still stood, in fact, one of my childhood friends lived in it one block away from my house. Luckily, someone had the foresight to keep most of the fruit trees in Los Altos. My house had 10 apricot trees surrounding it.
Apricots in The Santa Clara Valley always seemed to ripen right around the 4th of July. My memories of the 4th always seemed to involve picking, cutting and putting onto huge wooden trays hundreds of apricots. After treating them in a sulfur box my Dad had built, the trays would live on our roof for a week or so to dry. The roof was a safe place away from squirrels…lol. As a young budding baker, I would also squirrel (yes pun intended) away enough for a pie. It’s funny I can’t stand fresh apricots these many years later. I think it was all those trays or apricot halves, finding worms and rotten ones, and that my 3 brothers and I would throw the rotten ones at each other.
Apricot Pie is definitely still one of my favorite pies to make. This pie is especially awesome when topped with a massive scoop of ice cream. Apricots are easy to use since they split easily with a knife and the stone pit comes out without any trouble. You don’t even have to peel them. I made my own pie crust here, and I will post that recipe in a separate post at a later date. But you can use your favorite crust recipe or even use a store-bought one if you’re desperate. Let me know your childhood memories of pie in the comments below and have a spectacular 4th!
Every bite of this pie is a mouthfull of summer. Sweet and tart aoricots are the perfect fruit for making an amazing pie.
- 1 recipe for a 2 crust 9-inch pie crust
- 2 1/2 lbs fresh ripe apricots pitted and sliced into 1/2" thick slices about 4 cups
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon sugar
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Preheat the oven to 425°.
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Roll out one half of the pastry for the bottom crust.
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Line a 9” pie pan with the rolled out bottom crust.
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Place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the filling.
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Combine the apricots, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl and spread into the prepared pie crust.
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Roll out the second half of the pie dough and cut into strips 10 inches long, make a lattice pattern over the prepared filling, weaving as you go. Trim the edges to slightly larger than the pie pan.
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Or if you desire just roll out a round of pastry slightly larger than your pie pan cover the filling, and cut vent holes into the top.
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Crimp the edges of the topped pie to seal.
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Sprinkle the 1 tablespoon of sugar over the finished pie.
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Bake for 30 minutes and then turn down the oven to 350° for an additional 40 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling through the vents or through the lattice holes towards the center and the crust is golden brown.
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Let rest for at least an hour before serving.
Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired. Or as my English friend suggested, some clotted cream would be an excellent choice.
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