I got an order for 3 cakes...I have no experience with cakes except for apple pie - which is the best (aren't we all the best apple pie bakers )

But I got asked for Peach, Cherry and Strawberry Rubarb (yuk!)

Would any of you experienced bakers please direct me where to start?? Do you know of any great places to look for recipes?

try recipezaar.com

also-
allrecipes.com although i like recipezaar better.

HTH

Hi! You may also want to try Epicurious.com. I have heard that there are some good recipes there. I just did a query for peach pie, for example, and found 34 recipes.

For cherry pie, start with a couple of cans of cherry pie filling! (seriously, it doesn't come out too pretty when it's made with fresh)

Do you know about blanching the peaches? It's one of the best tricks. Boil a big pan of water. Once it boils, turn off the heat and drop your peaches in. Let them sit about five minutes, then drop them into a bowl of ice water (with ice cubes in, it needs to be really cold). The peach skins will all just slip off.

And here's my pie crust recipe. It's really light and flaky and cheaper than the crisco kind too.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
5 tablespoons ice water

Mix the flour and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the oil. Use two knives or a pastry blender to cut the oil into the flour until it all looks like small crumbs. Add the water, and stir just enough to form a ball. Makes pastry for a 2-crust pie.

Good pies come down to good fresh ingredients and usually less is best as far as number of ingredients. I make about 1 pie per week and I use a tried and true crust and all of my fruit pies are just fresh fruit (or cans of unsweetened, water packed cherries) sugar, flour, salt, maybe a flavoring or lemon, butter. The best pie recipes are usually found in some of the old cookbooks like Betty Crocker.

Mmm pie. I love making those and do them more than cakes actually!

Pie crust-
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup butter flavor shortening
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 egg
ice water
Crumb the flour, butter and shortening to the size of couscous. Make a well in the center and add the egg and vinegar you have beaten together and 3-4 tbsp water. Mix lightly with a fork, adding more water til the dough just comes together in a ball. Chill for a time if too soft to use right away.

For fruit pies, fresh fruit is best. For peach and cherry, pre-cooking the filling a bit will help the finished product. Strawberry-rhubarb is best made fresh as the fruit is more tender.
Peach is great with just some cinnamon and nutmeg in the flour/sugar mix.
Cherry is great with a bit of ginger or cloves.
I also like cinnamon in the Strawberry-rhubarb

Cook pitted (and halved if desired) cherries (about 6 cups) with about 1-1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 2 tbsp lemon juice and any spices you are adding in a saucepan for about 10 minutes, or until the fruit is getting tender and the sauce around it is clear. Pour into a prepared crust, top and bake.

All would be great with struesel topping too.

Have fun! I love pie!

Here's my favorite cherry pie recipe from Rose L. Beranbaum. It is easy and by far the most delicious cherry pie I have ever had. And the fruit stays red and beautiful.

3/4 c + 2 T sugar
2 1/2 T. cornstarch
pinch salt
1 1/2 lb. fresh cherries (could also use whole frozen), pitted
pure almond extract

Stir together sugar, conrnstarch, and salt. Stir in cherries along with any jice and the extract. Allow the mixture to macerate for a minimum of 10 min and a max of 3 hours.

Stir the mix well and trasnfer to a pie shell

Bake at 425 on baking stone or baking sheet 40 - 50 minutes until thickly bubbling all over and center is slightly puffed.

Take a look at BettyCrocker.com and also at Land O Lakes.com (not sure of the exact spelling for the website for Land-o-lakes. I've found some great recipes there that have become family favorites.

www.cooks.com
www.foodnetwork.com

wow! I hadn't gotten back to here or even got any notices that I had responses!

Thanks for the pie recipes and I'll definitely check those sites....now the hard part is to price them. The local farm stand charges $15, is this too much???

I think that with how labor intensive pie crust is (and hard to get right), $15 is very reasonable for a home made pie. Even though I'm a "baker", I'd definitely pay $15 not to have to make homemade pie crust myself!

I have the best strawberry rhubarb pie recipe EVER. PM me your email and I'll share the recipe with you. It's super easy too! I'll dig through my recipe box and see if I can find the peach recipe too...

Ashlee

i love allrecipes dot com because it comes with user reviews which in my opinion are very helpful

I think the price really depends on how much the fruit is. Good fruit pies need lots of fruit, which can get expensive. And, if you're using fresh cherries, you're gonna have to pit them, which takes time. And, your'e going to have to blanch and peel the peaches, which takes time too. HOw much is your time worth? Also, are they deep dish pies or regular depth?