peach pie

Having watched the movie 'Labor Day' recently, and because of the beautiful peaches in the shops in summer here I was inspired to make a peach pie.  This is an adapted recipe from Gourmet Traveler magazine - don't put too much sugar in with the peaches as their tartness works really well with the sweet sugar-crusted pastry.

Ingredients

Filling :

10              firm ripe peaches, cut into thick wedges

300 gm      caster sugar

1 tbsp        lemon juice

For brushing:   eggwash

For dusting:     white sugar

To serve:          thick cream

           maple syrup (optional)

   

Crème fraîche pastry :

525 gm (3½ cups)    plain flour

260 gm                     chilled unsalted butter, coarsely chopped

 70 gm                      caster sugar

150 gm                     crème fraîche (or sour cream)

Finely grated rind     of ½ lemon

2 tbsp                        almond meal

Method :

 Process the flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add crème fraîche, lemon rind, and 1 tbsp chilled water and pulse until dough comes together. Form one-third of pastry into a disc, form remaining pastry into another disc, wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled (30 minutes).

 Preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the larger piece of pastry to a 32cm-diameter round, then line a pie tin with a 22cm-diameter base and a 28cm-diameter top. Roll out the remaining pastry to a 29cm-diameter round, cut a small hole in centre and transfer to a tray. Refrigerate both pieces of pastry to rest (30 minutes). Blind bake base until golden around the edges (10-15 minutes), remove paper and weights and continue to bake, gently pressing pastry occasionally with a clean cloth to prevent rising, until light golden (5-10 minutes), then scatter with almond meal.

 Meanwhile, combine the peaches, sugar, lemon juice and reserved vanilla bean in a bowl and stand to macerate (20 minutes). Strain the juice from peaches into a small saucepan, bring to the boil over medium-high heat and cook until reduced to a thick syrup (5-10 minutes). 

 Transfer the peach mixture to the pie dish. Brush the edges with eggwash, top with the remaining pastry, press gently to seal, then trim the edges. Brush with eggwash, scatter generously with sugar and bake until golden (25-35 minutes). 

Serve warm or at room temperature with thick cream, the peach syrup and maple syrup.