Peach Pie

February 2, 2012

I have never made, or even eaten, peach pie before.

And as I type this, my first attempt at peach pie is baking away in the oven.

I want it to hurry up because I’m excited to see how its going to turn out.

But apparently I have to wait something like four hours before I can even cut it, because otherwise the juices will all leak out. Which is annoying, because I would really like to eat it warm.

It doesn’t really make a difference when I eat it because I currently have tonsillitis and can’t really taste anything anyway, but STILL. I want warm peach pie.

I have never even cooked with peaches before, but have seen lots of peach pies, crumbles and cobblers all over the blogosphere. I hear it is an American classic, and as peaches are now in season here, I thought I’d give the pie a go.

And I’m so glad I did, because it baked up beautifully! The filling tastes like those peaches you buy in syrup, and the pastry was light and crumbly, buttery and delicious.

PEACH PIE
Filling adapted from Kitchen Trial and Error.

For the pastry
1 2/3 cups plain flour
2/3 cup icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 egg yolks
1-2 tbsp cold water

For the filling
1.75kg ripe yellow peaches (about 8-9 large peaches)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed (30g, 1 oz)

To make the pastry, combine the flour, icing sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingertips, crumble in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolks and bring the mixture together, kneading lightly, to form a dough. If it is still a little dry you can add 1-2 teaspoons of cold water to help it come together.

Take a third of the dough, and form it into a thick log. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. Form the remaining two-thirds of the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Meanwhile, to make the filling, peel and slice the peaches. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Set aside.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180 C and grease a skillet or pie dish.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the disc of dough until it is large enough to line your skillet or pie dish.

Roll the pastry up on the rolling pin, then unroll into the skillet. Press the pastry gently into the edges, trim the excess and crimp the edges with your thumb and forefinger.

Fill the pastry shell with your peaches, but don’t add the juice. Dot the butter around the peaches.