Peach Pie with Lattice Crust

Alright, looking back at my previous posts, it would seem to me that the layout is rather difficult to understand, therefore to try and make things simpler and therefore less time consuming and effortless, I will put the ingredients and recipes first, and thendo the step-by-step of the more confusing parts :) Hope you enjoy this rather delicious and sumptuous dish. I certainly did! The filling is rich and creamy with the soft and beautiful peaches :D

First The Delicious Flaky Crust;

• 2-4 tbsp Ice Water
• 260g Plain Flour
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 tsp Salt
• 113g Cold Unsalted Butter
• 100g Vegetable Shortening
• Egg Wash made using 1 egg yolk mixed with a tbsp of water

In a Bowl, mix together the sugar and salt and half the flour. Cut the cold butter into small pieces so that it can be easily incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, mash the butter into the mixture so that it is flattened and eventually becomes crumbly. Do this by adding just a piece at a time into the mixture until you've used all the butter. Next, do the same with the shortening, by cutting and mashing it into the mixture until it is all incorporated. You'll probably find that no matter how hard you try to crush all the mixture, there will be lumps. Just crush as many of these with your fingers as you can so that the mixture is as smooth as possible. 

Now add the rest of the flour and sprinkle with half the water. Use your hands to create the large doughball and squeeze it against the sides of the bowl so you have all the mixture. The dryer it is the better and its good to see crumbs in the bottom of the bowl. However, if the mixture is not forming the dough then add water, but just a drop a time as over-watering it is not good!

Refrigerate for about 30 mins. Afterwards, take out of the fridge and either place on a non-stick mat or a well floured surface. Cut the mixture in half and put in the fridge. Roll out the remaining piece into an oval shape, then flip over and roll the other way to create a circle. Keep flouring the mixture so it doesn't stick. Then is the tricky bit, after greasing the pie dish, flip it over into the dish. Make up any cracks or rips with other pieces of spare dough, and make it as even as possible. Remove excess from the edge of the dish and refrigerate again, while you make the filling. 

Cut the Butter into pieces about this large so that they can be easily mashed into the mixture










Using your spoon, crush the butter into the mixture. It time consuming, but well worth the effort as it will ensure the perfect flaky crust

The will make the mixture rather crumbly. The colder all the ingredients are, the better the crust quality will be

Roll it into a ball so the dough can be easily refrigerated

Roll the dough out, first into an oval, and then flip it over and do the same to make a circle

After flipping it into the dish, remove the excess on the edges and use it to patch up any problems, ready so that you can put the filling in

Okay, now for the Good bit, the creamy and delicious filling. I have to say that it was very difficult for me to stop tasting this. It is Awesome!!!

Peach Pie Filling;

• 3 tins of Tinned Sliced Peaches either in syrup or in juice
• 270g Sugar
• 5 tbsp Plain Flour
• 1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 3 tbsp Butter

First, drain the peaches well so that there is as little juice as possible left. Then cut the already Sliced peaches again lengthways and then again about 4 times to make small cubes of peaches. Into a large Saucepan put the peaches, sugar, flour and nutmeg and stir together gently. Let it rest for about 25 minutes in which time you should get a slightly peachy syrup. Then using a slotted spoon, move the peaches into another bowl and bring the liquid in the pan to a boil. Very quickly the mixture will thicken dramatically into a sugary glob. This is what you want. Stir in the peaches and cook on a lower temperature for about 2 minutes. 

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla until the butter melts, then let it cool slightly. 

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 7 / 425'F / 220'C and take the cooled crust out of the fridge. Then pour the mixture, (which is Very difficult not just to eat on its own) into the pie crust. Take the remaining piece of pastry and roll out on a well floured surface. Roll out to about 4mm thick so it won't tear or break and place over the pie with 5 strips going one way, and 4 going the other. Then use the egg glaze from earlier to brush over the pie so when it cooks it will go a gorgeous golden brown. Pinch the edges of the strips to the base to seal the pastry. Bake at Gas Mark 7 / 425'F / 220'C for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to Gas Mark 4 / 350'F / 180'C and bake for another 25-35 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling is starting to bubble. Wait for it to cool for 2 hours and Enjoy with Ice Cream or Cream!

Idea; With any leftover pastry, you can make 'cup-pies' with a little of the leftover filling if you like with small lattice crusts in a muffin tin

Drain the Peaches in a cullender and shake a few times to remove excess juice

Chop up the peaches so that they become small cubes of fruity gorgeousness

Put the ingredients into a large saucepan and mix together, as seen below

This will create a creamy sauce that is really really delicious

Using a slotted spoon, put the peaches into another bowl while you boil the liquid

Very Quickly, the sugar with form this peachy glaze which is very thick and very tempting

Add the butter and mix until it's all melted, this will liquify the mixture slightly

Pour the mixture into the pastry dish  and save some for later if you wish to make cup-pies

Use a sharp knife to cut the strips from the other half of the pastry, and use a palette knife to lift them from the surface, arranging the pieces over the pie. Remember that some pieces need to be longer than others

 ENJOY!

Here are some of the Cup-pies I made, they were very crumbly, but very good