Bakery Style Peach Leaf Pie At Home

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  • Course:
  • Cuisine
  • Prep time: minutes
  • Cook time: minutes
  • Total time: minutes

Enjoy Delicious REAL Bread without Worrying about Your Health, Your Blood Sugar... or Your Waistline!

INGREDIENTS:

SERVES 8
  • 1.2kg/2½lb ripe peaches
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 90g/3½oz/½ cup caster (superfine) sugar
  • 45ml/3 tablespoon cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 1.5ml/¼ tsp grated nutmeg
  • 2.5ml/½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 25g/1oz/2 tablespoon butter, diced
FOR THE CRUST
  • 275g/10oz/2½ cups plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 4ml/¾ tsp salt
  • 115g/4oz/½ cup cold butter, cut into pieces
  • 60g/2½oz/generous ⅓ cup cold white vegetable fat (shortening), cut into pieces
  • 60-75ml/5-6 tablespoon iced water
  • 1 egg beaten with 15ml/1 tablespoon water, for glazing





STEPS:

  1. For the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the butter and fat and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
  2. With a fork, stir in just enough water to bind the dough. Gather into two balls, one slightly larger than the other. Wrap in clear film (plastic wrap) and chill for 20 minutes.
  3. Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
  4. Drop a few peaches at a time into boiling water for 20 seconds, then transfer to a bowl of cold water. When cool, peel off the skins.
  5. Slice the peaches and combine with the lemon juice, sugar, cornflour and spices. Set aside.
  6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger dough ball to about 3mm/⅛in thick. Transfer to a 23cm/ 9in pie tin (pan) and trim. Chill.
  7. Roll out the remaining dough 5mm/¼in thick. Cut out leaf shapes 7.5cm/3in long, using a template if needed. Mark veins with a knife. With the scraps, roll a few balls.
  8. Brush the bottom of the pastry case (pie shell) with egg glaze. Add the peaches, piling them higher in the centre. Dot with the butter.
  9. To assemble, start from the outside edge and cover the peaches with a ring of leaves. Place a second ring of leaves above, staggering the positions. Continue with rows of leaves until covered. Place the balls in the centre. Brush with glaze.
  10. Bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and bake for 35-40 minutes more.

COOK'S TIP

Baking the pie on a preheated baking sheet helps to make the bottom crust crisp. The moisture from the filling keeps the bottom crust more humid than the top, but this baking method helps to compensate for the top crust being more exposed to the heat source.