Tuesday 20 June 2017

Peach and Shortcrust Pie


Peach and Shortcrust Pie
 
Peaches are delicious in season. This is a pie that can be made ahead of time. Although fresh is best, using a good quality peach tin or can is perfect if you are short on time. The sherry custard cream is divine.



Serves 6 to 8 people

Pastry
1 1/4 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 oz salted butter
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cold water

In a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, and salt. Using the pulse button, make small crumbles, similar to coarse meal. 
Add to this the egg yolk and water, and once again use the pulse button, until the dough comes together in one clump. 
Remove it from the bowl and bring it together on a piece of cling film, shaping it like a disc. Leave it to rest in a cool place. 
Roll it out as a disc and place it in a 9-inch deep pie dish. Use the remaining dough for decoration. 
Chill for an hour. 
In a preheated oven at 200 C |400 F bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Bake the decoration pieces separately on a tray. 

Custard for the filling

2 cups cream
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp sherry

In a pan, mix the sugar, flour, salt, and cream. Whisk to cook over a low flame. Bring it to a boil for a minute or two. 
In another bowl, mix 2 egg yolks, vanilla and sherry. Mix it well. Now add 1 tbsp of the hot mixture to the egg and beat it well. This will temper the eggs so they don't curdle. Now, through a sieve, push the egg mix into the cream mix and keep mixing. Bring it back to the stove for a minute to allow the eggs to cook through. Keep stirring to keep it smooth. Put a piece of cling film over the custard so it does not form a skin over it. 

To assemble: once the pastry has been cooled and the custard has been cooked and cooled, fill the pie with the pastry cream. Refrigerate. 
Prepare 3 blanched, peeled, and sliced peaches or drain a can or tin of cling-sliced peaches and decorate with the slices. 

If using fresh peaches or nectarines, blanching the peaches makes them easy to peel and slice. Immediately squeeze fresh lemon juice to prevent the fresh peaches from browning. 
While perfectly ripe peaches or nectarines are best, check for firm fruit for best results. 
The white peaches and nectarines tend to be sweeter than the yellow ones.

My published cookbooks are available for sale through myself and on amazon.

The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders is a 3 award winning book. It has been self published in July 2019 and will be going into its second print in 2022. 

The Art of Parsi Cooking; reviving an ancient cuisine was published in 2016 by Austin Macauley and continues to be available through amazon book depot book depository and from the publishers.

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