FEATURE RECIPE
Sugar-crusted peach pie with almond cream

Sugar-crusted peach pie with almond cream

A summer fruit pie is a wonderful thing. You’ll need to begin this recipe a day ahead.

Serves 6

Cooking Time Prep time 40 mins, cook 1 hr 10 mins (plus infusing, resting, macerating)



1.5 kg   firm ripe peaches (about 10), cut into thick wedges
300 gm   caster sugar
1 tbsp   lemon juice
20 gm   cornflour
For brushing:   eggwash
For dusting:   white sugar
To serve:   maple syrup (optional)
Almond cream
150 gm   natural almonds
400 ml   milk
80 gm   caster sugar
150 gm   thickened cream
100 gm   crème fraîche
Crème fraîche pastry
525 gm (3½ cups)   plain flour
260 gm   chilled unsalted butter, coarsely chopped
70 gm   caster sugar
150 gm   crème fraîche
Finely grated rind   of ½ lemon
Scraped seeds of   1 vanilla bean, bean reserved for filling
2 tbsp   almond meal


1 For almond cream, preheat oven to 160C. Scatter almonds on an oven tray and roast until light golden (8-10 minutes). Meanwhile, bring milk and sugar to the boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add almonds, remove from heat, cool slightly, then blend in a blender until smooth. Refrigerate for flavours to infuse (4 hours-overnight), then strain through a muslin-lined sieve, pressing on solids to extract liquid (discard solids). Add cream and crème fraîche, whisk until smooth, refrigerate until required.
2 For crème fraîche pastry, process flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add crème fraîche, rind, vanilla seeds 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).
3 Preheat oven to 180C. Roll out 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 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.
4 Meanwhile, combine peaches, sugar, lemon juice and reserved vanilla bean in a bowl and stand to macerate (20 minutes). Strain 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). Meanwhile, add cornflour to peaches and toss to combine. Add ¼ cup peach syrup to peaches (reserve remainder to serve) and toss to coat.
5 Transfer peach mixture to pie dish. Brush edges with eggwash, top with remaining pastry, press gently to seal, then trim edges. Brush with eggwash, scatter generously with sugar and bake until golden (25-35 minutes). Serve warm or at room temperature with chilled almond cream, extra peach syrup and maple syrup.

This recipe is from the January 2012 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.

Drink Suggestion Botrytis-affected semillon.

RECIPE Lisa Featherby & Alice Storey PHOTOGRAPHY Sharyn Cairns STYLING Glen Proebstel DRINK SUGGESTION Max Allen

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