Perfect peach pie

Tam West

Pastry

550 g	High grade flour, 4 cups
2 tsp	Baking powder
100 g	Icing sugar
½ tsp	Salt
1	Lemon, zest only
1	Orange, zest only
250 g	Unsalted butter (Main)
3	Eggs, two for pastry and one whisked for eggwash
¼ cup	Buttermilk, cold (Main)

Filling

10 large	Peaches, peeled and sliced using a sharp paring knife, slicing as you turn the fruit, towards the stone (Main)
1	Apple, use up to 2, cut into even chunks (Main)
⅓ cup	Caster sugar
½	Vanilla beans, seeds scraped out (Main)
1 tsp	Mixed spice, try cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon or a five-spice blend, according to taste
½ tsp	Sea salt
1 small knob	Ginger, finely grated
½	Lemons, juiced
⅓ cup	Cornflour

To serve

1 sprinkle	Icing sugar, to dust
1 bottle	Cream, whipped, we added a little bourbon, icing sugar and lemon zest to ours; otherwise serve with vanilla ice cream

Directions

Pastry

1. Into a large bowl sift flour, baking powder, icing sugar and salt. Add the lemon and orange zests, then rub in butter until sandy in texture. Make a well in the centre.
2. Whisk 2 fresh eggs with the cold buttermilk, add to well and gently form into a loose dough (using your fingers or a butter knife). Divide in two, wrap in plastic wrap (gently squashing them down) and chill for 1 hour (or overnight).

Filling

1. Mix sliced peaches and apple chunks with caster sugar, vanilla bean seeds, mixed spice, sea salt, finely grated ginger and the juice ½ lemon. Set aside.
2. When ready to bake, sift in cornflour and mix together with clean hands so that the juices become a slurry.

Making the pie

1. Preheat oven to 180C. On a well-floured surface, gently roll out 1 pastry round into a circle that's just larger than the pie tin (27cm flan tin with removable base). Roll the pastry around the rolling pin, place into the tin, pressing to fill in any cracks and leaving a small overhang.
2. Blind bake pastry case for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges just start to colour (this helps to ensure a cooked base). Remove and cool, then egg wash all over.
3. Roll out the second pastry, approx. the same size as the first or into a rectangle, and cut into 2-3cm wide strips.
4. Pile the fruit into the base, arrange pastry strips in a lattice across the top (crimp or fold the edges into the base), egg wash liberally and sprinkle with caster or raw sugar, then bake for approx. 60 minutes until golden all over and fruit is tender. Leave a baking tray at the bottom of the oven to catch any run-off. Once cooked, turn off heat and leave pie to cool in oven.

Serving

1. Dust with icing sugar and serve the pie warm with whipped cream (we added a little bourbon, icing sugar and lemon zest to ours), or accompany it with vanilla ice cream.