Alison's Butterscotch Peach Pie
Delight your family or friends with this delicious pie which is packed with slices of fragrant, ripe peaches set in a rich butterscotch filling. We make our own quick pastry, but you can use a sheet of bought pastry instead if you'd rather.
Ingredients Filling
- ½ cup firmly packed DARK brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp plain flour
- 1 Tbsp cornflour or custard powder
- 2 Tbsp orange juice
- 25g butter
- 2 large eggs
- 6 - 8 ripe, medium to large peaches
Ingredients Crust
- 1 cup plain or bread flour
- 50 - 75 g cold butter
- about ¼ cup orange juice or water
Method
Heat the oven to 190°C, with the rack at or just below the middle. Measure the first three filling ingredients into a fairly large microwavable bowl and mix well. Stir in the orange juice then microwave the mixture at full power for 1 ½ - 2 minutes, until it boils. Take out, stir in the butter and leave to cool while you prepare the pastry.
For the pastry crust, measure the (unsifted) flour into a food processor bowl, add the larger or smaller amount of cold butter, cut in 1cm cubes. (The larger amount makes richer pastry.) Using the pulse button, chop the butter through the flour until it looks like rolled oats. Add the orange juice or water in a thin stream while still pulsing, stopping when the mixture is justdamp enough to press together into a ball. Form into a hamburger shape, dip each side in flour, then chill while you finish the filling.
Beat the eggs into the cool butterscotch mixture, then slice the peeled peaches into it, stirring to coat them well. (An all-purpose knife with a 10cm sharp serrated blade peels and slices the peaches most easily.)
Roll the pastry into a 30cm circle and use to line a 23cm pie plate. (For greatest ease, roll it between a re-usable Teflon non-stick large rectangular liner and a Teflon 30cm circular liner. Peel away the rectangular liner, turn pastry and round liner over so the Teflon is uppermost, then position the pastry exactly in place in a 23cm pie-plate, before lifting away the circle of Teflon. The Teflon sheets stop any sticking and mean you can easily roll the pastry into a perfect circle.) Trim, fold down and decorate the edge of the pastry crust if you like.
Tip peach and butterscotch mixture into the lined pie plate. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the filling has set in the middle. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar, with vanilla icecream or lightly whipped cream.
