American Peach Pie Recipe

#Make The Pastry Dough# Sift the flour and salt into a large , bowl using the sieve or alternatively a flour sifter.

Add the shortening and butter and cut them into the flour with the pastry blender.

Pastry blender is ideal utensil for mixing dough ingredients. “Pastry blender is ideal utensil for mixing dough ingredients”

Sprinkle with the water and continue blending until the dough can be gathered up into a ball. If too dry, add more water, a little at a time. Knead lightly until mixed, about 30 seconds.

Shape the dough into a ball, wrap tightly, and chill until firm, about 30 minutes. #Line the Pie Tin# 1 Heat the oven to 200°C (400° F, Gas 6) and heat the baking sheet, lightly flour the work surface and roll out two-thirds of the dough about 5 cm (2 inches) larger than the pie tin. “Rolling pin avoids need to handle pastry.”

Roll the dough around the rolling pin and drape it over the pie tin. “Rolling pin avoids need to handle pastry”

Lift the edge of the dough with one hand and press it well into the bottom of the tin with the other hand.

Using the table knife, trim off any excess dough even with the outer edge of the tin. Chill the pie shell 15 minutes. “Reserve pastry trimmings to help make lattice” #Prepare the Filling; Bake the Pie# Immerse the peaches in boiling water and leave 10 seconds, then transfer to a bowl of cold water with the slotted spoon. Cut the peaches in half using the indentation on one side as a guide, remove the stone, and peel off the skin. Cut the peaches into 1 cm 1/2 inch) slices and put in a large bowl.

Sprinkle the peaches with the flour, sugar, a pinch of salt, and lemon juice to help cut the sweetness, to taste. “Amount of sugar needed varies with ripeness of peaches.”

Carefully stir the peaches until they are coated with the sugar mixture, then transfer them to the lined pie tin with the juices in the bowl.

Press any dough trimmings into the remaining dough and roll it out into a rectangle. Cut out 8 strips 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide; reserve the trimmings.

Lay half of the strips from left to right across the pie about 2 cm (3/i inch) apart Fold back every other strip halfway and place a fifth strip over the unfolded strips across the center of the pie. “Lay strips over filling without stretching them”

Lay back the folded strips and fold back the alternates. Place the next strip about 2 cm (3/4 inch) from the fifth. Continue until the pie is latticed. Turn the pie and repeat with the other half of the pie. “Arranging strips in this way gives lattice interwoven effect”

To make the glaze, in a small bowl, use the fork to beat the egg lightly with the salt Trim the pastry strips even with the edge of the pie shell; reserve the trimmings. Moisten the ends of the strips with glaze and pinch with your fingers to seal them to the edge. Brush the lattice with glaze.

Re-roll the pastry trimmings and cut out leaves. Lay the pastry leaves around the edge of the pie to cover the lattice ends. “Overlap leaves slightly so they look natural.”

Brush the leaves with glaze. Bake the pie in the oven on the heated baking sheet until the pastry is golden brown and the peaches are soft and bubbling, 40-45 minutes. Transfer the pie to the rack to cool slightly. #TO SERVE# Serve individual pie portions warm or at room temperature. “Golden peaches peep through glazed lattice”