September 2016 Recipe of the Month

This months’ recipe comes from Shirley M.-K. It features seasonal fruit.
We all really enjoyed this rich, delicious pie at our August meeting.

Peach Almond Rustic Pie

 This recipe is from the kitchen of Shirley Mah Kooyman. It is adapted from the recipe in “Kitchen Window’s July 2016 newsletter”. To make the crust flaky, do not handle the dough too much or the butter and cream cheese will melt from the heat of your hands. It is the coating of the flour with the fats that makes the crust flaky. This rustic pie is very elegant in appearance and tastes delicious. It is well worth the extra fussy dough. The estimated cost to make this pie is $13 – $15. It makes one shallow 15” pie. Cut the pie into 32 wedge pieces for easy serving.

Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, chilled
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, chilled

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1. In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Use a whisk for good distribution of the 3 ingredients. Set aside.
2. Cut the cream cheese into ½” cubes and put in a bowl. Coat the pieces with the flour mixture from step #1 to prevent the pieces from sticking together. Repeat this step with the butter. Chill both cubes for 15 – 30 minutes.
3. Combine the chilled cubes of cream cheese and butter with the flour mixture. Cut the cream cheese, butter, and flour with a pastry blender until the mixture is small pea-sized coarse lumps.
4. With your hands, lightly form the dough into a ball. Flatten the ball into a circle about ½” thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Fruit filling

4 large ripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and cut into thin slices (makes 6 cups sliced)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
6 oz. almond paste, cut into ¼” cubes (Solo brand can be purchased from Cub in a box or in a can from Lunds & Byerly’s. The packages come in 8 oz. sizes. Save the extra 2 oz. for another use).

Topping on crust

1 egg separated, use the egg white and save the yolk for an omelet.
Beat egg white with 2 teaspoons water. Set aside.

Putting it together

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit for 10 minutes until the circle is slightly soft for easy rolling. Line a 12” pizza pan with parchment paper. On a floured surface roll dough to a 16” circle. Place the rolled dough in the pan with extra dough hanging over the edge before filling. Set aside.
3. Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl. Sprinkle cornstarch and brown sugar over the peaches and mix lightly to coat the peaches. Spread the mixture evenly over the prepared crust. Distribute the almond paste cubes over the peaches. Fold the dough around the edge over the peaches.
4. Brush the top of the dough with the egg white (beaten with 2 teaspoons water) mixture. Sprinkle sugar on top.
5. Bake for 45 minutes. About ½ way through the baking time, check for browning of the crust. Loosely set a sheet of aluminum foil over the pie to keep the crust edges from getting burnt.
6. Remove from oven. Let cool before cutting the pie into 32 slices with a pizza cutter.
Delicious with ice cream or whipped cream.