For the Flaky Pastry
325 grams plain flour
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
225 grams unsalted butter, very cold
- Mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Chop up the very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces. Get out your Pastry Cutter.
2. Put the butter cubes into the flour mix and begin working them in with the pastry blender. When all of the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas — this won’t take long — stop, that’s it.
3. Drizzle about (100 ml) of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Using a spatula, mix the dough together. You might need an additional more cold water to bring it together, but add it a tablespoon at a time. Then use your hands form a mound of dough, knead it gently together.
4. Divide the dough in half, and place each half in a large piece of cling film wrap. Let the dough chill in the fridge for an hour, but preferably two, before rolling it out.
Ingredients for Streusel
50gr icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons plain flour
60gr unsalted butter
For the Filling
1 1/2 lbs or 680gr ripe (4 to 5 medium) peaches, de-stoned and quartered
2 to 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
5 tablespoons crème fraîche
Prepare pie dough
- Roll out pie dough to fit into a regular pie tin, 10 inches – 25cm in diameter. Pierce bottom of dough all over with a fork. Transfer to freezer for 30 minutes or the Fridge if you have time. Preheat oven to 200c/180Fan/Gas 6/400°F right before you take it out.
Make streusel
2. Stir icing sugar, baking powder, salt and three tablespoons flour together in a small bowl. Add bits of cold butter, and either using a fork, pastry blender or your fingertips, work them into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse porridge. Add additional flour if needed. Set aside.
Par-bake crust
3. Tightly press a piece of aluminium foil against the frozen pie crust. Fill the shell with pie weights or dried beans/rice. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove carefully remove the foil and any weights you have used, press any bubbled-up spots in with the back of a spoon, and return the crust to the oven for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until it is lightly golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 190c/170fan/Gas 3/375°F.
Make the filling
4. Sprinkle quartered peaches with sugar (two tablespoons will make a just-barely-sweeteened pie; add the other two for a still not overly-sweet but sweeter pie) and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Spread two tablespoons of crème fraîche in the bottom of the par-baked pie shell, sprinkle with one-third of the streusel and fan the peach quarters on top. Dot the remaining three tablespoons of crème fraîche on the peaches and sprinkle with remaining streusel.
5. Bake the pie until the crème fraîche is bubbling and the streusel is golden brown, about 50 minutes. Cover the edge of the crust with a strip of foil if it browns too quickly. Let cool on a wire rack at least 15 minutes before serving.
