I made this for each Thanksgiving and/or Christmas in Australia, as peaches were in season. I also made this for a friend and head chef of a fancy pants restaurant, and he loved it and asked for the recipe.
I love peaches and I love me my pie, so you can imagine this is one of my favorite types of fruit pie. This is from a cookbook I don’t like that much, save their dessert section (Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Limited Edition).
Use your own favorite crust recipe, enough for a top and bottom crust.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 to 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp quick cooking tapioca (if you can’t find this, you can use flour to thicken the filling)
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 6 cups thinly sliced, peeled peaches or frozen unsweetened peach slices
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I like dark brown)
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup chopped pecans
Preheat your oven to 375F.
In a large bowl stir together granulated sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add peaches. Gently toss until coated. Let mixture stand for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you’re using frozen peaches, let stand for 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare and roll out your crust pastry. Line a 9-inch pie plate with half of the pastry. If you wish, prebake the bottom crust for approximately 10-15 minutes.
Stir the peach mixture and make sure it’s not too runny. If it is, add flour and stir some more, being careful to not break the peaches. Transfer over the filling mixture into the pie dish. Trim the bottom pastry to the edge of the pie plate. Cut slits in the remaining pastry and place on top and seal. Crimp edge as desired.
Place the pie plate on a baking sheet. To prevent overbrowning, cover the edge of the pie plate with foil. Bake for 25 minutes (50 minutes for frozen fruit). Remove foil, and bake an additional 25-30 minutes or more until pastry is golden and filling is bubbly.
Meanwhile, for the pecan topping, in a small saucepan combine brown sugar, butter, water, and cornstarch. Cook and stir over medium heat until bubbly. Stir in pecans. Once the pie is done, spread warm pecan mixture over the hot crust. Return the pie to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more. Cool pie on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
***NOTE: I always close to double the pecan topping amount. I tried it once with the amount suggested here, but it doesn’t give as much of a decadent, candied taste.
feasties 