Hey folks,

Summer is upon us and the supermarkets are stocking one of my favourites once again – peaches! If you’re anything like me, sometimes you get a little too ambitious and regularly *carefully* place – you wouldn’t want to bruise them after all – about four too many punnets than you can possibly get through into your trolley…

And you know sometimes you get them home and patiently wait till they’re ripened and then, after all that, they’re not quite perfect – you know what I’m talking about, right? They’re not quite sweet enough, or soft enough, or juicy enough, they’re just a little bit of a let down sometimes, you know?

Well, I have the perfect solution for you. Whether you’ve bought too many, or whether they’re not quite perfect…

Make a peach pie.

Seriously.

These problems will cease to exist.

And you know what, it’s pretty adaptable too – whether it’s apples or berries, use whatever fruit you have lying around.

I’ll be honest. I’m not confident when it comes to pastry, I’ve only tried once before and I failed miserably. But then I tried again and it turned out surprisingly well. If I can do it, you can too. (Do it for the peaches!)

^ Just look at that crust.

We’re talking a spread of sweet and sticky, caramelised, juicy peaches housed in an open-face pie, with perfectly crisp, buttery pastry and a generous sprinkling of demerara sugar.

Hint: best served with a pile of cinnamon chantilly cream.

Ingredients:

Pastry (makes enough pastry for two galettes):

• 550g all-purpose flour, sifted
• 3 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 125ml whole milk
• 340g butter, diced into 1cm cubes, cold

Filling:

• 6 – 8 peaches
• 1.5 tablespoons corn flour
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 1 egg beaten with two tablespoons of water
• 2 tablespoons of demerara sugar

Chantilly cream

• 300ml double cream
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1.  Mix together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Add the butter and rub the mixture together with your finger tips and thumbs until it resembles a breadcrumb like consistency.
3. Add the milk and egg before bringing the mixture together, be careful not to overwork it!
4. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator for one hour to rest.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the filling by finely slicing the peaches, add the caster sugar and cornflour, toss and mix well and let the mixture sit a while.
6. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
7. Once your pastry has been rested, roll into a rustic circle, about 1/4 inch thick.
8. Place on parchment paper and layer on the peaches, overlapping slightly, in a circular pattern before folding over the crust.
9. Brush the egg wash over the crust before topping with demerara sugar.
10. Bake for 45mins (around 20mins through, check on it, and cover with tin foil if sufficiently browned).
11. Whilst baking, prep chantilly cream by whisking all the ingredients together until just whipped.
12. Serve piping hot with a generous dollop of cream.