Sweets and drinksBaked GoodsEurope and North America25 minutes prep, 20 minutes baking at 190 degrees C, plus chilling the pastry
These hand pies fold fresh peaches into a buttery pastry that bakes up in thin, separate layers. The crust shatters while the peaches release sweet, faintly tart juice. The tricky part is keeping the butter and dough cold throughout, since melted butter gives a heavy crust with no layers.
The dough is worked only until it just holds together, because more kneading builds gluten and toughens the pastry. A common problem is filling the pies once the dough has warmed, which pops the seams and floods the tray with peach juice.
This batch weighs about 1.8kg, at roughly 207 calories per 100g.
Method
Mix 350g all purpose flour with a pinch of salt in one bowl and put 230g unsalted butter cut into small pieces in another. Chill both for 1 hour, then combine and rub them together until crumbly.
In another bowl, whisk 125g sour cream, 20ml lime juice and 125g ice water until combined.
Add half the sour cream mixture to the flour and work it by hand until smooth, then add the rest to any dry patches and work it again. Do not overwork it.
Dust the surface with flour, roll the dough thin and cut it into squares for folding into triangles. Lay them on a parchment lined tray and chill for 30 minutes.
Peel 800g peaches, cut them into chunks and toss with 35g all purpose flour, 45g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, a pinch of salt, 5ml bourbon and 3ml vanilla extract.
Take the pastry out and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. Spoon the peach filling into the center, brush the edges with a little of the 30ml water, fold over and press the rim with a fork to seal.
Chill the pies for another 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
Take the pies out, slash a few diagonal cuts across the top, brush with 1 beaten egg yolk, sprinkle with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and bake for 20 minutes until deep golden.
Tips
Keeping the butter and dough properly cold throughout is the condition for a light, layered crust.
Just ripe peaches work best, as very soft ones release too much juice and wet the base.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so mix the filling 10 minutes ahead and stir again after 5 minutes so the peaches take it up evenly.
Pastry made with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend browns more lightly, so a thorough egg wash gives a deep golden top.
The flour in the filling is what absorbs the peach juice, so it is worth keeping if the base is to stay dry.
A few slashes on top let the steam out, since a sealed pie splits at the seam.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.