Our favourite peach pie is simple and minimally sweet to showcase the flavour of summer peaches in the peak of their season. Enjoy with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

Vanilla Peach Pie
~ recipe by Tina Lau

2.5-3 lbs peaches, about 8-10 medium sized peaches
2/3 cups (130 g) brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
6 tbsp (45 g) cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp (14 g) butter, cold and cubed
1 recipe for Sifted Red Spring Pastry Dough 
1 egg white
turbinado or demura sugar for sprinkling

Assemble and bake
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly butter a pie pan.

Remove dough from the fridge. Lightly flour your rolling pin and roll one disc into a circle about 13 inches wide and approximately 1⁄8-1/4" thick. Gently ease the dough into the prepared pie pan, lightly pressing it into the contours of the pan and making sure there is about 1/2 inch over hang all around. If any part tears or comes away, simply press the dough back together. Place in refrigerator and repeat rolling with the second disc, placing the rolled out dough onto a baking sheet and into the refrigerator.  

Slice peaches into 3/4 inch slices and place in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together both sugars, cornstarch and salt. Split vanilla bean in half with a paring knife and scrape out the seeds into the sugar mixture (if using vanilla extract add to the sliced peaches).

To make an egg wash, lightly whip up the egg white with 15ml water with a fork. Using a pastry brush, brush the bottom of the pie dough with egg wash (this helps to protect the dough from becoming soggy during baking).

Lightly toss the peaches with the sugar-cornstarch mixture and mound into the pie pan, arrange as necessary to make the peaches more compact. Leave out any accumulated peach juice. Dot with 1 tbsp of cubed butter. 

If you want a solid pie top, place the second rolled out pie dough directly on top of the peaches. Trim the pastry dough as necessary, aiming for 1 inch over hang altogether. Fold the top layer of dough under the bottom layer, tucking the two layers together. Decorate the edge as you wish - pressing with fork tines, fluting, crimping etc. With a paring knife or kitchen shears, cut steam vents on the top dough. If you want a lattice pie top, here is an easy step by step slideshow. 

Place the whole pie in the refrigerator to chill for at least 45 minutes, the longer the better (We've left it up to 5 hours before).

Preheat oven to 400°F. When ready to bake, generously brush the surface of the pie and the edges with egg wash and liberally sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 60-90 minutes until deep golden brown. Let cool slightly and transfer to a cooling rack, serve warm or at room temperature. 

Tip: Re-roll scraps of leftover pie dough and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cut into desired shapes and bake until golden brown. Alternatively, spread your favourite jam on top, roll up the dough and slice into bite size pieces before baking.