Peach Melba Pie

Red Latham Raspberries

By Cat, Sept 2008 (photo, right, from Gurneys; photo, below, from Wikimedia Commons)

Includes:  1. Peach Melba Pie  (9″, with modifications for 10″ pan)

See also: 1. Peach & Berry Lattice Top Pie; 2. Pie & Tart Crusts, Pastry; 3. Pies, Tarts, Turnovers

This recipe dates back to my early 20s. I’d moved out of the house where I was a live-in cook and housekeeper for a group of young men, and into my very first studio apartment. I’d invited a couple friends for dinner in my tiny dining room and wanted to make a special dessert for them.

I’d recently gotten my copy of Pillsbury’s Dessert Cookbook, so paged through it for ideas. So many wonderful things in the book. There was a photo and recipe for Melba Streusel Pie that looked tempting, but I didn’t know (yet) how to make a pie crust, so I kept looking. I came upon Peach Melba – a peach and raspberry sauce served with ice cream. Sure sounded good and the plan was forming in my mind…

Peaches

I made the Melba Streusel Pie but without the crust – just baked it in a custard dish, topped with the streusel. I wanted a secret ingredient and grabbed the tiny jar of powdered ginger to sprinkle some into the melba mix before baking. And I added a scoop of vanilla ice cream on each baked and cooled serving. It was a huge hit.

That inspired me to learn how to make a pie crust and thus was Peach Melba Pie born. I made it often over the years. All I had to do was call a few friends to let them know a Peach Melba pie was in the offing, and I’d have a house full of hungry people, some driving down from Seattle or up from Eugene to wherever I was living in Portland.

Peach Melba Pie

You can make this in a pie pan, but I use a quiche pan because its more showy. The ginger gives a bit of warmth to the filling; feel free to increase the amount If you want more warmth. If you don’t like ginger, you can eliminate it, or use cinnamon.

For the crust, I like one that can be pressed into the pan (a crumb crust), but you could used a rolled crust with a decorative fluting around the edge.

Ingredients for 9″ pie pan

• Pastry for 9″ pie pan (I use either Pastry Brisée (Spelt) or Yogurt Pie Crust II (Spelt))
• ⅛ tsp stevia plus 2 Tbsp honey/ maple syrup (or ¼ cup Rapadura sugar)
• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp Organic cornstarch or 6 Tbsp tapioca starch
• ⅛ – ¼ tsp powdered ginger
• 1 ¼ cups (10 oz) fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, thaw but do not drain)
• 2 cups sliced fresh or frozen peaches (if frozen, thaw but do not drain)

Streusel Topping

• ¾ cup whole grain flour (wheat, spelt, or oat, singly or a mix)
• ½ cup Rapadura sugar or brown sugar  (or ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 1 Tbsp sugar, stirred to combine before adding to flour)
• ¼ cup (half a cube) butter

Ingredients for 10″ quiche or tart pan

If there is too much filling for the pan, put it in a buttered custard cup and top with some of the streusel and bake with the pie.

• Pastry for 10″ quiche or tart pan (I use either Pastry Brisée (Spelt) or Yogurt Pie Crust II (Spelt))
• ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 1 Tbsp honey/maple syrup (or ⅜ cup Rapadura sugar)
• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp (¼ cup) Organic cornstarch or 8 Tbsp (½ cup) tapioca starch
• ¼ – ½ tsp powdered ginger
• 1 ½ – 1 ¾ cups (10 oz) fresh or frozen raspberries (if frozen, thaw but do not drain)
• 2 ½ – 3 cups sliced fresh or frozen peaches (if frozen, thaw but do not drain)

Streusel Topping

• ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp whole grain flour (wheat, spelt, or oat, singly or a mix)
• ½ cup + 1 Tbsp Rapadura sugar or brown sugar (or ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 2 Tbsp sugar, stirred to combine before adding to flour)
• 5 Tbsp  butter

Equipment

• 9″ or 10″ pan, as desired
• Medium bowl (for mixing pastry)
• Small bowl (for raspberries)
• Medium bowl (for peaches)
• Medium heavy-bottom saucepan

Method

1. Prepare pastry and press into pan. If using the yogurt crust, start it the night before baking.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F (or 350°F if pre baking crust).
3. If desired, pre-bake the crumb crust (not needed for rolled crust): Prick in several places with a fork. Line with a sheet of parchment or waxed paper, fill with dried beans or other weights. Bake 10 minutes. Remove and let cool enough that you can carefully remove the paper and beans. Raise oven to 400°F.
4. Prepare filling: If using fresh fruit, rinse and drain raspberries; transfer to small bowl; Wash then peel and slice peaches, placing them in a separate medium bowl
5. Dissolve stevia (if using) in lemon juice. Thaw frozen fruit (if using).
6. In saucepan, combine sugar (if using), honey or maple syrup (if using), starch and ginger or other spice, stirring well. Add raspberries and any accumulated juices and stir again. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
7. Stir in peaches and any accumulated juices, lemon juice (with stevia, if using).
8. Turn into prepared pastry shell.
9. Prepare topping: Measure flour and sweetener into medium bowl used for pastry, and combine with a whisk or fork. Cut in butter to a nice crumb texture. Sprinkle over pie.
10. Bake in preheated 400 oven for 25 – 35 minutes, until golden brown (the larger pie needs more time than the smaller pie for the crust to cook).
11. Remove from oven and cool before cutting.
12. Serve with scoops of vanilla ice cream.