{"id":14937,"date":"2014-02-14T21:54:59","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T10:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=14937"},"modified":"2019-04-14T00:01:27","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T14:01:27","slug":"peach-meringue-pie-spcsunday-recipe-carolduncan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/peach-meringue-pie-spcsunday-recipe-carolduncan\/","title":{"rendered":".@CarolDuncan whips-up a storm: Peach Meringue Pie for #SPCsunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Carol Duncan<\/a> @carolduncan<\/a><\/p>\n

14th February 2014<\/p>\n

Living in Newcastle for the last 20 years has softened me up to the fight of the underdogs. My beautiful city (oh yes, it is!) has battled earthquake, the end of the steelworks, and the general malaise and apathy of a few locals who can\u2019t see the forest for the trees.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d spent the better part of a week talking on my radio program about SPC and the battle the company faced to stay alive; MP Sharman Stone had railed against her own party; Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson took my questions about \u2018how trade agreements work\u2019; and William Churchill from vegetable growers industry body AusVeg had explained how some trade agreements meant that it is legal to import some foods into Australia which may contain chemicals that we ban from use here (I know, right?).<\/p>\n

And after the federal government refused financial assistance to SPC, one Novocastrian – the effervescent Linda Drummond<\/a> – thought about the 700 staff at SPC Ardmona and asked if we could perhaps just buy a tin of preserved fruit and share a photo of it on what she dubbed #SPCsunday.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to think that maybe someone would try to help me if my family was ever in such a precarious position, and besides,\u00a0I don\u2019t need an excuse to bake, so Peach Meringue Pie it was!<\/p>\n

If you hate meringue, turn the excess egg whites into an omelette.<\/p>\n

Peach Meringue Pie<\/span><\/p>\n

Crust<\/span><\/p>\n

1\u00bd cups plain flour<\/span><\/p>\n

2 tablespoons icing sugar mixture<\/span><\/p>\n

150g chilled butter, cubed<\/span><\/p>\n

1 egg yolk<\/span><\/p>\n

1-2 tablespoons cold water<\/span><\/p>\n

Throw the flour, butter, sugar into a food processor (seriously) and mix until like bread crumbs, then your egg yolk, and finally your cold water. Mix into a dough, wrap it up in cling wrap and stick in the fridge for half an hour or so. Or overnight. Or whatever.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re ready to make the crust, roll it out on a smear of oil on your board or bench and it will awesome. Pop it into your pie tin, poke lots of holes in the base of your pastry and then bake it at 180C until it looks nice.<\/p>\n

Creme Patissiere<\/span>\u00a0 …\u00a0sounds fancy, is easy, and very handy vanilla goo for all sorts of stuff!<\/em><\/p>\n

3 egg yolks<\/span><\/p>\n

1\/3 cup white sugar<\/span><\/p>\n

3tbsp cornflour<\/span><\/p>\n

2tsp plain flour<\/span><\/p>\n

300ml milk …\u00a0don\u2019t use skim milk – yuk!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bd tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste …\u00a0or scrape the innards out of a vanilla bean if you have one<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mix your sugar and egg yolks together, then mix your plain flour and cornflour into the egg mixture, then your milk and vanilla. Mix until it\u2019s all combined and nice and smooth.<\/p>\n

Pop it into a saucepan on a medium heat and stir it while you bring it briefly to the boil. It will thicken up like magic and there you have it.<\/p>\n

Let it cool. Probably cover it with cling wrap actually touching the surface or it will get a skin like a custard, which I love but some people hate. Strange.<\/p>\n

Meringue<\/span><\/p>\n

4 egg whites<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00bd cup white sugar … I sometimes don\u2019t use all the sugar, ’cause this is a pretty sweet pie.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

You should now have 4 egg whites! Hopefully you separated them from the yolks without getting so much as a tiny drop of yolk in them or they won\u2019t fluff up to become meringue!<\/p>\n

Use a clean, dry bowl!! The tiniest bit of fat and your whites are stuffed.<\/p>\n

Whisk your egg whites until they start to become cute and fluffy, then gradually add your sugar while whipping the hell out of your egg whites (my Aunt used to make me do this by hand).<\/p>\n

Keep whisking and whipping until you get firm peaks that look like you could ski on them.<\/p>\n

Assembly<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Grab your now-cooled pastry base, smear the creme patissiere all over it, then generously cover that in peach slices, and sploodge your meringue mixture all over the top.<\/p>\n

Shove it all in the oven at about 180C until the peaks of the meringue start to look nice and toasty.<\/p>\n

Eat it with vanilla ice cream!<\/p>\n

\n

Peach Meringue Pie! #spcsunday<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/cot31G9aFw<\/a><\/p>\n

— Carol Duncan (@carolduncan) February 9, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n