This nectarine, blueberry and bourbon pie from Di Bibby’s beautiful new cookbook is all it’s cracked up to be. Nectarines are in full season so this is a showstopper dessert you will want to be making right now – in the Southern Hemisphere of course. If you are reading this in the Northern Hemisphere you will want to bookmark this recipe for summer. The slightly boozy fruit bubbles away under a cloak of the crispest pastry and got me wondering why fruit pies aren’t as big a thing as they are in America. This one is a keeper.
I have watched in awe as Di’s blog ‘Bibby’s Kitchen at 36’ has grown into the magnificent work of art it is today. Her styling and photography are exquisite and her recipes are approachable, varied, and packed with flavour. Her new cookbook reflects the absolute best of what she does and is a collection of recipes that cover the spectrum.
Peppered with her passion for Middle Eastern flavours, you will find recipes for easy bread, breakfasts, salads, soups, slow-cooked meals, and simple suppers. There are loads of plant-based recipes that celebrate grains and a delicious collection of deserts and cakes as she is after all the queen of Cake Friday.
Bibby’s Kitchen – The Essence of Good Food is one of the most beautiful cookbooks I have seen in a while and looking at her imagery is like taking your heart and soul on holiday. I can’t wait to really cook from this book and her pulled beef and pork ragu with fennel and pancetta is high up on my list. Stuffed into large pasta shells and smothered in béchamel and Parmesan I will save this one for winter.
Bibby’s Kitchen is available at all good bookshops in South Africa, but I know she ships internationally.
Tips for making this nectarine, blueberry, and bourbon pie:
I followed Di’s recipe for this nectarine, blueberry pie to the T but found the fruit quantity far too much for my 22cm pie dish as she recommended so I used my fairly deep 28cm Pyrex pie dish which was perfect.
For the jam, use something special. Di used her summer berry jam from her book, and I used a berry and lavender preserve from Dalewood Fromage which was perfect. Depending on your oven, you will probably need to loosely cover the pie to prevent over-browning. I did it halfway but should have covered it a little sooner as the edges got a little scorched. Just keep checking the oven to gauge.
As for the lattice, I like a thick plain lattice topping but you can really go to town here and plait the pastry and do pretty cut-outs as Di did. If you look on Pinterest you can get a plethora of ideas on how to do this.
This is the best fruit pie I have ever made and this pastry is absolutely perfect. It’s silky smooth, does not break, and turns out golden and crunchy.
How to make a nectarine, blueberry, and bourbon pie?
See the step-by-step pics below showing you how to make this nectarine, blueberry, and bourbon pie.
A few other stone fruit desserts you will love
The perfect easy apricot torte
Easy plum tarte tatin
Easy apricots poached in chamomile tea
The best cherry galette with a flaky crust
Easy plum frangipane galette
The recipe makes one large pie that will serve 8 – 10 people
Nectarine, blueberry & bourbon pie
The best nectarine, blueberry & bourbon pie recipe with perfect pastry.
Print Recipe
Prep Time:20 minutes mins
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 450 gm cake flour
- 45 ml 3 Tbsp icing sugar
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 300 gm cold salted butter cut into cubes
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 45-60 ml ice-cold water
Filling:
- 1.2 kg nectarines whole weight – about 8 – 12 depending on size – washed and cut into 1 cm slices
- 250 ml /1 cup fresh blueberries I’m sure frozen and thawed would be fine too
- 60 ml / ¼ cup cake flour
- 120 gm demerara sugar
- 80 ml / 1/3 cup excellent quality berry jam
- 2 Tbsp / 30ml lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp / 30ml Bourbon optional
- Egg wash 1 egg whisked with 15ml water or use the leftover egg white from the egg yolk used in this recipe
- 1 Tbps demerara sugar for finishing.
Instructions
To make the pastry sift the dry ingredients and add to the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and mix until you have the texture of breadcrumbs.
Add the egg yolk, lemon juice, and water (in parts) until the dough comes together. Add a splash more water if necessary.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and briefly knead to get it together. Wrap in cling film and chill for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F
For the filling place the fruit into a bowl and toss gently in the flour. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until everything is evenly coated. Set aside.
Cut a third of the pastry off and wrap it in cling film to prevent drying. Roll the remaining pastry out on a well-floured surface to a size that would easily cover your pie dish. Drape it over the pie dish to fill and trip off any overhang. Allow some pastry on the edge for crimping.
Fill with pie with the fruit and juices.
Add the trimmed pastry to the remaining pastry and roll this out onto a floured surface once again. Cut the pastry into strips using a ruler to ensure each strip is the same width. I cut mine into 2.5cm strips and the pastry was fairly thick. Place the pastry over the fruit in your desired lattice and then crimp the edges. Brush the pastry with egg wash and sprinkle over the demerara sugar.
Bake on the lowest shelf in your oven for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 180C and bake for a further 60 – 65 minutes. Watch and loosely cover the pie with tin foil to prevent over-browning. Turn the oven off and leave the pie in for a further 10 minutes and allow to cool for about 30 minutes before serving.
I loved it with vanilla bean ice cream.
Servings: 6 - 8
