Peach Glace Pie

This peach pie skips the oven for the filling entirely. A pre-baked pie shell gets a thin layer of softened cream cheese spread across the bottom, then piled high with fresh sliced peaches and topped with a glossy, jewel-like glaze.

The glaze is what sets this apart from a standard fresh fruit pie. One cup of mashed peaches gets cooked with sugar, cornstarch, and water until thick and shiny. That cooked mixture gets poured over the raw peach slices and holds everything together as it chills. Three hours in the fridge and you have a pie that slices clean with a wobbly, set filling.

That cream cheese base isn’t just flavor. It creates a moisture barrier between the crust and the juicy fruit, keeping your shell crisp instead of soggy.

Chef Tips

• Use ripe but firm peaches for the slices. Overripe peaches turn mushy under the glaze and won’t hold their shape when you cut a slice.
• Cool the glaze to room temperature before pouring over the fresh peaches. Hot glaze will soften them too much.
• Treat peach slices with fruit protector right after cutting to prevent browning. The glaze is transparent, so any discoloration shows.
• Soften the cream cheese fully so it spreads in a thin, even layer without tearing the crust.

Variations

• Skip the food coloring. Ripe peach glaze has a beautiful amber color on its own.
• Add a teaspoon of almond extract to the glaze for a classic peach-almond pairing.
• Try this same technique with fresh strawberries or nectarines when peaches aren’t in season.