FEATURES Peach Jello missing ingredient for famous pie
“It’s like taking away pumpkin pie filling in the fall.”
That’s what Lisa Adams, baker for Hays House in Council Grove, Kan., said about the disappearance of peach gelatin from grocery store shelves just as Palisade peaches are at their peak.
The Denver Post first published the Hays House Peach Pie recipe, a favorite of former Food Editor Kristen BrowningBlas, in 2008, and again in 2012. It has been a popular recipe among readers.
“This is terrible news,” said BrowningBlas. “Tragic,” said another fan of the pie. A spokeswoman for the Kraft Foods consumer center in Tampa, Fla., said that while the 3-ounce box of peach Jello has been discontinued, the 6-ounce size is still being manufactured. However, a check of King Soopers, Albertsons and Safeway stores in the Denver metro area turned up nary a box on grocery shelves.
Calls to Safeway/Albertson’s corporate offices were not returned.
We made the pie with orange jello, but it was more tart than sweet, and didn’t have the same peach flavor.
Thankfully, Adams can still get wholesale peach gelatin in large amounts for the Hays House bakery. But if you can’t drive to Council Grove for a piece of pie, Adams offers an alternative:
In a small saucepan, mix 2 packages unflavored gelatin, 1-½ cups sugar and ¼ cup cornstarch. Add ½ cup cold peach juice (not syrup), whisk thoroughly, and let sit for 2 minutes. Add 1- ½ cups boiling water and mix well. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Pour over sliced peaches, then put mixture into baked pie shell. Chill.
Original Hays House Peach Pie
Ingredients 1 cup flour ¼ cup powdered sugar ½ cup butter, melted 1 cup sugar ½ cup dry peach gelatin ¼ cup cornstarch 1 cup liquid (peach juice plus water) 1 or 2 drops almond flavoring, if desired 7 or 8 peaches Directions
Mix dry ingredients. Add butter. Press into 9inch pie plate and up sides, but not onto rim. Bake 15-17 minutes at 350 until toasty brown. In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, gelatin and cornstarch. Add the liquid (peach juice and water). Boil 3-5 minutes. Mix with sliced peaches and put into pie shell. Chill. Top with whipped cream.