TWD- Rise And Shine

It's hot here people. Real hot. Not that I'm complaining mind you, I love summer and am so glad it's finally reached the So Cal beaches, but the high temperatures does make it tough to turn on the oven. Lucky for me I'm an early riser and an early morning baker so this weeks Tuesdays With Dorie, Brioche Plum Tarts fit very nicely into that time frame.
I had prepped the broiche dough the night before. I used to be intimidated by brioche until we made it in class and Dorie's recipe was a breeze- why oh why did I wait so long to use the dough hook on my KA? I halved the recipe and after the 2 hour "smackdown" phase (any aggressions to get out? make brioche!) pressed each half of the dough into 4 inch tart pans, covered them with plastic wrap and left them in the fridge overnight. Saturday morning was another scorcher but I was up 630am letting the tarts rest on the counter for 30 minutes while I chopped up slivered almonds and gorgeous pluots from the farmers market. A generous slathering of pluot jam, fanning out a pluot half on each tart, a sprinkling with almond/sugar mixture and into the oven they went- all without breaking a sweat. Even in the heat of summer, these Pluot Tartlets are worth waking up for.
Rise and shine.

Peach Melba Sorta

Saturday mornings have always been my favorite part of the week. When I was a kid, I would bound out of bed, fix myself a bowl of Lucky Charms and watch cartoons while planning out the rest of my weekend. Things haven't changed much- I don't so much bound as roll, I prefer coffee to cereal, and The Smurfs have been replaced by the Food Network. My Saturday mornings usually start with a cup of coffee and a little Food Network. With the weekend stretching out in front of me, I love to spend my first few waking hours mulling over which recipes I plan to try over the next 2 days.

One of my staples is Nigella Feasts. Nigella Lawson was my first culinary icon; "Nigella Bites" the first cooking show I'd ever watched. This morning "Nigella Feasts" was an all dessert episode and her peach melba had me drooling into my coffee mug.Poaching the peaches took less than ten minutes.

Impatiently, I removed their skins immediately after taking them out of their sugar/vanilla bath, burning my fingers in the process. So impatient in fact, I decided to forgo the raspberry sauce and leave these beauties naked in the bowl with vanilla ice cream. It was still fantastic! Check out the recipe here.

I Coulda Been A Contender

Bakers are everywhere, popping out where you least expect them. Exhibit A, the Boston Legal 1st, 2nd and 3rd Bake-Off!

The last 3 Mondays have brought all the closet pastry chefs at my work to the forefront as they compete each week for glory, bragging rights, and dibs on leftovers. Not only did I have to compete, I needed to win! On Saturday I made these 2 little beauties- an apricot and a plum mini galette.

They were a lovely end to a Saturday night bbq but for the competition I wanted something more so I set out to recreate the Napoleon Cupcakes I saw on Scrumptious Photography.


When all was said and done, the cupcakes looked great but I started second guessing myself, were they a first place winner? I dug the leftover dough out of the fridge and whipped up another galette with white peaches.


I decided to bring them both in and pick my contestant in the morning. That night I was startled awake by a dream- as I approached the door to work, I dropped the galette and it splattered all over the street (gasp!). Since it survived the trip, I took that as a sign and entered the peach galette into the competition. Do you want the good news or the bad news? Alas, I did not win, or even place for that matter. But I did get a lot of compliments on my rustic little treat and I loved making so much that it has found a place in my regular dessert rotation...and my heart. Thanks TWD...you'll always be a winner to me!

And speaking of winners, congratulations to all the semi finalists- I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next Monday!

Peaches Two Ways

Nothing says summer quite like the scent of ripe peaches wafting through the air at the farmers market. Sweet, fuzzy, yummy, how could you go wrong? Well, I must admit I've had trouble in the past in the form of a disastrous peach pie- an utter failure. So this year in an effort to redeem myself, I've been researching all sorts of peach related recipes and so far I'm happy to report some success stories.


Peach Basil Sangria
All Recipes
1 bottle pinot grigio
3 cups peach nectar
1 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
Combine 1 1/2 cups of peach nectar, basil, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Simmer until sugar dissolves, crushing the basil with the back of a spoon to release the flavor. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain into an ice filled pitcher and add wine and remaining peach nectar. For an extra kick, add peach schnapps to taste.


Peach Cobbler
Gourmet- Sept '99

6 large peaches, cut into thin wedges
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

For biscuit topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

note: I prefer light brown sugar and use it sparingly in the peach mixture. I also add cinnamon to the biscuit topping

Cook peaches:
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a 2-qt. nonreactive baking dish and bake in middle of oven 10 minutes.

Make topping while peaches bake:
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.)