Dolce Pesca Sweet Peaches Recipes

DOLCE PESCA (SWEET PEACHES)

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil.
• Place the figs and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until fine. Place the halved peaches onto the prepared baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle evenly with the white sugar. Pour the white wine over the peaches, and stuff them with the fig mixture. Pour the brandy over the peaches.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.

SWEET PEACH CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish.
• Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in a medium bowl until blended. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla in a separate large bowl to blend. Stir in the chopped peaches. Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish. Bake until a tester inserted into the center of the loaf comes out with no crumbs attached, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 15 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan and cool completely, about 1 hour.
• For the frosting: Beat the butter, cream, 2 tablespoons water and vanilla in a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until light and creamy, adding extra water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if needed. Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled loaf. Allow the frosting to set for 25 minutes. Cut the loaf into slices and serve.

PESCHE CON CREMA (PEACHES WITH CREAM)

Steps:

• Make the pastry cream: In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring milk and lemon zest to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow; add flour and whisk until well combined.
• Remove lemon zest from milk and discard; slowly whisk hot milk into egg mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and place over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until cream thickens and begins to boil.
• Transfer pastry cream to a large bowl; cover with plastic wrap, pressing down on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool completely.
• Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Whisk eggs in another large bowl. Add sugar and whisk to combine. Whisk in milk, butter, and lemon zest until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing with a fork, until dough is smooth and stiff. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking mats; set aside.
• Using a lightly mounded tablespoon of dough, roll the dough firmly between your palms to make a smooth round ball, about the size of a walnut. Repeat process, taking care to make sure all the balls are fairly uniform in size. Place balls on prepared baking sheets spacing about 1 inch apart; you should be able to fit 24 balls on each baking sheet. Flatten tops slightly with your fingertips.
• Transfer to oven and bake until bottoms are lightly browned, about 15 minutes; tops will remain pale. Transfer to a rack and let cool slightly.
• Assemble the peaches: While the cookies are still warm, use a small, sharp knife to cut a circle about the size of a quarter on the bottom (flat) side of each cookie, taking care not to crack the edges. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out enough crumbs to make hollow and hold about 1 teaspoon pastry cream. Set cookies aside.
• Place rum or maraschino liqueur and schnapps in a small bowl. Add enough red and yellow food coloring to create your desired shade of peach; set aside. Fill a shallow bowl with sugar; set aside.
• Fill each hollowed-out cookie with 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich two cookies together so that the filling comes just to the edge, taking care not to crack or break. Using a pastry brush, brush "peach" with colored liquor and roll in sugar to coat. Transfer to a large airtight container and repeat process with remaining cookies, liqueur, and sugar. Cover container and transfer to refrigerator; let chill overnight.
• Just before serving, pierce each "peach" with a toothpick where the two cookies come together and insert the stem of a peach leaf. Alternatively, you can garnish cookies with decorative or chocolate leaves.

DOLCE PESCA (SWEET PEACHES)

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil.
• Place the figs and pine nuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until fine. Place the halved peaches onto the prepared baking sheet, cut side up. Sprinkle evenly with the white sugar. Pour the white wine over the peaches, and stuff them with the fig mixture. Pour the brandy over the peaches.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned, about 15 minutes.