Aromatic Peach Deassert

Peaches in season is one of the most luscious gifts of the orchard. Fragrant of the summer sun and juicy as the refreshing rain, peaches bake into fantastic pies and desserts. This recipe by Chef Mario d'Orio of the Le Mahatma restaurant is one of these desserts. Fresh peaches are cooked in a syrup of sugar, Kirsch fruit brandy and water before its pits are removed. Into the hollow, the almond paste is stuffed, like the center of a flower. A garnish of English cream and filo pastry completes this wonderful summer dessert.

If you only have canned peaches on hand, you can still make this dessert but with less than stellar results since the peaches are already processed. So by all means, time your preparation when there is an abundance of the fruit from orchards to road side stand to the farmer’s market and fruit stands. You can use the juiciest cling peaches, even the white variety if that is available. Take care not to overcook the peaches so it remains firm (not mushy) and steady to hold the almond paste upright.

To select the best peaches, look at the background color of the peach. Make sure to get the ones with a tinge of orange gold since these tend to be sweet and full flavored. The ones with a hint of green needs a bit more time to ripen so if you do get them, time the dessert making after the peach ripens in a day or two at room temperature. Only when it is fully ripe that you should store your peaches inside the refrigerator.

The dessert takes its name from the edible peach blossoms, which you can also incorporate into the dish as a garnish or additional ingredient. Most often the peach blossoms are made into salads of other edible flowers. Serve the peaches with the cream only when everyone is ready for dessert so it remains fresh. A glass of Banyuls will enliven this bright dessert further.

Ingredients

4 peaches
For the English cream:
1 pint milk
7 tablespoons sugar
6 egg yolks
For the syrup:
1 lb. granulated sugar
1 lb. water
1 teaspoon Kirsch fruit brandy
1.8 oz. almond paste
butter
4 layers filo dough
3 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar
vanilla powder

1. To aid in removing the skin, blanch the peaches in a pan of boiling water. Immediately plunge the fruits in a bowl of ice water. Peel the peaches.

2. Prepare the English cream by mixing together the milk, sugar and egg yolks. Chill it in the refrigerator.

3. Prepare the syrup. In a pan, soak the peaches in the syrup. Add the Kirsch. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the peach pits and replace the pits with almond paste. Reconstitute the peach. Butter and wrap the peach in filo dough. Place in a buttered dish. Add some powdered sugar and vanilla powder. Heat for 2 minutes. Garnish with the English cream.

Choosing Tart Over Pie

I know this is a trivial matter to some people. If your choosing pie over tart it's fine with me but hey why not like both? I mean pies have it's own sets of unique features and also tart. A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard. Tartlet refers to a miniature tart. Examples of tarts include jam tarts, which may be different colours depending on the flavour of the jam used to fill them, and the Bakewell tart.

The categories of 'tart', 'flan', and 'pie' overlap, with no sharp distinctions, though 'pie' is the more common term in the United States. The French word tarte can be translated to mean either pie or tart, as both are mainly the same with the exception of a pie usually covering the filling in pastry, while flans and tarts leave it open. The Italian crostata recipe, dating to at least the mid-1400s, has been described as a "rustic free-form version of an open fruit tart". Early medieval tarts generally had meat fillings, but later ones were often based on fruit and custard.


Ingredients

10" uncooked pie shell
5 tart apples
1 cup pastry cream (crème patissiere), cooled
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
For the pastry cream:
4 egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups milk
½ vanilla bean, cut in half lengthwise

1. Begin by making the pastry cream; in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Whisk in the flour. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan placed over high heat, pour the milk and vanilla. As soon as the mixture begins boiling, remove the pan from the stove. Remove the vanilla bean. Scrape out the seeds from the bean and pour them into the milk.
3. Whisk ½ the milk mixture into the egg mixture.
4. Place the saucepan back onto the stove over high heat. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, pour everything in the bowl into the saucepan, whisking constantly until smooth. Once the mixture starts boiling again, stir and boil for 2 minutes more.
5. Remove the pan from the stove and place some plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream; this prevents a skim from forming on the top of the cream. Cool completely.
6. Transfer the pre-made pie dough to a pie pan. Refrigerate.
7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
8. Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples.
9. Spread the pastry cream over the bottom of the pie shell. Lay the apple slices over the cream. With a pastry brush, brush the melted butter over the apples. Sprinkle with sugar.
10. Bake until golden, about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Carefully remove the pie from the pan and serve.