Peaches and Cream Pie

I'm at my happiest when the peach is in season.  Here in Oregon, it is usually a short season and once it is picked tree-ripened, it will not last too long.  I get my peaches from a family friend and every year I will not want to miss their juicy and sweet peaches.  Every year in July, I will come home with at least 20 pounds of peaches.  A third will be freeze for making smoothie, another third will be for fresh consumption, and the last third will usually become dessert.

This is one the desserts that I chose to make when the first batch of peaches arrive.  I'm also a sucker for custard dessert so even if this type of pie isn't in trend anymore, I will still make it.  The creamy filling has the smooth peach puree, while the top is decorated with chopped fresh peaches.  And as an added decoration, lightly sweetened whipped cream frost the edges of the pie.  It is an optional item so I'll leave it up to you.

The hard thing to do with this pie is the waiting time.  It needs to set for at least 3 hours before we can eat it, so the anticipation is building up.  It doesn't disappoint, I promise.

Peaches and Cream Pie

Makes 8 servings


1 9-inch graham cracker crust pie shell

Filling:
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks
4 large ripe peaches
2 1/2 cups (approximately) light cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Extra cream to make whipped cream, optional

In a medium non aluminum saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour, and salt; do not heat.  Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and beat well with a whisk.  Peel and slice 2 of the peaches, dropping them into a 2- to 4-cup measure.  Pour enough cream into the cup to get an even 2-cup measurement.  Pour the cream and peaches into a blender and puree.  Pour the puree into another non aluminum saucepan, add 1 more cup of the light cream and heat gently, just until hot to the touch.  Remove from the heat.

Whisk a ladleful of the heated mixture into the egg yolks.  Stir this into the saucepan with the dry ingredients and turn the heat on low.  Gradually add the rest of the liquid, stirring almost constantly and slowly increasing the heat to medium.

When the mixture starts to boil, turn the heat down a little and cook, stirring, until quite thick, about 3 minutes; get your spoon into the bottom crease of the pan so it doesn't stick or burn there.  Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the vanilla and then the butter, several small pieces at a time, waiting until it melts to add more.  Press a piece of plastic wrap directly over the filling so it doesn't form a skin.  Cool for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, assemble the pie.  Peel and slice the remaining peaches, cut them into small cubes.  Ladle the filling into the pie shell, then drop cubed peaches on top, press lightly to submerged the fruits.  Let the pie cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cover loosely with a foil tent; it should touch the pie's surface.  If desired, frost the pie's edges with sweetened whipped cream.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.


Source:  adapted from Country Baking by Ken Haedrich

Blackberry Kahlua Cream Tart

Ah...blackberries.  I hate them when they're growing on or near my property because they'll take over everything.  I hate them for having such sharp thorns that go deep into the skin when I cut the branches that come from the neighbor's property over my fence.

But, come summer, when the fruits are ripe and juicy and sweet, then I love them.  The fruits are deep black and so easy to pick.  And what's best is that they're free, as long as I have time to pick.  This tart was made because my husband suggested one day that we went and picked blackberries in the neighborhood.  Anytime I can spend time together with him, however short, will be a good time.  So we traipsed about in one walking trail not far from home; there's someone kindly enough to clear a path around the thick bushes making it easy for us to gather the fruits.  It took us about half an hour to gather about 4 cups of fruits and we came home happy.

I love the flavor and texture of this tart; cool and smooth seedless blackberry puree that sits on top of shortbread-like crust with billowy whipped cream topping.  What's not to like?

Blackberry Kahlua Cream Tart

Makes 10 servings

1 10-inch Tart Pastry shell, fully baked--recipe follows.  I used a rectangular tart pan instead of an 10-inch round tart pan

Blackberry Puree

4 cups fresh blackberries (save some for decorations on top of the tart)

1/2 cup sugar

4 teaspoons cornstarch

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Kahlua Whipping Cream

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons Kahlua

Cool the tart shell thoroughly on a rack.  Transfer the shell to a large, flat plate or platter, cover with foil, and refrigerate.

To make the blackberry puree, process the blackberries in a blender or food processor until smooth.  Strain the puree through a fine-mesh strainer, working and pushing it with a spoon so you end up with as much seedless puree as possible; you should be left with close to 2 cups of puree.

Put the puree into a non-aluminum saucepan.  Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir it, along with the lemon zest, into the puree.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.  Hold it at a low boil for 1 minute, stirring, then scrape it into a glass casserole or pie pan and place it in the fridge to cool.  Once it has cooled, scrape it into the tart shell, evening it with a fork.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

When you are just about ready to assemble the tart, put the beaters and whipping cream bowl in the freezer.  Once they're chilled, beat the cream until it almost holds soft peaks, then add the sugar and Kahlua.  Beat until good and firm, but don't let it get grainy.  Spread the whipped cream over the puree and arrange a few blackberries here and there if you saved some out.  Slice and serve right away or hold in the fridge, covered for up to several hours.

Tart Pastry

Makes 1 10-inch tart shell

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

2 tablespoons (approximately) cold water

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, and salt.  Add the butter and cut it in until the mixture resembles very small crumbs, with all the flour having been dampened by the fat; it should be actually be starting to clump together without the water.  At that point add the cold water, a teaspoon at a time, tossing and compacting the mixture with a fork until the dough coheres.

When the dough coheres, knead it once in the bowl to distribute the butter, then flatten it on a sheet of plastic wrap into a disk about 1/2 inch thick.  Wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before rolling.  

To roll the dough:  Put the dough on a sheet of lightly floured wax paper.  Lightly flour the top of the dough, then roll it into a circle 13 to 13 1/2 inches in diameter.  Carefully invert the dough over the pan and tuck the dough down into the pan without stretching it.  Trim the dough off flush with the top of the pan.  Cover and refrigerate until baking.

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Line the shell with foil and tuck in into the pastry.  Pour dried beans or pie weights into the foil.  Place the weighted shell in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and very carefully lift the foil out of the pan with the beans still in it.  Pierce the bottom of shell several times with a fork and put the shell back in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown.  

Source: adapted from Country Baking by Ken Haedrich

Strawberry Genoise with Whipped Cream

Seeing strawberries in the market made me wanting to eat strawberry shortcake with lots of whipped cream.  But I like my cake to be the one that's soft and light, which I found the answer in this genoise.    Airy genoise is made by warming the egg and sugar and then it's whipped into a billowing mixture.  Flour and melted butter are folded in quickly as to not lose the air, pop it in the oven for 20 minutes and voila, the cake is done.  Next, prepare lots of strawberries, slices and whole.  Dry them well after washing because you don't want too much moisture in the cake.

The last thing to do is eating it--it's more fun than making the cake! Ha!  Sliced strawberries are sandwiched in between the layers--with whipped cream--and more whipped cream on the outside.  I'm so in love!

Strawberry Genoise with Whipped Cream

Makes 1 9-inch cake, serves 8 to 10


For the genoise:
4 eggs
½ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup cake flour, sifted
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the filling and finish:
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon kirsch
2 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar
3 cups strawberries, hulled and cut into ½-inch slices, plus more 10-12 strawberries, for garnish


To make the genoise:  Preheat oven to 375F.  Line the bottom of a 9-by-3-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar by hand until combined.  Place the bowl over but not touching simmering water in a saucepan.  Gently whisk until the mixture registers 140F on an instant-read thermometer, about 3 minutes.  Put the bowl on the mixer and beat with the whisk on high speed until the mixture is pale and almost tripled in volume, 5 to 8 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer.  Sift the flour over the egg mixture in 2 additions and carefully fold in with a large rubber spatula.  Fold a large dollop into the melted butter, then fold back into the egg mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.  Bake until the top of the cake is browned, about 20 minutes.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Run a table knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a work surface.  Turn the cake right side up, leaving the parchment paper in place.  Cut the cake into 2 equal layers.  Put the top layer, cut side up, on a serving plate.

To make the filling and finish:  In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the granulated sugar and water.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves.  Remove from the heat and let the sugar syrup cool to room temperature.

In a small bowl, stir together the kirsch and sugar syrup.  Brush the cake with about half of the syrup. Whip the cream and confectioners' sugar to soft peaks.  Place the sliced strawberries in a bowl.  Fold about one-fourth of the cream into the berries.  Spread the mixture evenly on top of the cake.  Position the remaining cake layer, cut side down, on top.  Peel off the paper.  Brush with the remaining syrup.  Spread the top and sides of the cake with the remaining whipped cream.

Decorate the top of the cake with whole strawberries.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Source:  adapted from William-Sonoma Collection Series Cake, by Fran Gage

Cherry Cream Layered Cake

Yesterday I just got back from my short vacation to Eastern Oregon for five days.  I had an amazing time there, the scenery is so beautiful, it's worth driving the long miles.  Even though I'm tempted to write the story here, I usually write it down on my personal blog.  I also am taking a two-week vacation from my summer work since last week, and today I realize how good it feels not to wake up in the morning to my alarm buzz.

Last night while I was just done with dinner and starting to read last week's newspapers, my phone rang.  It was my friend, Julie, who wanted to come over and she's saying that she had something to share with me.  In less than five minutes she was at my door, bringing me  a tasty treat.  It was Rainier cherries; big in size and sweet in flavor.  We exchanged our hellos and started to talk about where to buy cherries with the best prize.  So far, she won :)  I went to pick cherries a couple weeks ago at Hood River and they're quite expensive though they're organics.  My parents and my family picked several types of cherries, including Bing, Lambert, Van, and Rainier.  We went a bit overboard with the deed, it seemed that once you picked you couldn't stop until all the buckets were full.  I don't know if that's called greedy or it's just plain uncontrollable yearning after waiting for a year for the cherry season to arrive.

Most of the cherries have been eaten fresh, some will be made into cherry pie filling, and a handful made it as the filling for a simple, four-layer cake. I made up my mind of what kind of cake I wanted to make, this time a vanilla chiffon cake was suffice to be the base.  Whipped cream was the frosting and fresh Rainier cherries soaked in kirsch dressed up the cake.  The result was a rustic and homey cake.  The flavor is fantastic though, if you're a fan of chiffon cake, you'll like it when it's paired with whipped cream and fresh fruits--I'm always partial to this combo anyway.

There's no definite recipe to get this cake right.  All you need is some creativity:

• Have about 2-3 cups of fresh, pitted cherries, let them soak in a tablespoon or two of kirsch in a bowl before you start the cake.


• Recipe for vanilla chiffon cake can be found here.  It's from my old blog and to change it into a vanilla-flavored cake, change the lime juice with water, omit lemon extract, add vanilla extract instead, and add lemon zest.


• In this post, I made the cake in two 9-inch pans and each cake was cut into two layers.  Alternately, you could still bake it in three 8-inch pans like the original recipe.  Baking time for 9-inch pans is about 20 minutes.


• I made whipped cream frosting from 2 cups of heavy cream and 2 tablespoon of sugar.

It didn't need to look perfect as along as it tasted delicious!  My son could eat this night after night for dessert.