Peachy Desserts – Pizza, Pies, and Ice Cream

Mascarpone Peach Pizza

Feeds 8-12 – depending on how you cut the slices!  *grin*

(approx) 8 fresh peaches, peels, sliced thin, cut in 1-inch circles
1 lavender cookie crust, cooked (recipe below)
Mascarpone “sauce” (recipe below)
1 Tbsp. peach or apricot preserves, strained, heated until pourable
Mint for garnish

Once all the components have been make/compiled, assemble the pizza.  Spread the mascarpone mixture onto crust to within ½ inch of edge. Carefully arrange the peach circles in a preferred pattern.  (I used about 55 circles to make this tart. Brush with preserves. Top with mint sprig. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Leave out at least 20-30 minutes before serving. *Can be made one day ahead.  If so, the cookie with soften a bit.

Lavender Sugar Cookie Crust
Adapted from Lydia’s Drop In & Decorate Sugar Cookies
Makes 16-20 large (4-5 inch) sugar cookies.

3 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cups best quality unsalted butter, softened
1 cup lavender sugar (recipe below)
1 large egg
1 Tbsp milk
2 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet or round pizza sheet parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and salt. In another large bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer, beat together the butter and lavender sugar, until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla, and continue to beat until well blended and smooth. Beat flour mixture into the butter mixture until smooth.

Roll the dough into about a 12-inch round, about ½-inch thick.  (Securely wrap any extra dough and save for another use.) using a fork, make tong impressions about the outer edge of the cookie for a decorative border. Refrigerate dough for at least 30 minutes.  Bake for 12-20 minutes, or until just lightly colored on top and slightly darker at the edges. Rotate sheet halfway through cooking for even browning. Remove pans from oven and let cookie cool 5-10 minutes. Carefully transfer to a rack and let cool completely.

*Note: to make multiple batches, do NOT double the recipe. It’s hard to control proportions. Instead, make multiples of the original recipe, one batch at a time, for guaranteed success!

*Another note: Rolled sheets of cookie dough can be made ahead and frozen (or, if you’re going to use them within a day or two, you can stack the rolled sheets of dough on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator). Let defrost until dough is pliable enough to be cut without breaking cookies, but not necessarily completely defrosted.

Lavender Sugar
1 tsp dried lavender flowers
1 cup granulated sugar

Option 1 – Place lavender in a sachet and place in a packet in a jar. Add granulated sugar. Seal tight and set aside for 1 week to allow lavender to infuse in the sugar. Shake periodically.  Discard sachet after infusion.
Option 2 – Place lavender and sugar in a food processor and blend together.

Mascarpone “Sauce” Filling
10 oz. mascarpone cheese
1 oz. confectioners sugar

Mix together until combined and smooth.

Roasted Peach Mini Pie
1 recipe of Pate Brisee
8 fresh peaches
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 cup sugar
½ tsp fresh ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cardamom
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

For the puree/filling
Cut peaches in ½ and stone peaches. Place in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until tender, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before removing skins.

Put the peaches in a food processor, reserving juice, and puree until smooth. Mix together the peach juice with cornstarch, cardamom and nutmeg and add the “slurry” with the puree. Add ¼ cup of sugar. Cook over medium heat until thick, about 5 minutes. Cool and refrigerate until ready to use. (makes about 3 cups – refrigerate unused puree for up to 3 days)

For the pie

Mix  the remaining sugar, cardamom and nutmeg; set aside.

To make the pie crusts (*), using the Pate Brisee, press dough into a ball and roll out on some wax paper. Cut out an even number of dough circles using a biscuit cutter or wide rim glass. Place half of the circles in a muffin tin. Press down gently to take on the shape of the bottom of the pan. Rub some of the cardamom nutmeg sugar on the inside crust. Fill with roasted peach filling, then place the remaining circles on top of each pie to let steam escape during baking. Tuck down the edges and pinch firmly to seal the mini pies. Be sure to cut little slits into each mini pie. Sprinkle with cardamom nutmeg sugar.

Bake in a preheated 350 ͦ F oven for 15 minutes or until the crust begins to turn light golden brown. Allow pies to cool before removing from the pan.

*I used William Sonoma’s Mini Lattice Press

Peach Ice Cream

6 large egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups roasted peach puree
2 peaches, peeled and roughly diced

In a heatproof bowl, mix the egg yolks. In a saucepan, combine the cream, milk and sugar and bring to a simmer over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar and vanilla, about 4 minutes.

Gradually whisk the hot cream into the eggs yolks to temper; return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes; do not let the custard boil or it will curdle.

Strain the custard into a bowl. Stir in the peach puree. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 1 hour. Just before freezing, stir in diced peaches. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Cover and store in the freezer until serving time.

*This makes about 2 quarts.