Recipes, Photography, Musings

Tag: summer desserts (Page 2 of 2)

Peach and Red Plum Galette

Indulge in fresh, ripe fruit with this peach and red plum galette! Luscious peaches and juicy red plums are baked with a touch of honey, cinnamon, walnut, and vanilla, and surrounded by a classic galette pastry.  This recipe gives you rustic comfort and rich fruit flavor, all in one dish.

September is one of the best times to visit a farmers market, and this week, our town’s market had rows of fresh peaches and plums.  I love to take advantage of fruit at this time of year, because it makes me feel like I’m stretching out summer and holding onto it a little longer. Fresh peaches and plums taste so good and juicy all own their own, but yesterday, I needed to bake.

peach and red plum galetteBaking touches something deep in my soul.  Deeper than I can really explain.  To roll out dough gives me such comfort.  I cannot really understand it, I can only honor this impulse.  It must have something to do with my ancestors, with my genetics.  Not everyone has this love of baking, though I think most everyone has something like this, something that they love to do and feel compelled to do.

I am not a fancy baker or a formally trained baker.  I guess I would say I am a rustic baker.  I like to make fruit pies and galettes, hearty bread, pizza.  Cookies and muffins.  My training comes mainly from relatives, like my mother, mother-in-law, grandmothers, aunts, and a couple of friends.  Stories shared, sunny afternoons in my mother’s kitchen, cozy winter afternoons in grandma’s kitchen, or in my husband’s grandma’s kitchen.  I can picture these places in my memory– aprons, beautiful aprons, countertops covered in flour, dishes in the sink, laughter….

peach plum galetteSo in making this galette, besides doing it for my family, and to share this delicious recipe with you all, I did it for me.  Not just to eat, though I already had a piece, and it was delicious! But for the sheer comfort of making it.  The floury mess, the glorious smells of the dough and fruit baking, the texture of the dough taking shape in my hands.  It has been a challenging week, with my kids and I getting over colds, and I needed to do something to ground myself to the earth.  Slicing ripe peaches and plums, rolling out dough, these are things I can do and feel like I am making a positive impact on the world.

To me, at the risk of sounding a little corny, baking is part science, part art, and part entering into the mystery of the universe.  Crossing the threshold of time and space and feeling connected to those I have lost or lost touch with.  It helps me leave my over-active mind behind, and quiet it by working with my hands in an ancient skill.

peach and red plum galetteThis recipe is loosely adapted from a lovely book my daughter and husband checked out from our local library:  Country Living Pies & Tarts published by Hearst Books in 2016.  In my recipe, I substituted some red plums instead of using all peaches, and I used walnuts and vanilla instead of almonds and almond extract, because I did not have any almonds on hand.  I can imagine that would taste great too.

peach and red plum galetteI hope you all have a great weekend, and enjoy this time of year! If you have something you really like to do, something that helps give your life meaning and value, I hope you can do it.  I heard we are supposed to get a break in the heat and humidity here this weekend, so I am looking forward to that!  Fiesta Friday is also going on right now, co-hosted by Angie and Judi @ CookingWithAuntJuju, whose blogs have some wonderful recipes and photos!peach plulm galette

Peach and Red Plum Galette

  • Servings: 8
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 10 tablespoons of cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons of cold water
  • 1/2 cup of walnuts (raw almonds can also be used)
  • 1/2 cup of confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (almond extract if you are using almonds instead of walnuts)
  • 4 medium fresh, ripe peaches, peeled and sliced
  • 4 red fresh, ripe red plums, peeled and sliced
  • 2 tablespoons of honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, granulated sugar, and salt.  Add the cold butter pieces, and with a pastry cutter, cut in the butter.  Continue to mix with the pastry cutter until the mixture resembles course crumbs.  Add the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.  Shape the dough into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the walnuts (or almonds) and confectioners’ sugar in a blender or food processor. Blend till it is a fine meal.  Add the egg yolk and vanilla (or almond extract) and blend again.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the peach slices, plum slices, honey, and cinnamon.  Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a 14-inch circle.  Gently place it in a standard sized pie baking dish, letting the extra dough hang over the sides for now.  Carefully spread the walnut (or almond) paste over the dough, including up the sides.  Add the peach and plum mixture.  Then fold the edges of the dough over the fruit mixture, forming a flat pie with about a 2-inch border.  This is a rustic dish, so it doesn’t have to look perfect! Lightly brush the dough with water and sprinkle with some granulated sugar.  Bake in your preheated oven for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until the crust is golden and flaky, and the fruit is bubbling.  Let it cool for a few minutes before slicing.  Enjoy!

This recipe is loosely adapted from the book Country Living Pies &Tarts, published by Hearst Communications, 2016. 

Cherry Berry Cobbler

Luscious tart cherries, blueberries, and black raspberries are baked with a biscuit topping until the fruit is sweet and bubbling and the topping is fluffy and golden in this delicious cherry berry cobbler. This recipe is a classic that never goes out of style. The fresher the fruit, the better this cobbler tastes.

cherry berry cobbler with holders 4The sweetness of the blueberries and black raspberries (and some sugar) balance the tartness of the cherries to make a mouth-watering fruit filling full of flavor and those much-sought-after antioxidants. The biscuit topping is golden and moist, pairing beautifully with the fruit.  I really notice a difference in taste when I bake with high quality butter, and butter from grass-fed cows is gaining popularity as a relatively healthy fat.  With just a few basic ingredients, this cobbler is easy to make and tastes impressive.

cherry berry cobbler in handMy favorite thing about this dessert, aside from the luscious flavor, is that much of the fruit came from my very own yard!  Our wonderful cherry trees gave us even more fruit than we expected, allowing me to make two cobblers, a few batches of breakfast jars, and a smoothie with them, and our black raspberries are coming along nicely!  I wish I could say I picked the blueberries in this cobbler, but those I did buy from the grocery store, yet they were still sweet and juicy.  In any case, seasonal fruit tastes better than candy in my book, and it reminds me to savor the moment, because each season is fleeting.

cherry berry slump with spoonI hope you are all having a great summer so far.  It has been very sunny, but much drier than usual here lately.  We finally got some rain last night, and the air smells so fresh, especially since the storms cooled things off.  We had an interesting Fourth of July–we got to go for a sail with my brother’s family in his boat, out to a sandbar near a small island.  He put down the anchor and we all went swimming off of the boat in gorgeous, cold, clear water.  That evening, we hiked a mile at dusk to the top of a hill in a nature preserve, overlooking a lake.  Someone from the preserve had a campfire going, and we roasted marshmallows and ate s’mores while the fireworks showered dazzling colors over the lake.  Then we hiked down in the dark woods by flashlight.  It was amazing to be surrounded by so much natural beauty, up in northern Michigan for a few days.

Now it is good to be home, though a little bit tough getting caught up and back to reality, and though a lot of our flowers need some more rain, the sweet peas are thriving!  I hope you all have a great weekend! I’m a bit late, but looking forward to joining Fiesta Friday , co-hosted this week by Suzanne @ apuginthekitchen and Jess @ Cooking Is My Sport. cherry berry cobbler in loft 1sweet peasDSC_1201

Cherry Berry Cobbler

  • Servings: 8
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of tart cherries, washed with the pits removed
  • 2 cups of mixed berries (I used blueberries and black raspberries)
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 3 tablespoons of flour
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
  • 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wash the fruit and remove the pits from the cherries.  Place the fruit in a 2 quart baking dish or casserole.  Add the sugar and 3 tablespoons of flour to the fruit and stir gently to combine.

For the topping, combine the cup of flour, the salt, and the baking powder in a large mixing bowl.  Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the milk and vanilla extract and stir just until a batter forms.  Drop the batter by the spoonful on top of the fruit, distributing it as evenly as possible.  Bake in your 350 degree oven for about 50 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the biscuit topping is golden.  Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.  Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or just with itself, which is the way I like it best. Enjoy!

Fruit-Filled Mini Galettes

Blueberries, peaches, and plums are in season here right now, and they are such a summer treat.  When fruit is this fresh, I like to keep it simple, allowing the flavors of the fruit to shine: a little bit of sugar to sweeten it, a little bit of flour to thicken it, and a delicious dough to wrap around the fruit like a hug.  Fifteen minutes in the oven, and you have some miniature galettes, perfect for dessert.  Or breakfast.  We had them for breakfast yesterday morning, enjoying a sunny Saturday morning on the porch.galettes with coffee

blueberry galette with coffeeI am still enamored with making galettes, and the mini galettes are fun, because you can individualize them.  I made some with just blueberry filling, and some with a peach-plum filling, using the fruit we had on hand.  Four cups of any kind of fruit will work, and you can mix and match as you please.  Making dough is therapeutic for me, and the dough for these galettes is a simple pie dough, cut into smaller squares.  I love the fact that galettes are not expected to look perfect or fancy–the folds of dough can be uneven and the fruit can bubble over, and it tastes just fabulous.

peachplum galette on plateChange is in the air, as summer has a tiny hint of fall, and our schedules are soon about to get a lot more regimented and full.  We are squeezing in our summer wishes. This weekend we have been visiting with cousins and aunts and uncles we don’t get to see often, and that has been wonderful and poignant.  As we watched all of our children running around together yesterday afternoon, climbing trees and playing ball, we remembered summers when we were children together, running around wild and free in that same yard, climbing some of the same trees (though they are much bigger now). Time passes and our worlds stretch, as we all grow and experience new things,  find our different ways, and bring new people into the family.  It is all good, but we are not able to see each other like we used to.  It is bittersweet, just like the end of August.

However, these mini galettes are just sweet–nothing bitter about them.  That is probably why I made them.  There is comfort in making sweet things.  I cannot control much of what happens, but in my little baking world, I can create sweetness for myself and others, and think about loved ones and memories.  If you are looking for a way to use some summer fruit, these miniature galettes are a great way to do it.  I hope you have a wonderful week! raw galettesblueberry galettesfruit galettes 2galettes on porchblueberry galette with flowers

Fruit-Filled Mini Galettes

  • Servings: 8 mini galettes
  • Print

Ingredients:

For the blueberry filling:

  • 2 cups of fresh blueberries
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of flour

For the peach-plum filling:

  • 1 cup of fresh peaches, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup of fresh plums, peeled and chopped
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of flour

For the crusts:

  • 2 cups of all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  • 2/3 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 6 to 7 tablespoons of cold water

For the egg wash:

  • One egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

Wash and prepare the fruit.  In one small bowl, mix the blueberries, sugar and flour.  In another small bowl, mix the peaches, plums, sugar and flour.  Feel free to mix and match with different fruit if desired.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and the salt.  Gradually cut in the butter with a fork or a pastry cutter, combining until the mixture has the consistency of small peas.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the cold water over the dough, and gently toss with a fork.  Repeat until the dough is moistened, but not slimy.  If you add too much water, add a little flour.  Work the water through until the dough is a nice, soft texture, but don’t over-mix.  Divide the dough in half, forming two balls.  On a lightly floured surface, flatten one of the balls of dough with your hand.  Roll the dough from the center to the edges, forming a rough square of about 12 inches around.  Gently cut the dough into four smaller squares.  Roll each smaller square to about 6 inches by 6 inches.  Place one-fourth of the blueberry mixture in the center of each of the four squares, leaving an inch or two of dough around the edges.  Gently fold the edges around the fruit, pleating all the way around the edges.  Repeat with the the rest of the squares.  Then repeat the process with the second ball of dough, making four 6 inch squares and filling each square with one-fourth of the peach-plum mixture, and folding and pleating the edges.  Place the galettes on the baking sheets.

In a small bowl, beat the egg and add the tablespoon of water.  With a pastry brush, brush the edges of the crusts with the egg wash.

Bake in a 425-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the crusts are lightly golden and the fruit is bubbly.  Enjoy!

 

Newer posts »