Tag Archives: peaches

Ethereal Coconut Peach Layer Cake

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It’s the last week of August and things are just peachy around here in the saltandserenity kitchen with this Ethereal Coconut Peach Layer Cake.

I know that some of you are in a hurry to get to all things pumpkin spiced, but slow down for a minute please. The markets here in Ottawa are still brimming with peaches, corn and tomatoes, so just relax and enjoy. Pumpkins can wait their turn.

The combination of peach and coconut is an unusual but very delicious one. Considering that both are members of the drupe family, it makes sense.

This triple layer cake, created by bake from scratch is an impressive beauty. Plush layers of coconut cake are filled with juicy peaches and fluffy vanilla buttercream. Toasted shards of coconut cover the sides for an extra burst of coconut flavour.

Watch how it all comes together:

Tips for Success for baking Ethereal Coconut Peach Layer Cake:

  • The recipe calls for cake flour, which has a lower protein content than all purpose flour and makes a more tender cake. No cake flour on hand, no problem. Make your own cake flour by combining all-purpose flour with some cornstarch. (The exact amounts are in the recipe). Cornstarch adds tenderness and lowers the overall protein content of the all-purpose flour, making a finer, more even crumb on your cake.
  • Brush cake layers with a peach simple syrup. The extra time taken to make the simple syrup will reward you with a lush and moist cake.
  • Use full fat coconut milk please. This is not the time to save calories.

Coconut Peach Cake

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Servings 15
Calories 1189 kcal

Ingredients
  

Peach Simple Syrup

  • 1 medium peach, peeled, pitted and sliced into 8 wedges
  • 100 grams granulated sugar
  • 120 grams water

Cake

  • 340 grams unsalted butter, room temperature removed from fridge 1 hour before baking
  • 400 grams granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • 437 grams cake flour or 382 grams all purpose flour plus 55 grams cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt or 1/4 teaspoon Morton's Kosher salt
  • 180 grams coconut milk
  • 120 grams buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
  • 3 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/4 inch thick wedges

American Buttercream

  • 567 grams unsalted butter, room temperature removed from fridge 1 hour before using
  • 1365 grams icing sugar, sifted
  • 240 grams 35% whipping cream
  • 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt or 1 teaspoon Morton's Kosher salt

Garnish

  • 120 grams coconut flakes, toasted

Instructions
 

Peach Simple Syrup

  • In a medium saucepan, heat all ingredients over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and let cool. Using a blender, food processor or immersion blender, blend until mixture is smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 3 (9-inch) round cake pans. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; butter and flour pans again.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together coconut milk and buttermilk. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with coconut milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Divide batter among prepared pans.
  • Bake until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire racks. Brush layers with Peach Simple Syrup.

American Buttercream

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until creamy, 5 to 6 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to low. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, cream, and salt, beating until smooth. Use immediately.

Assemble Cake

  • Place 2 cups American Buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a medium round tip. Pipe a ½-inch-thick layer of buttercream around edge of one cake layer. Spread buttercream within border. Layer half of peaches in center, gently pressing into buttercream and ensuring border is higher than peaches. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining cake layer. Spread a thin layer of American Buttercream on top and sides of cake. Freeze for 30 minutes. Spread remaining American Buttercream on top and sides of cake. Press toasted coconut into sides of cake. Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 days.

Notes

Recipe created by Bake From Scratch Magazine. 
If you don’t have cake flour on hand, you can make your own by adding some cornstarch to all purpose flour. See amounts in recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 1189kcalCarbohydrates: 152gProtein: 7gFat: 64gSaturated Fat: 42gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 186mgSodium: 774mgPotassium: 205mgFiber: 3gSugar: 127gVitamin A: 1944IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 68mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Peach Caprese Panini

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While the siren call of apples and pumpkins is getting harder to resist, I’m holding out because my local market is still selling local peaches. This weekend has been just beautiful with temperatures reaching 28°C (that would be 82°F for all my American friends).

A classic Caprese contains tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil. This is my twist on it replacing the tomatoes with fresh peaches. I piled it all onto a Ciabatta loaf and put it in the panini press. I always forget about my panini press. It lives in a cupboard above the fridge, that I can only access with a little stepladder. But really, is there anything more glorious than a pressed sandwich. That crunch on the crust gives way to creamy melty cheese, sweet peaches and tangy basil. The basil we planted at the cottage is still plentiful and verdant.

Watch this video to see how it all comes together.

The smear of pesto really amps up the basil flavour profile. You wouldn’t normally think of pairing peaches and basil, but they are such complementary friends. If you don’t have a panini press, just put the sandwich in a frying pan, cover it with a small plate and weight the whole thing down with a heavy can (like a 28 ounce tin of tomatoes). Or you can cover a brick in foil and use that as a weight right on the sandwich.

I used a ciabatta loaf, but focaccia would also be a great choice. Don’t rush into autumn. Enjoy these last few days of summer.

Click here to print recipe for Peach Caprese Panini.

Grilled Peach and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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There are a few short weeks each summer when peaches are at their peak. You know, like when you take a bite and the fragrant flesh yields to sweet juice that dribbles down your chin. If you are in possession of peaches like this, you don’t need me or this recipe to tell you what to do. When peaches are like that, don’t fu@k with perfection. Eat as many as you can, right out of hand and enjoy.

If your peaches are less than optimal, or you’re tired of eating plain peaches, give this salad a whirl. It is eminently customizable. I love the look of it presented on a big wooden board. Dress your greens and spread them out on the board. I used arugula, but you do you.

The dressing is a basil vinaigrette. It takes about 5 minutes to make your own basil oil for this dressing. Totally worth the time and effort. But, feel free to use plain olive oil and just garnish salad with fresh basil leaves if you don’t want to make your own basil oil.

The peach halves are brushed with a little bit of olive oil and placed on the grill cut side down. This softens them slightly and sweetens any less than optimal peaches.

For the cheese component, you can use fresh mozzarella, bocconcini, or Buffalo mozzarella. I have also made it with halloumi cheese and it was fantastic.

Finish with a crunchy element. Toasted hazelnuts or almonds, or even some croutons. This is summer on a plate.

Click here to print recipe for Grilled-Peach-and-Arugula-Salad-with-Basil-VinaigretteDownload

Late Summer Peach Streusel Cake

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It happens every summer. I get carried away when local peaches finally arrive. The rest of the year they are like rocks with absolutely no flavour or aroma. For a few short weeks each August, they are perfect. The flesh gently yields as you take a bite, and the juice drips down your chin and stains your shirt. But it’s worth it. I always buy more peaches than we can possibly consume. Last year I peeled and pitted the extra peaches and tucked them away in the freezer to use during the winter. Of course I completely forgot about them, until I was cleaning the freezer in June and pulled out a frost covered bag.

This summer, I decided to take action and bake a cake with my peach windfall. The problem with most peach cakes is that the peaches exude so much juice that the cake has a wet, gummy texture. Cook’s Illustrated cracked the code on that problem by suggesting that you roast the peaches first, and then mix them with Panko breadcrumbs.

I tarted up the Cook’s Illustrated version of this cake with a delicious streusel topping, crafted from pecans, oats, butter, brown sugar and maple syrup. I love a little crunch on top of my cake.

A drizzle of some salted caramel sauce wouldn’t be a bad idea.
And a scoop of vanilla ice cream, because it’s the last week of summer and I propose we go out with a bang!

Click here to print recipe for Summer Peach Streusel Cake.

 

 

 

Peach Tomato Corn Salad

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When Mother Nature forces corn, peaches and tomatoes to ripen all at the same time, I do believe she intended for us to put them together into something delicious.

First, let’s chat about peaches. There are two types of peaches, cling and freestone. As the name suggests, the flesh of the cling peach stubbornly hugs the stone, making them a real pain to slice. The flesh of the freestone, comes away easily from the pit. Unfortunately, without slicing the peach open, there is no way of knowing which type of peach is which. The first peaches of the season are almost always cling, and the freestones usually follow a few weeks later.
The easiest way to pit a freestone peach is to use a sharp paring knife. Pierce the peach at its stem end and slice it along the seam all the way around the fruit. Place each half of the peach in either hand. Twist the halves in opposite directions. Pull the halves apart to reveal the pit. Use the tip of a spoon to nudge the pit out of the peach.
For this salad I encourage you to buy as many different types, colours and sizes of ripe tomatoes as you can find. Heirloom ones are perfect for this salad. This is truly a blank canvas and you are the artist.

I recently discovered Tomberries. They are minuscule red and yellow tomatoes, about the quarter of the size of a cherry tomato. They are super-sweet and freaking adorable. In the photo below, I put a in grape tomato (bottom left)  for size reference. Loblaws in Canada carries them under their President’s Choice label. If the corn is really fresh, like picked that day, just shuck it, cut the corn off the cob and use it raw in the salad. I like to sauté the corn in a bit of olive oil if it was not picked that day.

Cut some of the tomatoes in slices, others in wedges and start composing. I just drizzled mine with some really fruity extra virgin olive oil. I scattered some fresh basil over top and finished it with a judicious sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and flaky sea salt. I didn’t feel it needed any vinegar as the tomatoes have a good amount of acid. If you feel it needs vinegar, then go ahead and add some delicate white wine vinegar.

Send me a picture if you make this salad. I’d love to see what you create.

Peach Berry Crisp and the difference between sons and daughters

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crisp for 1 625 sqWith summer fruit this perfect, it’s best to not mess with it too much. Keep it simple. I love summerThis has been my go-to crisp topping since scrunchies and shoulder pads were all the rage. I love it on apples in the fall, pears and cranberries in the winter and strawberry and rhubarb in the spring. I always have a bag of the topping stashed in the freezer for a quick dessert.  crisp toppingtopping in food processor 1topping in food processor 2To thicken the juices in the crisp I like to use Minit Tapioca. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit I add between 2-4 tablespoons of sugar. adding minit tapiocacovering with toppingI have made this crisp topping so many times I could practically prepare it in my sleep. But still, you need to pay attention. Here is my cautionary tale of what can happen when you go on auto-pilot in the kitchen.

A few years ago I made the crisp with fall apples and served it after dinner. My children dug in immediately. My daughter took one bite and said, “This is disgusting!!” I looked over at my oldest son. He was diligently shoveling in the apple crisp, but not at his usual alarming speed. With his mouth full he said, in a kind voice, “Well mom, it’s ok, but it’s not as good as usual.” I reached for his spoon and took a bite for myself. I almost choked. My daughter was right, it was horrible. I had been rushing around the kitchen that afternoon, trying to do too many things at once and I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I had mistakenly mixed the apples with salt instead of sugar. And therein lies the difference between sons and daughters. You can always count on your daughter to be brutally honest with you, while your son will soften the truth to protect your feelings!waiting for it to coolWarm from the oven or room temperature, this crisp is a wonderful way to pay homage to summer fruit. share with friends

Click here to print recipe for Peach Berry Crisp.

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Peach, Green Bean and Pickled Onion Salad

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Oval Blue Platter 2 625 sqWhen Mother Nature shows up at the farmers market flaunting her peaches (and beans), you don’t mess around too much with perfection like this. Keep it simple!peaches in collander 2beans in basket 1I have made this salad four times already this summer. The first time I made it, it was part of a celebratory dinner* for 12. (Big football game victory – Go RedBlacks!!) Luckily I had a wonderful sous chef with me in the kitchen that day; my niece Samantha was visiting. We have collaborated in the kitchen before, on a 6 braid challah, so I knew I had some exceptional assistance.

As the afternoon wore on and we continued our prep, I noticed the level of blanched beans in  the colander was diminishing. My niece could not stop eating them. She told me that her beans never tasted like this, and asked what I had done?  I explained that they were fresh from the farmer’s field and I that I had heavily salted the cooking water. (almost 1/4 cup Kosher salt for a big pot of water). This seasons the beans perfectly and they do not taste “salty”.

Sautéing the peaches in a bit of vegetable oil for just a few minutes really enhances their natural sweetness. The pickled onions add a welcome piquant note. This is a beautiful fresh summer salad. two plates with prosecco 625 sq

Click here to print recipe for Peach Green Bean Pickled Onion Salad.

close up* If inquiring minds are curious, we rounded out the feast with Flatbread and Dukkah, Rib Steaks, Smashed Roasted Potatoes with Smoked Paprika and Rosemary, Arugula, Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad, Blueberry Coffee Cake and Hazelnut Almond Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches.

Summer Crostini

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There are times when you feel like being culinarily creative and making beautiful lunches like these for weekend cottage guests.

And there are times when you don’t feel like moving from here:

and want to suggest to those guests that they just help themselves to a peanut butter and sour cherry jam sandwich!

Happily there are several options in between these two. Option #1, and my personal favourite, is when weekend guests are invited and invariably ask what they can bring, suggest “lunch for Saturday.” When my mother heard that I do this on a regular basis, she was horrified. Had she not raised me to be a gracious host?

Actually, I think that people feel happy to contribute when being invited for the weekend (or longer, and those to whom I am referring, know exactly who you are!) And truthfully, it’s not the cooking that I mind. It’s the planning and figuring out what to make that takes up so much mental energy. So it’s nice to let someone else figure it all out and just show up at the table and be surprised. However, there is a caveat here. Make sure that your friends are comfortable in the kitchen and possess a basic skill set for preparing  meals.

I have one friend who used to use up every dish, pot and utensil when she prepared her meals. We would eat brunch at 2 in the afternoon. They were exquisite brunches but way too much for a cottage. Happily, she has gotten into the swing of things and now prepares perfect meals without destroying the kitchen. This friend is in fact, so comfortable in my kitchen and knows exactly where everything goes, that she and my husband joke that in the event of my demise, she will just slip seamlessly into place and become the woman of the house. Truthfully, all my friends are wonderful cooks and I love having them take over my kitchen.

Another friend makes sure we always have enough wine and her salads and salad dressings are so creative and inspiring. Did you ever notice how much better salad tastes when someone else makes it?

One friend takes her responsibility so seriously that she begins researching the meal she will prepare as soon as we settle on a weekend. She is an extremely accomplished cook and last year we feasted on Peruvian Grilled Chicken, Chile Roasted Sweet Potatoes and a 7 Layer Coconut Cake for our Saturday night dinner. Her husband is a skilled mixologist and she just told me he has perfected the Negroni, so I am looking forward to sampling that when they come to visit in August.

Option # 2, if you just aren’t comfortable turning over your kitchen, or have control issues or whatever, is to cook on auto-pilot. Perfect one special lunch and just make it every weekend, for the rotation of guests that turn up. If you have different guests every weekend they won’t know that you do this and you will look perfectly at ease turning out a wonderful lunch.

Here is my auto-pilot lunch that got its test spin last weekend, to rave reviews, I may add. These crostinis  will be appearing on the menu every Saturday for the next 8 weeks!

These crostini were featured in an article in the June 2011 issue of Bon Appetit. I have adapted them slightly. The first one features ripe peaches, ricotta and honey. I made Homemade Ricotta Cheese, but feel free to use store-bought. Just don’t try making this with less than perfectly ripe peaches. Although the peaches I bought were not yet local, they were the “tree ripened” variety, and after a few days on the kitchen counter, they smelled like peaches.

The finished crostini get a drizzle of honey just before serving.

The second crostini has a base of feta, sour cream and pickled jalapenos. It is topped with grilled corn, cilantro and a squeeze of lime. For these I used a multi-grain baguette and rubbed the  grilled bread slices with a garlic clove.

I set out all the prepared ingredients on trays and let everyone assemble their own. Much easier and way more fun. There are so many excellent quality Artisan breads available in supermarkets now. Have fun with your choices but be sure you slice the bread thinly (less than 1/2 an inch thick). You want the toppings to be the star, not the bread.

Click here to print the recipe for Peach and Ricotta Crostini.

Click here to print the recipe for Grilled Corn Crostini