Tag Archives: Summer Desserts

Wild Blueberry and Peach Pie

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I have a complicated relationship with pie. It’s not a category of baking I feel especially passionate about. Cookies and buttercream are more my love language. But my husband is a pie person. His mom used to bake him peach pies every summer. The last summer she was alive, she was quite ill, but lovingly baked him several pies, which he tucked away in the freezer, The following spring she died. We still had one peach pie left in the freezer. My husband could not bring himself to eat it. He got comfort from seeing that last peach pie, every time he opened the freezer door. I understood completely.

And then, the unthinkable happened. I accidentally left the freezer door ajar when we went away for a long weekend. We came home to puddles on the floor and a totally defrosted and smelly freezer. I felt terrible. He said all the right things, “It’s ok, it was just an accident, don’t worry about it….” but I felt terrible.

I now make him pies twice a year. An apple crumble pie in the fall for his birthday and a peach or peach and blueberry pie every summer. After 34 years, my pie making skills have improved. He greatly appreciates when I bake pie for him.

Here is how this summer’s version came together. Peaches and blueberries are a beautiful flavour combination. I love to use the tiny wild blueberries for this pie. It will still be perfectly delicious with regular cultivated blueberries if you can’t get wild ones. This year I did not even bother to peel the peaches. Turns out that the skins completely break down when baking, so no need to peel them.

I got extra fancy and made a lattice top and braided crust. You could, of course, omit the lattice and just do a plain lid. It will still be delicious. If you decide you want the braided edge, you’ll need to make an extra 1/2 recipe of pie dough.

My thickener of choice is Minute tapioca (also called instant tapioca). I find that cornstarch or flour make a cloudy filling. Tapioca makes for a thick and glossy filling that slices beautifully.

Please be patient and wait at least 4 hours for the pie to set and cool before slicing. You will be rewarded with picture perfect slices. A scoop of vanilla ice cream would not be overkill.

Click here to print recipe for Wild Blueberry and Peach Pie.

Strawberry Rhubarb Swirl Ice cream

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It’s no secret to regular readers of this blog that I adore rhubarb. That being said, I was shocked to discover there are 18 rhubarb recipes in the archives of my blog! I love the tartness that rhubarb brings to desserts. It’s a great way to achieve flavour balance in desserts, keeping the sweetness at bay.

Local rhubarb does not really arrive in Ottawa until early July and right now I am awash in a sea of rhubarb. Because I no longer have a garden (I’m in a condo now), my son planted a rhubarb patch in his backyard for me for Mother’s Day a few years ago. Rhubarb is a prolific perennial. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

This ice cream is a vanilla base with roasted strawberry-rhubarb compote mixed in. Roasting is an excellent way to boost the flavour profile of fruit. Mix 1.5 cups of halved strawberries, 1 cup sliced rhubarb and 2 tablespoons sugar together on a sheet pan, and roast it in a 350°F oven for about 15 minutes, until the fruit is tender. Mash the fruit with a potato masher until it becomes a chunky sauce. Chill the sauce while you make the ice cream.

If you find yourself with a plethora of rhubarb, slice it and freeze it. Then all winter long you can roast it with frozen strawberries and spoon it over your morning yogurt. It makes winter more bearable.

I used the basic vanilla ice cream recipe from my Cuisinart Ice Cream recipe book. It’s an excellent base for all kinds of flavour mix-ins. The strawberry rhubarb mixture gets swirled in once the ice cream is churned but still soft.

Feel free to serve the ice cream in cones or if you want to make a special sundae dessert, serve it in pretty glasses with this Salted Pistachio Crumble on top. I’m all about texture. Save some of the strawberry rhubarb juice to drizzle on the sundaes.

Click here to print recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Swirl Ice cream with Salted Pistachio Crumble.

Rhubarb Raspberry Pavlova

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Fairly close to the top of my “To Do” list was an item I have been putting off for quite a while (aside from rescheduling my dental cleaning). I have been wanting to master the skills necessary for baking a beautiful pavlova.

I turned to Zoë François for some advice. Her pavlovas, along with the ones created by Rachel Korinek of @twolovesstudio are ones I I have long emulated.

A pavlova is a meringue based dessert named after famed Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova. She toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926. The creation of this dessert sparked the famous “Pav War.” New Zealand claims that the chef of a Wellington hotel at the time created the dessert in her honour, apparently inspired by her bell shaped tutu. Australians, on the other hand, claim that the pavlova was invented at a hotel in Perth, and named after the ballerina because the meringue was “as light as Pavlova.”

The meringue base is typically topped with whipped cream and then some type of fruit. Baking the meringue is a bit tricky and requires paying attention to the small details. I baked quite a few last month and here is what I learned.

  • Make sure the bowl of your stand mixer is absolutely clean and free of any grease. Fat is the enemy of meringue.
  • Cold eggs are easier to separate than room temperature eggs as the yolks are firmer when cold and less likely to break. Let cold egg whites sit for at least 30 minutes before beating. Room temperature egg whites will produce greater volume.
  • Use superfine sugar to make the meringue. It dissolves much faster than regular sugar and will give you a smoother meringue. Any undissolved sugar leads to a gritty and/or weeping meringue. I learned that the hard way! If you can’t find any at the supermarket, just place regular granulated sugar in the food processor and process it for about 45 seconds. 
  • Know your peaks. When it comes to gauging doneness of beaten egg whites, you need to understand the stages of doneness. Soft peaks will flop over. Medium peaks will stand up but not completely straight. Stiff peaks stand straight upright.
  • Beat the meringue on low and steady speed. (speed 2 or 4 on my KitchenAid mixer) A slower speed results in a more stable meringue. Once all the sugar is added you can increase the speed to high.
  • Be patient when adding the sugar to the egg whites. Slowly spoon in the sugar while whisking the egg whites. It should take about 5 minutes to add the sugar. Adding the sugar slowly allows it to dissolve. Adding it too quickly will deflate all the air bubbles you are working so hard to achieve.

I find meringue to be very sweet, so I decided to add a tart rhubarb curd to the filling to counterbalance all the sugar. I also paired tart rhubarb with fresh raspberries for an added hit of tartness. The rhubarb is roasted in the oven. The curd and the roasted rhubarb can be made a day in advance. Assemble pavlova the day you plan to serve it.

Here’s a video showing how the assembly comes together. Your meringue will likely crack in the oven. As Zoe says, “that’s the nature of the beast.” Cracks notwithstanding, it will still taste delicious. You will need to carefully remove the top layer of baked meringue to allow you to fill the pavlova with curd, fruit and whipped cream. The outer shell is firm, but inside you will discover a softer marshmallowy layer.

Click to access Rhubarb-Raspberry-Pistachio-Pavlova.pdf

Blackberry Meringue Tarts

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If you are looking for a baking project, and take great pleasure in creating beauty, these tarts are for you. If you just want a quick sugar rush, this is not the recipe for you. These blackberry meringue tarts were inspired by Anna Olsen. She created something similar on her show Bake with Anna.

There are three component parts of the recipe. The blackberry jam, the pastry and the meringue. Feel free to split the work over two days if you like, making the jam and tart shells on day one and filling and topping with meringue on day two.

The tart shells are totally baked before filling with the jam. Make sure they are golden brown and the bottom crust is not too blonde. Once the shells are cooled, brush them with a little melted white chocolate. This provides a barrier so that the jam does not make the pastry soggy. Plus, the sweet white chocolate is a fantastic flavour partner for the tart blackberry jam. I add a bit of rice wine vinegar to my jam to prevent it from becoming too sweet, a tip I learned from Jake Cohen.

The meringue I suggest for this recipe is a Swiss meringue. While a French meringue is simpler to make (see this article for a detailed description on the different kinds of meringue), it is not as stable as a Swiss meringue and you won’t be able to achieve the fine definition of those gorgeous piped stars.

Feel free to leave the meringue snowy white, or use a mini culinary torch, if you have one, to burnish the meringue. You could also just pop it under the broiler for a minute or two.

Click here to print recipe for Blackberry-Meringue-TartsDownload

Mocha Almond Fudge Swirl Ice Cream

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One of my strongest childhood memories, is spending Sundays with my dad. He would take me and my sisters out for the day to give my mom a break. In the summer it would be swimming and then dinner and ice cream. In the winter, it was usually a movie, dinner and ice cream. I recall seeing Mary Poppins 7 1/2 times. The 1/2 was because my little sister threw up and we had to leave.

Dinner was usually at the Copper Kettle. We’d always have fried chicken in a basket. I fondly remember the little packets of honey that we’d open with our teeth, and drizzle all over the chicken and fries. After dinner, we’d go to Bresslers Ice Cream at Bayview Village. That was when Bayview Village was a strip mall, and not the fancy place it is now.

Everyone had their favourite flavour of ice cream. My sisters ordered strawberry (Jody), bubblegum, (Lynne), and maple walnut (Faith). My baby sister (Bo) was too little to come and my baby brother (Jay) wasn’t even born yet! I always got two scoops, chocolate on the bottom and pistachio on top. My dad always got pistachio. He loved all nuts.

When I was a teenager, I discovered Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice Cream at Baskin and Robbins. I adored the deep, slightly bitter coffee flavour, balanced by ripples of chocolate fudge sauce. And the little pop of crunch when you’d bite into a nugget of almond was easily the best part for me.

Thanks to my friend Brigitte, I have recreated this iconic flavour at home. The base coffee recipe is hers. I added swirls of hot fudge sauce and toasted salted almonds. It comes together really quickly. Store-bought fudge sauce will totally work, but it only takes a few minutes to make your own. My favourite recipe is from Deb.

Extra hot fudge sauce and almonds are totally optional, but highly recommended!

Click here to print recipe for Mocha-Almond-Fudge-Swirl-Ice-CreamDownload

Brown Butter Apricot Almond Tart

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Of all the summer drupes, apricots are my least favourite. (Had to sneak in my new word of the day). They are extremely fragile, and the window when they are perfectly ripe, is very tiny. Too soon and they are hard and sour. Too late, they are dry and mealy. Since apricots are a climacteric fruit (another new word for me! That’s two today. I’m on a roll), it’s best to buy them firm and let them ripen on the counter. When ripe, they will be bright orange with a rosy blush.

Mini tarts are a bit more work, but there is no denying the cuteness factor.

For eating out of hand, I’d always choose a peach, plum or nectarine before an apricot. But something happens to the flavour and texture when they are cooked. The heat of the oven coaxes out their sweetness, but not to the point of cloying. They still keep a hint of their tart nature.

Start with a brown butter crust. I have used this crust before here. It adds such a wonderful nutty flavour. You will need to blind-bake the crust, to give it a head start. No one likes a soggy bottom. An almond filling is spread over the partially baked shell and then down go the apricots. It’s worth taking the time to be precise in arranging them. Or not. You do you.

A brushing of warmed and strained apricot jam on top is a nice finishing touch to make your tart shimmer. A few toasted sliced almonds and a bit of icing sugar are optional but really dress up the tart.

Click here to print recipe for Apricot-Almond-TartDownload

Pluot and Thyme Galette

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Do you guys know about pluots? They are a hybrid between Japanese plums and apricots. Unlike plums, which can sometimes be tinged with bitterness, pluots are brimming with sweetness. They come in a variety of hues, ranging from purple to red to green. Some varieties are speckled, like a dinosaur egg. Black plums would be a good substitute if you can’t find pluots.

Pie is not really my thing. But I adore galettes. They are essentially a free-form pie and their casual messiness really appeals to me. They come together so quickly. I like to make a few recipes of galette dough at a time. I roll them out into 13 inch circles, wrap them in plastic wrap and stick them in the freezer. I use them for sweet and savoury galettes all summer long.

https://youtu.be/YPnToE7njIE

Any red jam would work here. I used strawberry rhubarb, but raspberry, strawberry or even fig jam would be delicious.

The addition of fresh thyme really complements the sweet pluots. The tiny leaves of a few sprigs brings out the floral note of the pluots.

A scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream would not be unwelcome.

Click here to print recipe for Pluot-and-Thyme-GaletteDownload

Apricot Raspberry Crisp

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If we’re being completely honest here, and I think that we’ve known each other long enough for total transparency, fruit crisp is not really about the fruit. The fruit is just a vehicle for the buttery, crumbly crisp topping. Right?

My crisp topping incorporates butter, brown sugar, rolled oats, flour, a healthy pinch of salt and a lavish amount of toasted nuts. Today I opted for pistachios. I think they pair perfectly with apricots.

The topping comes together quickly, using your hands in a big bowl. Maker a double batch of the topping and store the extra in the freezer so you can make a crisp whenever the urge hits. It’s great in the fall with apples or pears and cranberries in the winter.

https://youtu.be/FVaoXEsgoWg

No need to peel apricots, just pit and dice. The amount of sugar you add will depend entirely on how ripe your apricots are. Start with 1/4 cup of sugar and taste. You can always add more. I like to thicken my crisp with Minit Tapioca. It does not make the juices cloudy like flour would. It’s available in the supermarket in the same aisle as Jell-O.

Click here to print recipe for Apricot Raspberry Crisp

Plum and Cherry Galette with Pistachio Crust

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Most recipes I post on this blog go through several iterations of testing before I deem them “blog worthy” . (Sort of like “sponge worthy”.) I don’t want to waste your time posting recipes that disappoint. As main taste tester, my husband happily eats most of my experiments. However, even he could not choke down first version of this galette. It was an epic fail.

I started with my favourite Galette Dough, spread it with a thin layer of pistachio paste, and dotted halved Bing Cherries over that. It looked pretty going into the oven.

But once baked, the pistachio paste became gummy, the zingy cherry flavour became muted and the chopped pistachios on top of the tart burned and became bitter.

I tackled the problems one at a time. It was clear that the pistachio flavour I was hoping for was not going to come from adding them on top of the dough. But what if I incorporated chopped pistachios into the dough? Bon Appetit has a great recipe for a savory galette, with a pistachio crust. This dough would work perfectly in a sweet application.

To tackle the dull cherry flavour, I decided to nix the fresh cherries and spread sour cherry jam on the galette. This is my favourite brand, but there are other brands available online or in the supermarket.

The final piece of the puzzle was figuring out what fruit to put on top. I had a bag of ripe plumcots in the fridge and their vibrant red interior would be gorgeous for this galette. Plums, apricots or pluots would also be excellent choices.

I like to think of a galette as a lazy-ass tart. No need to press into a pan or crimp edges. Just gently fold the dough to create an edge. The rustic appearance is part of the galette’s charm.

This galette was a home run. The gentle crunch of the pistachio in the crust added texture. The sour cherry jam was a perfect complement to the sweet plumcots.

Click here to print recipe for Plum and Cherry Galette with Pistachio Crust

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.