tips and tricks
FRESH INDULGENCES
Seasonal fruits make tasty desserts.
WRITTEN BY SANDRA MACIAS
PHOTOS BY SHEA EVANS
P astry chefs are such sweet talkers. Sugar and spice and every sweet indulgence just jelly-roll off their tongues as smoothly as ganache. Add summer desserts with seasonal fruits to the conversation, and their tone goes soft with sun-kissed pleasure.
Ah, those golden peaches and nectarines, jeweled berries, rich plums, sweet cherries, and luscious pears. All work well in summer desserts, adding juicy, fruity depths of flavor. Choose unblemished, ripe, but slightly firm fruit, as freshly picked as possible, advise the following pastry pros. Farmers’ markets are a good place to start. See our listing at https://ediblerenotahoe.com
“When they are ripe and perfect,” says Robin Jones, pastry chef at Roxy in the Eldorado Resort Casino in Reno, “you don’t have to do much more with them.”
Keep it simple; let the fruit speak for itself. The following recipes are classic, simple-is-best examples.
Sandra Macias, a Reno food writer, would never call herself a baker. But when apricots and cherries are in season, she tries her best with two perennial desserts: apricot tart and cherry clafouti. Both are easy and well received, and make her look like a pastry pro.
Fresh Peach Cake
(courtesy of Maarten VanKruyssen, executive pastry chef, Reno Provisions. Serves 10 to 12)
This cake can be made with apples or other stone fruits, such as nectarines. You will need a 10-inch cake pan.
4 peaches, peeled and diced small
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
10 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons cornstarch
Preheat oven to 340 degrees F.
In a bowl, toss peaches with lemon juice and a handful sugar (from cup called for). Set aside.
In mixing bowl, beat together eggs and remaining sugar well. Add melted butter and mix. Add all dry ingredients; blend until smooth. By hand, gently fold in peaches.
Put dough in greased, 10-inch cake pan. Bake for about 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream — or, if you have both, even better.
Fresh Fruit Grunt
(courtesy of Natalie Sellers, co-owner-chef, 4th St. Bistro in Reno. Serves 6 to 8)
Don’t dismiss this delicious dessert, dating back to colonial days, because of its name. A grunt (also known as a slump, depending on what New England state you live in) belongs to the large cobbler clan, which includes crisps, pandowdy, and brown Betty. The grunt differs from its cousins in its cooking method. Instead of baking, it cooks in a heavy pot on the stovetop. The grunt gets its name from the sounds the fruit makes as it bubbles and cooks. The slump is named for its appearance after it is served — it slumps.
6 cups fresh fruit (peaches, berries, plums, etc.; use combination of fruits or just one kind. If using peaches, peel first and slice)
½ to ¾ cup sugar
⅛ cup water
Squeeze of lemon juice
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
Vanilla extract, brandy, or port, to taste (optional)
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup buttermilk
Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in bowl or food processor. Cut in butter until pea-sized, using pastry blender or food processor. Mix in buttermilk. Set aside.
Mix fruit, sugar, water, lemon, and spices in heavy, nonreactive pan with tight-fitting lid. Bring to boil and cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low; drop tablespoon-sized dough balls on top of fruit mixture. Cover with lid. Cook for 15 minutes without lifting lid.
Serve with homemade vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.
Pavlova with Fresh Fruit
(courtesy of Robin Jones, pastry chef, Roxy, Eldorado Hotel Resort in Reno. Serves 6)
This meringue-based dessert was named after Russian ballerina, Anna Pavlova. It was created in the 1920s on the occasion of her tour to Australia and New Zealand, where the dessert still is in those nations’ culinary repertoires. It is a favorite in the summer when fruit is at its peak.
4 egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Fresh berries or sliced ripe fruit
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Place sheet of parchment paper on sheet pan. Draw 9-inch circle on paper, using 9-inch plate as guide. Turn paper over so circle is on reverse side. (You don’t want pen or pencil marks on meringue.)
Mix egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in electric mixer, using whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Sdd sugar slowly.
Turn to high speed and mix until stiff peaks form. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in cornstarch, white vinegar, and vanilla.
Pipe out or pile meringue on parchment paper, keeping within outlined circle. Smooth within circle, indenting it slightly to hold fruit.
Bake for about 45 minutes. Turn off oven, keep door closed, and let meringue cool completely.
Remove cooled meringue to serving plate and spread top with prepared berries or fresh, sliced fruit, leaving a little border of meringue. If desired, top with fruit coulis and/or whipped cream.
Tips from pastry pros
To peel or not to peel
Follow the recipe. If no instruction, it is your choice. To peel, use a peeler or blanch fruit.
To blanch: cut an X gently in the bottom of the fruit, being careful not to cut deeply into the flesh. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; have an ice-water bath ready. Working in batches, lower 2 or 3 fruits into the boiling water with a slotted spoon. Blanch 10 seconds; transfer to ice bath. When cool, pull or slip off skins, starting at the X.
Quick and easy desserts
Make a simple fruit tart, using ready-made puff pastry (in the frozen section of your supermarket). Cut defrosted puff pastry sheet into squares, add fresh, cut-up fruit, sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon sugar, and bake.
Make creative ice cream sandwiches with homemade or store-bought cookies and ice cream. Experiment with combinations: basil sugar cookies with peach ice cream; white chocolate and cranberry cookies with lemon gelato … you get the idea.
Serve homemade vanilla ice cream, topped with port and berries.
Grilling matters
Grilled fruit caramelizes and gains a subtle smoky flavor. All of our pastry pros rate the peach as their favorite to grill. Here are three ideas for serving a grilled peach:
- With a chiffonade of basil leaves
- With a scoop of vanilla ice cream (add a drizzle of fresh raspberry coulis and you have an updated peach melba)
- With mascarpone in the center and a drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar (at least 25 years old) over the top. If desired, sprinkle amaretti cookie crumbs as a finishing touch.
Tips courtesy of Robin Jones, pastry chef, Roxy, Eldorado Hotel Casino, Reno; Natalie Sellers, co-owner-chef, 4th St. Bistro, Reno; Maarten VanKruyssen, executive pastry chef, Reno Provisions, Reno.
