This is the perfect time of year to enjoy a variety of fruit. It is still possible to find strawberries; peaches are in season now, and blackberries and blueberries are not far behind. There are numerous ways to serve all of these fruits; we have included some of our ideas in previous columns. Some relatively simple ways to highlight the taste of fresh fruit are in sorbets or ice cream - we use peaches in today's recipes. Zabaglione is another easy accompaniment for any type of berry, or even better, a combination of berries. It is good served either warm or cold. For something more complicated, the strawberry tart from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961) is worth the effort. It's almost too pretty to eat.
Ingredients:
Toss peach slices with lemon juice and set aside. In a large saucepan, combine cream and milk. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Add vanilla. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow. Gradually add the warm cream mixture to the bowl, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan and stir over low heat until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (7-10 minutes). Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in corn syrup. Refrigerate until completely chilled.
In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the peach slices. Add 1/3 of the cream mixture and process until smooth. Whisk in remaining cream mixture. Pour into ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions. 8 servings.
Ingredients:
Place the peaches, sugar, and lemon juice in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until the mixture is smooth. With the processor running, pour in the cream and liqueur and process until blended. Freeze in an ice cream maker following manufacturer's instructions. 1 quart.
Zabaglione Ingredients:
Mix the Zabaglione ingredients together in the top of a double boiler. Cook over rapidly boiling water, whisking constantly until the mixture doubles in bulk and thickens. Remove from the heat and continue whisking for 2-3 minutes. Serve warm over mixed berries (Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and/or blackberries). To cool, place pan into container of cold water and whisk until the mixture cools to room temperature. Refrigerate until serving time. 6 servings.
Ingredients:
Ingredients for Custard Filling:
To make the custard, gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating 2-3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow. Beat in the flour. While beating the egg mixture, slowly add the boiling milk. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and place over moderately high heat. Stir with a whisk, reaching all over the bottom of the pan. As the sauce comes to a boil, it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as it's beaten. When the sauce reaches a boil, continue to cook, beating for 2-3 minutes to cook the flour. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and cognac. Refrigerate. Makes 2 1/2 cups.
Clean and hull the strawberries. Let dry thoroughly. Boil the currant jelly, sugar and cognac in a small saucepan until the drops from a spoon are sticky (228 degrees). Paint the interior of the shell with a thin coating of the glaze and allow to set for 5 minutes. Reserve remaining glaze.
Spread a 1/2 inch layer of custard filling in the bottom of the pastry shell. Arrange a design of strawberries (small ends facing up) placed closely together, with the largest berry in the center and graduate down in size with the smaller berries at the edge. Spoon or carefully brush a thin layer of the glaze over the berries. 8 servings.
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