Peaches and Cream

• Denise
•  Published Jul 16, 2020  A 5 minute read about Culinary Adventures

It's July and after celebrating Independence Day, I know no better way to enjoy the summer than with peaches and cream. 

Table of Contents

1. Peaches and cream
2. Peaches and Cream Trifle
3. 1. Vanilla Pudding
   1. Ingredients
   2. Directions
4. 2. Rum Cake
   1. Ingredients
   2. Directions
5. 3. Butter Cookies
   1. Ingredients
   2. Directions
6. 4. Some assembly required
   1. Ingredients
   2. Directions

Peaches and cream

“Summer, summer fruits it wouldn’t be summer without them…”

Growing up in the US in the 80’s, I remember this jingle would accompany captivating photos of peaches…. Ah, the fruits of the summer! And so it is with great enthusiasm that I tackle this pantry-busting recipe, given I have softened ripe peaches and milk that needs to be used up quickly.

In fact, today.

Peaches and Cream Trifle

The idea came from Carrie’s Experimental Kitchen, however rather than use store-bought ingredients, I thought I would level-up my cooking and do this the pro home cook way and make everything from scratch.

This is actually a super-recipe that combines the best of three individual recipes to make up the total. These include:

• Celebrating Sweets - made from scratch vanilla pudding (mods below)
• Layers of Happiness - (copy cat) Sprinkles vanilla cupcake
• Te Company - spicy pineapple linzer cookies (mods below)

1. Vanilla Pudding

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2-1/4 cups 2% milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (Madagascar bourbon)

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, milk, and egg yolks. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking occasionally (every minute or two), until the mixture is bubbling all throughout (this took 7-8 minutes for mine).

   Once bubbling, continue cooking for one to two additional minutes, whisking once or twice, but not too vigorously (this can break down the binding properties). At this point the pudding should be thickened but still pourable, it will thicken more as it cools.

2. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla extract.

3. Transfer the pudding into a large bowl or into individual serving bowls. Cool until it is lukewarm, then cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for several hours or until chilled.

2. Rum Cake

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (allow to soften 2 hours)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3 teaspoons rum extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13x9” pyrex pan. Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, almond extract, and sour cream.
3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed. Make sure no lumps remain in batter.
5. Pour batter and bake for 20-35 minutes minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

3. Butter Cookies

As some of you know, these particular butter cookies made their first appearance on serenadewind when we were exploring Canned Food Recipes. This came in as our #2 choice and since we made quite a few modifications to the original recipe from Te Company, we thought we would list the ingredients here.

Ingredients

• 2 cups AP flour
• 3/4 cup pistachio flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter (softened)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk flours, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside
2. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until fluffy (about 3 minutes) Add egg beating well until smooth; beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients and beat until just combined
3. Divide dough into 3, roll into logs, and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 2 hours.
4. Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Cut cookies 1/4 “ thick and transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat mat.
5. Bake cookies until lightly golden (about 15 minutes). Cool completely.

4. Some assembly required

Ingredients

• Chilled vanilla pudding (full recipe)
• Rum cake (1/2 of recipe)
• Butter cookies (1/3 of recipe, optional)
• 6 small peaches
• 1 lemon
• 2 cups heavy cream

Directions

1. Prepare peaches
   1. Using the tip of a pairing knife, cut a small X through the skin of the bottom of the peach, taking care to not cut deeply into the flesh.
   2. Place the peach in a pot of boiling water for 10-15 seconds.
   3. Remove from boiling water and place directly into an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
   4. Once cool, use a pairing knife to catch the corner of skin at the base of the X and peel towards the stem. The skin will come right off!
   5. Once peeled, cut the peach in half, starting along the crease of the peach and running your knife all the way around. Twist the two halves to release one from the pit and then use the tip of a knife or fork to pry the pit out from the remaining side.
   6. Slice each half into 4-8 wedges and place in a bowl. Toss the juice of 1 lemon for every 8-10 peaches and ½ teaspoon of sugar for each peach added. The lemon juice will help prevent browning and the sugar will release juices from the peaches, helping prevent air pockets when freezing.
2. Whip cream
   1. Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
   2. Place the sugar into the mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks. Add zest from 1 lemon used in step 1.
   3. Store any unused portion in an airtight container for up to 10 hours. When ready to use, re-whisk for 10 to 15 seconds.
3. Assemble trifle in mason jars

   1. Place 1/4 cup of vanilla rum cake cubes into the bottom of a mason jar. Then spread with a couple dollops of vanilla pudding. Layer cookie crumbles, then spread a couple dollops of whipped cream. Repeat a second layer of each for the remaining ingredients. (Really, you can just eyeball this to get some nice even layers.)

   2. Repeat process for remaining mason jars.
   3. Place in the refrigerator until ready to serve, or freeze for up to 3 months.

This took a good portion of the day for me. It’s perfect for the pandemic life (when you’re at home and have time to kill), maybe not so much for the voyaging life, unless you’re connected to shore power.

We hope you enjoy this elevated peaches and cream trifle dessert.

Thanks for reading!

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