Cherry-berry feuilleté and peach buttermilk ice cream
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The summer annuals are showing off their colors here in Grand Rapids MI . . . .
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| lovely coleus in our little garden courtyard |
and the summer peaches are out in full force!
Fresh Michigan peaches are one of my favorite fruits. So of course I've been thinking of the many wonderful ways to use them. This time I was inspired by a peach buttermilk ice cream recipe from "Food and Wine" magazine.
I followed the recipe for my usual ice cream base (2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 5 large egg yolks, pinch of salt) replacing the cup of whole milk with buttermilk. I blanched 1.5 pounds of peaches, then peeled, pitted, sliced and blender-ized them with a squeeze of lemon juice, folding the purée into the cooled base.
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| peach purée at the ready |
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| ice cream base finishing its chill down |
I usually chill my base in the fridge for a day or two, then process in my ice cream maker and transfer to a freezer container several hours before serving.
I also wanted to use some cherries and blueberries I had on hand to complement the peach ice cream in a dessert I was planning for a family meal. And, to top it off, there was some reverse puff pastry in my freezer just waiting to be made into something oh-so-delicious.
The beauty of the feuilleté preparation is that I can roll, shape and bake them ahead of time and hold them either at room temperature if using the same day, or in the freezer for a number of days if planning a bit farther ahead.
When ready to fill them, I simply push down the center layers of puff to make room for the fruit mixture that will be mounded in the feuilleté.
I mixed 4 cups of fruit (cherry/blueberry combo) with a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, 3-4 tablespoons granulated sugar (I like my fruit on the tart side) and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. I then cooked this concoction on med-low heat until bubbly and thickened.
Note: this quantity of fruit filling was enough for 7-8 feuilletés about 3.5 inches square.
Then I scooped a mound of filling in the center of each feuilleté and baked at 350ºF for about 10-15 minutes. Since the puff pastry is already baked and the filling already cooked, it's really just a matter of heating everything up.
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| the end result! |
I know I've mentioned crumble before in this blog. It's a great thing to have on hand and is so easy to make. Make as much or as little as you'd like.
Simply mix equal weights flour and sugar in a medium bowl, sand in the same weight of cool, diced butter to form coarse crumbs. In this case I added some matcha powder with the flour and sugar (you don't need much).
Spread the crumbs out on a parchment lined sheet pan and bake at 325ºF, stirring and breaking up clumps every 5 minutes or so until lightly browned and crisp, 10-15 minutes total. Let cool.
Store in a zip-top bag in the freezer and use at will!
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| Mmmmmm! |
While the ice cream was a bit more icy in texture than I had hoped (I suspect due to using low fat buttermilk rather than whole milk, plus the water content of the fruit purée), the contrast of the tangy peachy coolness with the tart cherry-berry filling and buttery, flakey puff was oh-so-good indeed.
Three cheers for summer fruits! Hip hip hooray . . . .
