There’s something about certain recipes that just reaches right out and grabs you. Whatever that something may be, from mildly unconventional or somewhat unorthodox to totally off the wall, some recipes are just plain compelling.
Downright irresistible, you could say.
And let’s all hope we don’t end up saying something else about this one. Basically speaking, it’s just a peach dessert. Nothing unusual or scary about peach desserts, after all. Not usually, anyway.
But this one — this one here — is something else. Made with whole peaches, for one thing. They’re arranged around an empty, upside-down custard cup. In a pie plate. A drizzle of brown sugar, butter and vanilla dresses them, and then a buttery biscuit dough blankets the whole shebang.
It goes into the oven and — shazam! wowsa! — magic happens. The custard cup slurps up the butterscotchy/peachy syrup so that, when it has cooled and the pie plate’s flopped over, the peaches wind up snuggled in the flaky dough and the syrup is in the cup!
Or so says the recipe, anyway, which is taken from my copy of “America’s Best Lost Recipes.”
Before we begin, though, there are two things to keep in mind. Remember, now, since I haven’t as yet had a chance to try this simple-sounding thing myself, for all I know, getting it to actually turn out the way it’s supposed to might/could possibly be just as iffy as the weather has been lately. But I don’t think so, and I sure hope not.
The other thing is that, since it depends on fresh whole peaches, we’ll have to get a hustle on and get some while they’re still readily available.
Now let’s see what happens when we make this heirloom recipe for:
PEACH PUZZLE
Peaches and syrup:
7medium whole peaches, peeled (choose peaches that are neither very ripe nor rock hard; they should give a little when squeezed)
3/4cup light brown sugar
6tablespoons water
2tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8teaspoon salt
Dough:
11/4cups all-purpose flour
2tablespoons granulated sugar
1tablespoon baking powder
1/4teaspoon salt
5tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled (or in a block, frozen, if making by hand)
6tablespoons milk
Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream
Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place a 6-ounce custard cup or ramekin upside down in the center of a 9-inch pie plate and arrange the peaches around the cup. Combine brown sugar, water, butter, vanilla and salt in a medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts, about 5 minutes. Pour syrup over the peaches.
For the dough, pulse flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until blended; add butter and pulse until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal. Turn into a medium bowl. (To make dough by hand, use the large holes of a box grater to grate frozen butter into the bowl with the flour mixture, then rub flour-coated pieces between your fingers until the mixture turns pale yellow and is coarse.) Using a rubber spatula, fold milk into flour mixture, pressing mixture against sides of bowl to form the dough. Squeeze dough together and flatten into a disk.
On lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 9-inch circle. Lay the dough directly over the peaches and press and fit the dough so that it fits snugly around the peaches. (Dough will stretch as you fit it around the peaches, but do not attach dough to pie plate.) Bake until the top is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer pie plate to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes.
Place a large rimmed serving plate over the top of the pie plate and quickly invert the puzzle onto the plate. Cut into wedges around each peach and serve, pouring syrup over each portion. Serve topped with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.
The next Forum will appear in Friday’s Time Out section.
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