Sunday 15 March 2009

Pesche Dolci - Italian Pastries


Pesche dolci pastries get their name from peach resemblance (pesche means peaches). They are quite popular in the Italian region of Lazio. I got this recipe from Federica, a friend of mine that lives in Viterbo, near the town where I grew up – Montefiascone.


Ingredients
• Plain Flour 600g
• Caster Sugar 300g
• Butter 100g
• Eggs 4
• Vanilla essence
• 1 sachet of Pane Degli Angeli or a similar instant leavening agent for desserts
• Alkermes Liquor
• Crema Pasticcera
• Nutella

Crema Pasticcera
• 500g whole milk
• Half vanilla pod
• 4 egg yolks
• 120g caster sugar
• 50g flour

First of all prepare the Crema Pasticcera. In a saucepan, bring the milk slowly to the boil with the vanilla pod. Allow to cool slightly and remove the vanilla pod, scraping the seeds back into the milk. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar. Sift the plain flour and mix thoroughly. Pour the milk onto the egg mix whisking continuously. Return to a clean pan and stir with a wooden spatula to the boil over a gentle heat until it starts to thicken, then using a whisk stir to ensure it is of a smooth texture. Place some clingfilm over the surface and chill. The clingfilm will prevent a skin from forming.
Grease an oven tray and preheat the oven to 180C. Put the eggs and sugar into a food mixer and whisk for about 10-15 minutes. Add the liquefied butter and the vanilla essence and continue to whisk to obtain a soft and creamy mixture. Sift the flour. Gently fold the flour into the egg mixture.

Make little dough balls (approx. 20 grams each) and place them onto the greesed oven tray. Cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool down a little bit. Make a little whole into each peach half, and fill one with Crema Pasticcera and one with Nutella. Join the two halves together. Brush each peach with Alkermes liquor and sprikle generously with granulated sugar.

Place the peaches in cupcake cases and put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Pesche Dolci

E` un dolce molto popolare nella regione Lazio. Questa ricetta e` di Federica, una mia amica che vive a Viterbo - mentre io sono cresciuta a Montefiascone, a pochi chilometri da Viterbo.

Pesche Dolci

Ingredienti
• Farina `00` 600g
• Zucchero 300g
• Burro 100g
• Uova 4
• Essenza di vaniglia
• 1 sacchetto di lievito per dolci Pane Degli Angeli o simile
• Alkermes
• Crema Pasticcera
• Nutella

Crema Pasticciera
• 500 g di latte intero
• Mezzo baccello di vaniglia
• 100 g di tuorli (circa 4)
• 120 g di zucchero
• 50 g di farina

Versare il latte in un pentolino e aggiungere il baccello di vaniglia tagliato a metà nel senso della lunghezza e portare a bollore. Togliere la pentola dal fuoco e lasciare in infusione per almeno 30 minuti, in modo che la vaniglia rilasci tutto il suo aroma. Filtrare il tutto in una pentola pulita. Lavorare i tuorli con lo zucchero, aggiungere la farina setacciata e amalgamare il tutto con cura. Rimettere il latte sul fuoco e, prima che raggiunga il bollore, toglierlo dal fuoco ed incominciare a versarlo a filo nel composto di tuorli mescolando velocemente. Rimettere la pentola sul fuoco e, mescolando di continuo con una spatola di legno, portare a cottura. Coprire la crema con della pellicola alimentare per evitare la formazione di pellicina e far raffreddare.

Pesche Dolci Lavorate molto bene le uova, lo zucchero e la vanillina fino ad ottenere un composto gonfio e spumoso. Incorporate tutti gli altri ingredienti fino ad ottenere un impasto omogeneo e morbido. Formate tante palline (grandi come una noce) e distribuitele sulla placca del forno imburrata. Cuocete le mezze pesche a 180° per circa 8 minuti. Tutte le infornate seguenti devono cuocere in forno solo per 5 minuti. Sfornarle e farle raffreddare. Con un cucchiaino scavare un pochino le sfere dal lato piano, riempirle con crema pasticcera o nutella (o tutti e due!). Unire le due sfere per formare una pesca. Bagnarle con alchermes puro o diluito e rotolarle nello zucchero.

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10 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laura - I cannot wait to try to make these - they look like works of art. A few of the items on the ingredients list, I might have to do a bit of a search for, but I have a new mission!

    Sorry, I posted the previous comment, under my blogger account - not the right one.

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  3. Thank you, very kind of you.
    You might struggle a bit finding the Alkermes in San Francisco - I cannot find it here in London, so I bring it from Italy.
    Good luck with your mission :-). Make sure you don`t overcook the pesche - they have to be really soft. I also suggest you to weigh the dough before forming the dough balls (aboout 20g each). Let me know how it goes.

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  4. They're so cute. I once saw these on TV. Your header photo really got me.

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  5. Hello Wendyywy, many thanks. Yes, they are very cute and absolutely delicious too!

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  6. They're beutiful!! I wonder if you can also use an orange-coloured and, say, a pink-coloured liquor to make them look like real peaches?.. Such a lovely recipe, thank you! Maybe I'll try making these for my birthday!

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  7. Hi Alina, I think it's a great idea..
    If you make them, make sure you don't overcook them. For best results, they should be very, very soft.
    Ciao!

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  8. I'd like to try the recipe, but I don't know what Pane Degli Angeli is. Is it yeast or baking powder?

    Thanks, Rimma

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  9. Hi, how many grams in Pane Degli Angeli? And what is Pane Degli Angeli: yeast or baking powder?

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  10. Hi Rimma, so sorry for the late reply. Pane degli angeli is a baking powder used in Italy. You can replace it with any baking powder (about 20 grams). ciao!

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