Peach Kolaches

I have been gathering recipes that include peaches for quite some time, however, the season is so short it is hard to fit all of them in. Which means I had to make a decision among the vast amount of recipes I have.

I finally settled on this particular one. It was actually the picture that sold me. It is on the back cover of the book and inside as well. I can't help thinking that I have passed on making some really good recipes due to no picture. In reality, I should not dwell on it too long. After all, in this day and age, if the recipe truly is "all that" then the picture should be there.

Rebecca Rather really has hit a home run with this particular recipe. The bread part has the perfect sweetness with the flavor and texture that we all expect in a kolache. Also, the idea of the peaches in the middle is pure baking genius. After one of these, you will never think of kolaches the same way.

The peaches are mixed with peach jam and Rebecca suggests Fischer and Wieser brand. As I scanned the rows of different jam, I did come across that brand. However, by some delicious act of fate, there was just Amaretto Pecan Peach Jam in that brand. This was going to be one flavorful filling! I was also drawn to the big white peaches, which proved to be a good choice. They were large and when cut, sweet juice dripped out of them.

So, act quickly and take the most advantage of peach season this year. With recipes like this, you will be most likely to run out than have too many on hand. Be sure that when making these you allow time for the dough to rise. There are 3 sessions, totaling a minimum of 6 hours. However, you can do the 2nd session as overnight instead of the 4 hours.

Peach Kolaches
adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

Ingredients/Dough
8 1/2 cups flour
1 (1/4 oz) package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp of salt
2 cups milk
1/2 cup lukewarm water (110 to 115 degrees)
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs

Ingredients/Filling
1 cup peach jam
2 cups pitted chopped peaches

Ingredients/Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
3 tbs butter (chilled and diced)

For the dough, the warm components will need to be made first. Start with a small size saucepan.  Pour in the milk and place over medium heat and let warm up until it reaches a simmer. Remove from heat and place a candy thermometer in the milk to register the temperature while cooling. The milk is ready to use once it cools down to about 110 to 115 degrees. While that is cooling, sprinkle the yeast into the bowl of lukewarm water.  Stir and then let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. The last warm ingredient is the butter.  It can either be melted in the microwave or in a saucepan. This component will also need to cool for about 5 minutes after melted.

Crack the eggs into a bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the salt, sugar and melted butter. Once blended stir in the warm yeast. Then mix in the milk.

Add 2 cups of the flour to the wet mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix until blended. Continue with the same process until all flour has been blended. As it starts getting thicker, you may want to switch to using your hands to for blending the flour into the batter. Once this process is complete, oil the interior of a bowl and shape the dough into a ball. Transfer dough to the bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place to double in size for about 1-2 hours. To test for correct completion time, touch the dough lightly and see if it still retains the dent. If it does, this rise session is complete. 

Punch dough down once or twice. Cover again and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours. You can also let stay in the refrigerator overnight.

Line a 12 x 17 inch jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Then grease the interior sides and corners. To make the filling, place the chopped peaches and the jam in a medium size bowl and mix until evenly blended.  For the streusel, just blend all the ingredients together in a small food processor until it is sandy and clumps together in your hands. Set both aside.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide into 16-18 even pieces and shape each piece into a ball. The ball should be about 2 1/2 inches in diameter. Make an indentation or form a round biscuit with a well in the center. Bear in mind that the dough will rise again, so make sure the well is significant. Place each formed piece on the prepared pan.  The end result should be a pan with 3 kolaches across and 6 down.  If you ended up with 2 more, place those in a small, low lipped parchment lined pan.

Fill the kolaches evenly with the peach filling. Cover rolls with a towel and let rise again in a warm place for about another hour.  At the 1/2 hour mark, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Uncover the kolaches and sprinkle with the streusel.  Place the kolaches in the oven and bake until golden brown on top.  Bake time should be about 25-30 minutes.  Let cool 20 minutes prior to serving.  These can be served warm or at room temperature.

Tips and Notes:
1. The rise time in the fridge created a dry top on the dough.  It did not impact the flavor, but next time I would brush lightly with oil before refrigerating.

2. My dough was formed into ashtray type holders for filling and I kept the filling from mounding above the dough. I noticed in the pictures from the author, the filling was mounded above the dough. The end result is spill over. Since the rolls are touching, the spill over will not be in the pan. It will make the peaches more noticeable and give the rolls more coverage. How you fill and create the dough wells are personal preference.

3. Really juicy peaches will release of lot of the juice when mixed with the jam, the more they set the more juices are released.  If this happens, be sure to drain the excess liquid off, you do not want to use a soupy filling in the kolaches.
                                         **LAST YEAR: Frosted Banana Bars**
    

Chocolate Pecan Sugar Crusted Snails

This posting is the second one.  The first post consists of the base recipe of the croissant dough and can be found here:Croissant Dough .  There are several options out there for filling pastries, but the combo of chocolate orange pastry cream and toasted pecans was the one that really appealed to me.

After making the dough yesterday, I found the second step of making the filling and the assembly to be quick and easy.

Even with all the time this recipe requires, the end result is well worth it.  The various textures packed into this pastry are really wonderful on the palate.  Imagine the buttery crunch of the outside layer of the pastry, then the smooth chocolate orange pastry cream and the crunch of nuts. Also, the inner flaky layers of the croissant are not to be overlooked.  This recipe makes 32 pastries.

Chocolate Pecan Sugar Crusted Snails
Adapted from Great Coffee Cakes

Ingredients/ Chocolate Pastry Cream
2 tbs cornstarch
1 cup milk
1/2  cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
2 pinches of salt
4 egg yolks
2-3.5 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate bars
1 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients/for assembly and topping
1 recipe for croissant dough (see link above)
2 cups chopped toasted pecans
2 eggs beaten with 2 tsp water
1/2 cup milk
6 tbs sparkling sugar

For the pastry cream, add the egg yolks to a medium bowl and beat on medium speed until they have a pale yellow hue.  Take out 2 tbs from the measured sugar and set aside.  Pour the remaining sugar (6 tbs) into the yolks in 1 tbs intervals, beating for about 10 seconds after each addition.  Turn the mixer to low and beat in the cornstarch and salt.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan, stir together the milk, 2 tbs sugar and orange zest.  Place saucepan over medium high heat and remove when it reaches right below the boiling point.  Stream in 1/3 of this mixture into the egg batter and whisk together.  Then transfer the egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining heated milk.   Place pan over medium high heat and stir constantly as mixture cooks.

Once it reaches the consistency of pudding, remove from heat and sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the surface.  Lightly press the chocolate into the pastry cream and let set for 2 minutes.  Using a spatula, mix the chocolate pieces into the pastry cream.  Once smooth, stir in the vanilla.

Transfer the mixture to a heat proof bowl and lay a buttered piece of plastic wrap over the top surface and let cool.

Take the dough out of the fridge and cut with bench scraper into 4 equal squares.  Keep one out and return the other three pieces (covered in plastic) to the fridge.  Place the dough piece on a floured surface and prepare a rimmed baking sheet by dabbing butter in the corners and lining with parchment.

Roll the dough into a rectangle, measuring 16X8 with the 16 inch sides parallel with the edge of the counter.  To keep the dough from shrinking, pierce the surface of the dough at 1 inch intervals.  Measure out your pastry cream into 4 equal amounts and place in separate bowls.  Spoon out one of the bowls of cream onto the surface of the dough.  Smooth with a spatula, making sure that there is a 1/2 inch border of dough along the 16 inch edge sides of the dough.  Then brush the dough borders with the egg wash.  Also, sprinkle evenly 6 tbs of pecans on the chocolate pastry cream and lightly press into the cream.

Mark each of the 16 inch edges of dough with a small indentations every 4 inches.  Using this guide, cut the dough into 8 triangles.  Then roll up, starting with the longest side first.  You should be able to make 3 turns.  Press the right and left ends of the pastry toward the center to plump up.  Place on prepared baking sheet with tip down.  Repeat this process with the remaining 3 pieces of dough in the fridge.   

Brush the tops of all the pastries with milk, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 or 1 1/2 hours, the pastries should almost double within that time.  Brush with milk in 3 intervals in the 1 - 1 1/2 hours rising time..

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Once rising time is complete, brush sides and top of pastries with the egg wash.  Sprinkle with remaining nuts and sparkling sugar.  Place in oven to bake for 28-30 minutes. Remove pans from oven and let cool for 10 minutes on pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Tips and Notes:
1. Instead of pushing the side ends of the dough in, I folded them to the same side as the tip so they would face down when baked.
2. After the milk and egg wash, I transferred the dough to a clean piece parchment prior to baking.  That way, there is no spill over from the milk and egg wash when baking.
                                   **LAST YEAR: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies**

Cinnamon Bun Pie

I think that seeking to improve old favorites is not a bad thing, but it generally is a tall order.  While the grocery store is lined with products that state new and improved, some fall into the " I wished they left it the way it was..."  The smart thing to do is introduce more variety, not discard the original product that founded your success.   With that being said, I will now get into some explanation concerning the above item.

This particular recipe is a spin off from the original baked cinnamon rolls with the cream cheese topping.  The filling is what really makes this special.  With cinnamon rolls you get the cinnamon entwined in the dough and the top is coated with a cream cheese mixture.  This pie, however, does have a stand out quality with the increased amount of the cinnamon and cream cheese mixture.  Even better, the two flavors are baked together.  Just the idea of a warm blend of cinnamon, brown sugar and liquid cheesecake filling is nothing short of a delicious stroke of genius.

That genius idea comes from none other than Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar.  I have made a few of her recipes and have been pleased with the results. Regarding this pie, it is obvious I am not the only one!  Hopefully since I have put it out of sight, it will not continue to shrink in size.   As I sit here doing this blog, I am wondering if someone is cutting themselves another slice. Hmmm...the best food security is the freezer... I better get on with this post so I can store it there!

Before we get started, this is one of those recipes that have components.  Be aware that some of the components require baking and cooling prior to assembly of the pie, so be sure to allow yourself plenty of time. 

Cinnamon Bun Pie Components
adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients/ Liquid Cheesecake
3/4 cup sugar
8 oz cream cheese
2 tbs milk
1 tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

Line a six inch square or round pan or ramekin with wax paper. Do not worry about the folds or wrinkles, it is for baking the filling and has no impact on the final appearance of the pie.  Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Place cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until it becomes like smooth frosting.  This should take about two minutes on low speed.  Be sure to stop the mixer in intervals and scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Then beat in the sugar until evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, sift together cornstarch and salt.  Stream in the milk, whisking into the dry mixture.  Lastly, beat in the egg until incorporated. 

Turn the stand mixer on medium low and pour the egg batter slowly into the cream cheese batter.  Continue to beat, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally.  After 3-4 minutes the batter will become a smooth and have the consistency of pudding.

Pour batter into the prepared pan. Then add the rest by scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula and dropping batter into pan. Place pan in oven and let cook for 15 minutes.  Then open the oven and check for consistency of cheesecake, it should be firmer around the edge and jiggly in the center.  If still watery, keep adding 5 minutes baking time and check after each interval.  The most it should take is 25 minutes.  Do not let the mixture rise more than 1/4" when baking or brown on the edges.  Consider that it will become more solid upon cooling but must be able to be spread like butter. Cool the cheesecake completely before using.

Ingredients/Browned Butter
1/4 cup butter

Place butter in a deep saucepan placed over medium high heat.  Let butter melt and then cook until it reaches an amber color.  It will sputter and pop, so be careful.  Remove from heat and pour into heatproof bowl to cool. Use when completely cooled.

Ingredients/Mother Dough
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp and pinch of yeast
1/2 cup plus 3 tbs water
oil, for coating inside of bowl

Coat the inside of a medium size bowl with oil and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together dry ingredients and then stir in water.  Use your hands to mix until no dry streaks remain.  Now it should resembles a shaggy mass of dough.  Place dough in bowl of stand mixer fitted with a dough hook.  Mix on low speed for about 7 minutes.  The end result should be a damp ball of dough that bounces back when poked with your finger.

Place dough in oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 45 minutes at room temperature.  Then the dough will be ready to use.

Ingredients/ Cinnamon Streusel
2 tbs light brown sugar
1 tsp gnd cinnamon
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs melted butter

Stir together dry ingredients until evenly distributed.  Then stir in the butter and vanilla extract until the dry is completely moistened and clumps form.  Set aside.

Cinnamon Bun Pie/Assembly and Baking
adapted from Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients/Pie
components, noted above
3 tbs flour for dusting flat surface
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup tightly packed light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Lightly dust a flat surface with flour.  Punch down dough in bowl and then place on the floured surface.  Roll dough out to a circle about 11 inches in diameter and 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.  Place dough in a 10 inch pie tin and press dough evenly in place.

Smooth half of the brown butter over the surface of the dough.  Using 1/2 of the liquid cheesecake mixture, drop spoonfuls onto buttered dough.  Take the back of the spoon and smooth the cheesecake into an even layer over the interior of the dough, leaving a  1/2 inch border or edge.  Add another layer of butter, smoothing as best you can. 

Sprinkle on the brown sugar and press lightly to adhere.  Then sprinkle the cinnamon and salt evenly on top.  Layer it with the remaining cheesecake as stated prior, but this time take and dip the spoon in water at intervals to help you with the smoothing process.

Lastly, sprinkle evenly with the streusel and press down lightly.  Place the pie tin over a cookie sheet and put in the oven.  Bake for about 40 minutes and then check for doneness.  The outer edges of the filling should be firm with a slightly jiggly center.  The crust should be golden brown and the streusel have a dark brown hue. It not, cook for an additional 5 minutes and check again.

When done, remove pie and place on rack to cool. Pie is best served slightly warm.

Tips and Notes
1. Do not overwork your dough when pressing in pie tin.  Dough is to have a pit in the center but do not try to have dough go completely up the sides of pie tin.  It is to be more like a pizza crust than pie crust.

2. The first brown butter layer is the only one to cover the whole surface of the dough.  The other layers will leave a 1/2 inch border. 

3.  Suggestion was made to make the brown butter in a microwave in a bowl with a saucer over the top.  I found that the force of the butter popping knocked the saucer off and hence butter splattered all over the inside of the microwave.  Cooking or even melting butter in the microwave is not a good idea.

4. The instructions were to use plastic wrap to line the pan for the liquid cheesecake.  On the box of the plastic wrap I use it states that heating with high fat or sugar items may cause the plastic to melt, so wax paper was used.
                                       **LAST YEAR:White Velvet Cut Outs**