Peach Amaretto Bread Pudding

This recipe stems from Austria and it has a long Austrian name, but I decided it would be easier for all if I labeled it with an American name.  The original is more of a winter type of dessert consisting of apples and raisins, but I gave it a summer touch by using peaches.

The meringue topping really did make all the difference in the dessert.  I have made bread pudding before, but never had used this type of topping. Also, the peach and amaretto flavors have always been a favorite, so I was pleased with the final tasting of this desssert.

The change in the fruit to the original recipe as well as the type of bread only impacted the height of the dessert.  If I was to make it again I would probably use the more dense brioche than the Hawaiian bread.  While Hawaiian bread does taste sweeter, it just does not hold up to the soak as well as brioche.  At the time, I could not find any brioche and did not have the time to actually make any from scratch.

The original recipe is listed below, with notes of the changes that were made to create something for the summer season. 

Fruit Bread Pudding
adapted from Austrian Desserts and Pastries

Ingredients/Bread Pudding Base
3 eggs (whites separated from yolks)
1 1/2 cup milk
3 1/2 tbs clarified butter
pinch of salt
3 1/2 tbs butter (for pan coating)
1/2 cup bread crumbs
12 oz of brioche ( or Hawaiian Bread)
zest from 1/2 of a lemon ( not used in peach flavor)
1/3 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar ( or regular granulated sugar)
1/2 cup bread crumbs (for coating pan)

Ingredients/ Fruit Filling
3 tbs granulated sugar
1/2 cinnamon stick ( not used with peaches)
1/2 cup raisins (optional- not used with peaches)
1 lb peeled cored apples (or 6 peeled peaches)
1/2 cup white wine ( or 1/2 cup amaretto for peach dessesrt)

Ingredients /Meringue
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 egg whites
powdered sugar for dusting

Cut the fruit into thin slices and set aside.  Place a saucepan over low heat.  For the original apple dessert, pour the white wine into the saucepan and add the apples, cinnamon and sugar.  For the peach, pour the amaretto into the saucepan,  stir in the sugar and then add the peach slices.  Let poach in alcohol for about 5 minutes and then remove fruit and and drain well.  If using raisins, wash in hot water and place on paper towel to dry.

Take out the bread loaf and remove all of the crust.  Then slice very thin, about 1/5 of an inch.  Place in a bowl and set aside.  Pull out another bowl and mix together egg yolks, lemon zest, milk, salt and 1 tsp vanilla sugar until blended. Pour mixture over the the cut up bread.

Take out another bowl and fill with the egg whites and 3 tbs of sugar.  Beat until the consistency becomes very stiff. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Add the remaining sugar and beat for 1 minute. Fold this mixture into the bread pudding.

Once completed, grease a 9 X13 inch pan and dust with the bread crumbs. Then spread half of the bread pudding batter into the bottom of the pan.  Place the fruit slices evenly on top of the batter and sprinkle raisins on top (optional).  Smooth the additional batter over the top of the peaches, making sure it is even. Sprinkle the batter wth the melted butter. Place in oven and let bake for 1 hour.

While this is baking, place egg whites and sugar in top of a double boiler on low.  Beat until the temperature reaches 113 degrees.  Then pour egg whites into a regular medium size bowl and beat with mixer until they have a stiff consistency. 

Remove the pan from the oven once bread pudding is done.  Let cool and raise the temperature of the oven to 500 degrees.  Spread 1/3 of the meringue over the bread pudding.  Using the rest of the meringue, pipe long strips over the top.  Lastly, dust with powdered sugar.  Bake in the oven until lightly browned.  Keep a close eye on it, it browns quickly, about 2-3 minutes to reach the desired color.

Then take pan out of the pan and let cool for 5 minutes and slice and serve.
                                     **LAST YEAR: Lemongrass Bars**

Florida Cottontails

When I think of cottontails, I usually think of a more central or northern rabbit.  However, there is a rabbit which inhabits some areas of Florida.  They are called marsh rabbits.  They look like most cottontails that you see in other areas, except they are a little more reddish instead of brown.

Since Florida is a large producer of lemons and these cakes do look like a big fluffy cottontail, that is how I came up for a name for these cakes.

The flavor idea came to me when I saw those pink Hostess cakes called "snowballs".  For those that are unfamiliar with the "snowballs" they are chocolate cakes shaped like a dome that are filled and coated with marshmallow fluff and then sprinkled with pink coconut. 

Instead of that combination, I thought that lemon,coconut and meringue would go well together.   These lemony cakes are filled, as well as topped, with meringue then have a final coating of sweet coconut.  Outside of their great taste, they have a bright lemon yellow color which conjures up the lazy days of summer and outdoor picnics.  However, be aware that these yellow gems do entice little kids into grabbing and eating them with their hands-so be sure to have plenty of napkins around when serving!

This recipe makes 8 cakes and requires 2 domed cupcake pans with 1/2 cup cavities that are 3.5 inches in diameter and 1.5 inches deep.

Florida Cottontails
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Cake
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbs lemon zest
2/3 cup of lemonade (I used Simply Lemonade brand)
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients/Filling and Frosting
3 egg whites, room temp
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
2 cups sweetened coconut
6 drops liquid or 1/4 tsp powdered yellow food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the top edges and interior of 8 cavities of your dome pans.  Then dust with flour.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.  Then sprinkle in the zest and stir, distributing evenly.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar.  Once it becomes light and fluffy, add one egg and beat for 30 seconds.  Then add the additional egg and vegetable oil, beating again to blend.  Using a wooden spoon, fold in 1/3 of the sifted ingredients.  Then mix in 1/3 cup of lemonade and lemon juice.  Repeat this process and then add the final amount of the dry ingredients.

Using an ice cream scoop or a spoon, fill each cavity 2/3 full with cake batter.  Place in oven and bake 15-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Rotate baking pans halfway into the baking time.  Mine took a total of 18 minutes to fully bake.  Remove pans and let rest for 3-5 minutes, then invert cakes onto rack to finish cooling.  Flip cakes so dome is facing up.

Once cool, take a serrated edge knife and cut off 1/3 of the top of the dome on each cake.  Then scoop out 1 1/2 tbs of cake from the center of the bottom piece.

To create filling and frosting, fill a sauce pan with the water and sugar and place over medium heat.  Let come to a boil and cover.  Set timer for 3 minutes. During this time, prewarm your thermometer in a glass of warm water.  Once the timer goes off, uncover and place thermometer in syrup and let mixture heat up until it registers between 235-240 degrees.  Once it reaches that stage, remove pan from heat and place thermometer back in the glass of warm water.

With a large stand mixer,  beat the egg whites until foamy.  Sprinkle in the pinch of salt and beat for 30 seconds.  Continue to beat until soft peaks form.  While still running the mixer at high speed, pour in the syrup in a thin stream, letting it glide down the inside edge of the bowl.  Continue to beat the mixture for 10 minutes longer to let cool down.  Then beat in the vanilla extract.  Take 1 cup of the meringue out and place in another bowl, setting aside.  Add 3 drops or 1/8 tsp of the food coloring to the larger amount of the meringue in the stand mixer bowl and beat until it becomes an even color of yellow.  You can add additional food coloring should you want a deeper color.

Then fill a small food processor bowl with the coconut and the remaining food coloring and blend until coconut has turned a lemony yellow.  Set aside.

Take the white meringue and fill the hole in the bottom of the cakes.  Then put the top back on the cakes.  Then thickly cover each cake with the colored meringue.  Generously sprinkle the cakes with the coconut, covering all areas.  Press gently to maintain dome like shape and to get the coconut to adhere. Then they are ready to serve!

Tips and notes:
1. you can change up the extract flavoring in the meringue according to your tastes.
2. I used powdered food coloring.  My liquid food coloring may have been too old, but it gave the meringue an orange tinge, instead of yellow.
3. The meringue gets foamy if it sits, but you can beat it back into its silky consistency.  The silkier, the better you can work with it.
                         **LAST YEAR: Armenian Dinner Rolls**

Berry Meringue Slices

Well I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.  At our place it was great weather and my husband decided to take some time to plant some herbs and vegetables.  We have an issue with a lot of winds here, so I am not sure how his poly house will withstand it-but at least he has given it a go.

This particular dessert is a part of Austrian cuisine.  This is actually one of many desserts that falls under the name of a Schnitten.  It is basically a cake layered with berries and meringue.  There are  a lot of variations and this particular recipe hails from a Cafe in Vienna.

The original recipe is with blueberries but there was a variation with raspberries listed, so I decided to go with the raspberries.

As far as the taste, I really did like the combo.  The cake part is almost like the same cake as a traditional pineapple upside down cake, except it had a subtle lemon flavor.  Then you have the burst of fruit from the fresh whole berries all topped with a fluffy, sweet meringue.  This dessert was a hit and it is definitely worth making more than once.  Below is the recipe with some helpful tips at the end.

Berry Meringue Slices
adapted from Kaffeehaus Cookbook

Ingredients/Cake
1 3/4 sticks or 14 tbs of butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
grated zest of  1/2 lemon
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Ingredients/Topping
2 pints of fresh blueberries or 4 cups of raspberries or blackberries or currants (I used 3 pints)
confectioners sugar: 3 tbs if using blueberries
                                 1/4 cup if using blackberries or raspberries
                                 1/2 cup if using currants
1 cup plus 2 tbs granulated sugar
6 large egg whites, room temperature

Prepare a 9X13 cake pan by greasing the interior and lightly dusting with flour.  This dessert will be plated straight from the pieces cut from the pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium size bowl sift together the baking powder, flour and salt.  Then take a separate bowl and fill with butter and sugar.  Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy, which should take about 3 minutes.  Beat in one egg until the batter is smooth, about 30 seconds each.  Continue with the same process until all the eggs are beaten into the batter.  Then add the vanilla extract and beat again until blended.

Beat 1/2 the sifted ingredients into the batter.  Once all is mixed in, beat in the remaining sifted ingredients.  Then stir in the zest and juice, making sure it is distributed through out the batter.

Spoon the batter into the pan and smooth the top.  Then place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes.  Cake will be done when the center is touched and lightly springs back. Remove pan and place on cooling rack.

Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees for the topping.  Beat the egg whites at high speed until it reaches a soft peak consistency.  Then continue to beat and gradually add the granulated sugar.  Once all the sugar is blended, continue to beat the egg whites until they become very stiff.  You want the meringue to be shiny in appearance as well.

Then toss the fruit with the confectioners sugar. Pour or place the fruit on top of the cake.  Place scoops of meringue over the berries and smooth it evenly to cover all of the cake and berries.

Place cake in oven again and let cook 3-5 minutes.  You want the meringue to have some golden cooked streaks on the top.  Remove and place pan on a wire rack to cool completely.

To serve, cut the cake using a hot water dipped knife and then lift serving out with cake server or spatula. You can prepare this cake a day ahead, refrigerating it.  However, let it come to room temperature before serving.

Helpful hints and tips:

-line the bottom of the pan with parchment, buttering the surface and then dusting with flour, it will make for a cleaner release when plating.
-if using small berries, spoon over top.  For larger, place by hand in rows.
-fold in the flour instead of beating for lighter texture. Beating batter or dough after adding flour can toughen the texture of the cake
- you can use a knife or the back of the spoon to get a textured look on the top of the meringue.  When cooking, the uppermost portions will brown first, leaving the ones below white.
-Due to the varying size of blackberries and raspberries, place the smaller berries to the outside edge and the larger towards the inside  The smaller ones will hold easier than the larger ones..
                                **LAST YEAR: Brioche Bread Loaves***