Peach Sorbet

 

I used to have an ice cream machine that I ended up giving away when I downsized homes. So, when I found this incredibly simple recipe for peach sorbet in a Martha Stewart Living magazine, I thought I would try it. 

We escaped from DC to the country and enjoyed an amazing day picking peaches at a farm in Northern Virginia.

The peaches were gorgeous and it was such a beautiful summer day to roam around the orchard. 

Miss A loved helping us spot the perfect peaches and climbing up on the ladder to see if she could reach. 

It was fun picking peaches, but even more fun to relax in a nearby vineyard with a glass of wine and a fresh peach.

We ended up with a few pecks of peaches and used some of them to make the sorbet.  Pretty easy - slice the peaches, freeze them and then puree and you're done. I let it freeze more later, but we enjoyed it nice and spoonable with fresh cream.  

Peach and Blackberry Custard Tart

We have enjoyed all the fresh peaches at the farmers market the last few weekends and they are always giving out samples (which Audrey loves).  I've gotten several just to eat and decided to bake something with them this past week.  I have also been buying lots of blueberries and blackberries and thought the flavor and color contrast would be nice.

This tart was adapted from a recipe published recently in Martha Stewart Living for Peach-Custard Pie.  I chose to make it a more dainty tart and add the blackberries and I quite like my variation. The instructions for peeling the peaches was amazing and I thought the "naked" peaches were so pretty.  You scored them, boiled them for a minute and then placed them in an ice water bath before peeling.

What's not to like about custard?

I started putting the blackberries just in the center and ended up placing them around the entire tart so everyone would have a bit of blackberries. 

Add a huge dollop of fresh whipped cream and it's complete!

Peach Tart with Mascarpone Cream

I was meeting some friends for an outdoor concert and wanted to take a fresh summery dessert for us to share for our picnic.  With peaches in season in Michigan, this was probably the perfect recipe that I could have found and we all enjoyed it immensely.  I found the recipe using my Epicurious app on my iPad, but you can access it online also. How can you go wrong with fresh peaches tossed in sugar and lemon zest, raw sliced almonds for a little crunch and a honey glaze. It was still warm when we ate it at the picnic and was topped with the rich, sweet mascarpone cream. 

 The peaches were so pretty. I just love the orangey/red fuzzy peaches and they smell so fresh even before they're cut open. But when you pit them, the flesh of the fruit is just as pretty as the outside.

The tart pastry was a perfectly pliable and smooth pastry with the addition of a little powdered sugar for sweetness. The edges were folded over to smooth it out and it made the side of the tart nice and thick.

I grabbed a few photos at home before I went to the concert for our picnic.  I don't have any photos of the tart cut and topped with  mascarpone cream. But trust me, it was decadent. And, we all had smiles on our faces....from the tart, the good music and great friends.