Sweet Peach Sorbet With Crunchy Wafer Cookies Food

PEACH COOKIES

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: Whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar and the salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking until the sugar is dissolved.
• Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch and egg yolks with the remaining 1/2 cup milk and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the bowl while whisking, then add all of the mixture back to the saucepan. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly; let boil until thickened, about 2 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, then stir in the preserves, schnapps and almond extract. Cool the pastry cream slightly, then cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.
• For the cookies: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk together the sugar, milk, butter, nectar, schnapps and eggs in a large bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth to make a thick, sticky dough.
• Lightly grease your hands with the oil and roll tablespoons of the dough into balls, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. Bake one sheet at a time, until the undersides of the cookies are golden and the tops are just set, about 15 minutes. Cool just a few minutes. While the cookies are still warm, use a sharp paring knife to cut an approximately 1-inch-wide teaspoon-sized divot into the flat side of each cookie (be careful not to pierce the tops or sides of the cookies). Bake the other sheet of cookies and cut out the divots. Cool the cookies completely.
• Spoon a heaping teaspoon of pastry cream into each cookie, then sandwich 2 similar-looking ones together to make a peach shape, cleaning off any pastry cream that squeezes out of the seams. At this point, the cookies may not stick together very well; prop them up next to each other to keep their shape.
• For decorating: Combine the nectar and almond extract in a small bowl and add enough food coloring to make it bright red, about 8 drops. Put the sugar in another bowl.
• Working one at a time, paint each peach cookie all over with the red nectar mixture using a medium paintbrush, then roll in the sugar to coat thoroughly. Make sure the cookies are still nicely sandwiched and place in a 9-by-13-inch baking pan (the cookies should fit snugly in the baking pan so that they keep their shape). Cover the dish with plastic and refrigerate 8 hours and up to overnight (this will blend the flavors and also set the pastry cream to keep the cookies together).
• Just before serving, garnish each cookie with a clove and mint sprig to look like little stems.

CREAM WAFERS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat butter, flour and cream. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour or until easy to handle. , Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 1-1/4-in. round cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Sprinkle with sugar. Prick each cookie 3-4 times with a fork. , Bake 7-9 minutes or until set. Remove to wire racks to cool., In a small bowl, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and enough cream to achieve desired consistency. Remove half to another bowl; tint one portion of filling with red food coloring and the other half with green. Carefully spread filling on bottom of half of the cookies; top with remaining cookies.

PEACH SORBET

Steps:

• Add peaches to a blender; blend until smooth. Measure out 1 1/2 cups peach puree into a bowl. Immediately stir in lemon juice and refrigerate.
• Combine water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Remove from stove and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate simple syrup until chilled, about 1 hour.
• Pour chilled peach puree and simple syrup into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions, about 20 minutes. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

PEACH SORBET

Steps:

• Score bottom of peaches with an X and boil for about 10 seconds in boiling water and peel off skin. Remove peach pits. Puree peaches in a food processor or blender. Pour puree into a bowl and stir in simple syrup and lemon juice. Taste and adjust syrup or lemon juice to taste. Freeze in an ice cream maker using manufacturers instructions.
• Stir water and sugar into a saucepan. Place pan over high heat and bring to a full boil. Let syrup cool before using. Store leftover syrup in a glass jar.

PEACH SORBET

Steps:

• Peel and slice peaches, then freeze until firm.
• Stir sugar into 3/4 cup water and blend with frozen peaches, along with lemon juice and salt, until creamy and smooth. Eat immediately soft-serve-style, or freeze in a loaf pan up to 3 days.

THE DREAMIEST PEACHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven on broiler setting.
• Place peaches hollow side up in a pie pan. In a medium bowl, mix together crushed vanilla wafers, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle over peaches.
• Place under broiler, and cook until sugar is melted and bubbly, about 1 minute.