Ingredient: heavy whipping cream

Blueberry Galette with Lavender Cream

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Blueberry Galette with Lavender Cream

This rustic Blueberry Galette is so much easier to make than blueberry pie, but it’s equally delicious. It’s bursting with fresh blueberries on a tender, flaky crust. it’s heavenly served with a cloud of lavender cream.

Blueberry Galette with Lavender Cream

Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

Crust

  • 1 â…“ cups (170g) all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon (13g) sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons (24g) vegetable shortening
  • 6 tablespoons (85g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
  • ¼ cup (59ml) ice water
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • Egg wash: 1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon of water
  • Coarse sparkling sugar for sprinkling

Lavender Whipped Cream

  • ¾ cup (177ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender*
  • 1 ½ tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 drop violet gel food coloring
  • 2 drops lilac gel food coloring

Blueberry Filling

  • 4 cups (625g) blueberries
  • 6 tablespoons (75g) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (20g) cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt

Instructions
 

Crust

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Work the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it's evenly dispersed throughout. Work the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips, creating flat dime size pieces.
  • Mix the ice water and vinegar together in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the flour mixture a little at a time, stirring until dough comes together. You may not need all of the liquid depending on your climate.
  • Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over onto itself a few times. Do not over work the dough! Form the dough into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour or up to overnight.

Lavender Whipped Cream

  • In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream and lavender over medium heat, just until bubbles form around the edges. Turn the heat down to low and simmer gently for 1 minute. Strain the lavender cream into a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 1 hour.
  • Whip the lavender cream until thickened. Add the powdered sugar and food coloring, if using. Whip until medium peaks form, being careful not to over beat. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Blueberry Filling and Assembly

  • Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400ºF (205ºC).
  • In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt. Mix until well combined.
  • Brush a 2-inch border of egg wash on the surface of the pie dough. Spoon the blueberries onto the dough within the border. Fold the dough border over the blueberries, towards the center, pleating the edges about every 2-inches. Brush the edges with egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
  • Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 28-35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with lavender cream.

Notes

*To find culinary lavender, click here.
Keyword blueberry, galette, pastry

Brownie Cheesecake Cookies

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Brownie Cheesecake Cookies

If you love chocolate chip cheesecake, you’ll adore these Brownie Cheesecake Cookies. I took my favorite elements from brownies and chocolate chip cheesecake and combined them into a cookie. The brownie batter cookies are soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the edges. The cheesecake filling is creamy and smooth and dotted with mini chocolate chips.

The cookie dough should be refrigerated for a few minutes to help make the dough easier to work with. A short amount of chilling time worked best for me. I had minimal spreading during baking, but If your cookies spread to much, you can form the dough balls, add the indentations and refrigerate them for 20-30 minutes, then proceed with the recipe.

Since it’s so close to St. Patrick’s Day, I also made a version with Irish cream filling. See the notes below.*

Brownie Cheesecake Cookies

Brownie cookies with soft, chewy centers and crisp edges, filled with creamy cheesecake filling and mini chocolate chips.
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 18 cookies

Ingredients
  

Filling

  • ½ cup (113g) cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons heavy whipping cream room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup (43g) mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Cookies

  • 6 ounces (170g) semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 2 ounces (57g) bittersweet chocolate (70-72%), chopped
  • ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
  • ¾ cup (96g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons (12g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • â…œ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • â…“ cup (57g) mini semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions
 

Filling

  • In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, heavy cream and vanilla extract together until smooth. Set aside 1 tablespoon of mini chocolate chips. Stir the remaining mini chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture. Set aside in the refrigerator while you make the cookie dough.

Cookies

  • Melt the chopped chocolate and butter together in a large bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, making sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir gently until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. (Alternately, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave with short bursts.)
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the melted chocolate. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. Stir in the mini chocolate chips.
  • Refrigerate the cookie dough for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to work with. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  • Roll 2-tablespoon (40g) size portions of cookie dough into balls. Place them onto the cookie sheet, about 3 inches apart. Press a 1-inch wide indentation into each cookie dough ball using a pastry tamper, the flat top of a bottle cap or with your thumbs. Spoon a generous 1 teaspoon of filling into each indentation. Sprinkle with the reserved mini chocolate chips.
  • Bake until the edges are set and beginning to crack, about 9-11 minutes. Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack.

Notes

To make the Irish cream version of the filling, replace the heavy cream and vanilla extract with 2 teaspoons of Bailey's Irish cream liqueur.
Keyword brownie cheesecake, cookies

Blueberry Pecan Banana Bread

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

This banana bread was a happy accident. One morning, I wanted to make banana bread but my recipe called for three over-ripe bananas. I realized that I only had two, so I changed my recipe, adding blueberries, toasted pecans, a pecan crumb topping and a brown sugar cinnamon glaze. The results were so tender, moist and delicious that I can confidently say this is the best banana bread I’ve ever tasted. And I’ve tasted a lot of banana bread. I’ve tried many different recipes and tasted loaves baked by other people. I also like picking up a slice of banana bread at bakeries and coffee shops sometimes, alongside my coffee or tea.

The three biggest problems I typically see with banana bread are rubbery texture, dry texture or bland flavor. Over mixing can cause a rubbery loaf, so when you add your dry ingredients to the batter, mix it just until the flour is incorporated, to avoid excess gluten formation. To avoid a dry loaf, make sure not to over bake it. Test it before you think it might be done. When measuring your dry ingredients, weigh them for the best results. Sometimes people inadvertently add too much or too little flour when using measuring cups.

For the best flavor and sweetness, make sure to use very ripe bananas when making banana bread. I like to use bananas that are soft and covered with brown spots. I avoid the black, oozing bananas, even though you may see people on social media recommending them for use. These are technically rotten bananas and can give your banana bread an unpleasant fermented flavor. The toasted pecans in this recipe add texture and a rustic nutty flavor. Even people who don’t like nuts tend to appreciate them in this banana bread. But you can certainly leave them out if you like. The addition of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla also add lovely flavor to this loaf. This banana bread is quite delicious on its own, but the crumb topping and brown sugar glaze take it over the top!

 

Blueberry Pecan Banana Bread

by Mari Vasseur
Moist tender banana bread with blueberries and toasted pecans, topped with pecan crumb topping and brown sugar cinnamon glaze.
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

Crumb Topping

  • â…“ cup (1 1/2 oz 43g) all purpose flour
  • â…“ cup (67g) packed brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • pinch fine sea salt
  • 2 ½ tablespoons (64g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons (14g) chopped pecans

Blueberry Pecan Banana Bread

  • 1 ½ cups (191g) all purpose flour, sifted (plus 2 teaspoons for the blueberries)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly ground
  • 1 cup (200g) packed brown sugar
  • â…“ cup (70ml) vegetable oil or neutral oil of your choice
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup (113g) sour cream or full fat Greek yogurt
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¾ cups ( 175g) mashed over-ripe bananas (about 2 medium bananas)
  • ½ cup (60g) coarsely chopped toasted pecans
  • Generous 1 cup (170g) blueberries
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glaze

  • ¼ cup (50g) packed brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
  • ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 pinch fine sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, sifted

Instructions
 

Crumble Topping

  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Work in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks sandy with no large pieces of butter remaining. Mix in the pecans. Press the mixture to together to form chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Blueberry Pecan Banana Bread

  • Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line the bottom a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan* with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg until well blended.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, oil, eggs, sour cream and vanilla until creamy and well blended. Stir in the bananas until incorporated. Mix in the flour mixture just until combined. Do not over mix. Stir in the pecans.
  • In a small bowl, gently toss the blueberries with the lemon juice, then toss them with 2 teaspoons of flour. Fold 3/4 of the blueberries into the batter. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Top with the remaining blueberries, then the crumb topping.
  • Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the loaf from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Glaze

  • In a small saucepan, whisk the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and salt together over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the edges start to bubble. Remove from heat and whisk in the heavy cream, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly. Drizzle over the cooled banana bread.

Notes

*To find the loaf pan I used, click here.
Keyword blueberry pecan banana, loaf

Butterscotch Bread

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

What’s better than the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking or of fresh coffee brewing? The aroma of this warm, sweet buttery loaf of Butterscotch Bread is so heavenly that I’m convinced that angel grandmothers bake this on a regular basis in heaven. The rich scent is accompanied by a soft, tender bread topped with a silky butterscotch glaze.

It all starts with browning your butter first. It adds a nutty, deep butter flavor. When browning your butter, use a light colored saucepan so you can see the visual clues. You’ll see it start to foam and brown specks will collect on the bottom of the pan. It will smell nutty and fragrant. Keep a close eye on it. It can go from brown to burnt in a quick second. When your brown butter has cooled to room temperature, the rest of the recipe comes together quickly. You can also brown your butter a day ahead and keep it in the refrigerator. Bring it to room temperate before using.

This delightful bread goes well with coffee or tea and is just as delicious the next day. Store covered at room temperature.

 

Butterscotch Bread

by Mari Vasseur
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients
  

Butterscotch Bread

  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
  • 1 ¾ cups (220g all purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon fine seat salt
  • 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup (177ml) buttermilk

Butterscotch Glaze

  • ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
  • ½ cup (100g) packed brown sugar
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ cup (59ml) heavy whipping cream
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions
 

Butterscotch Bread

  • In a small saucepan, cook the butter over medium heat until brown and fragrant. When brown specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan, immediately transfer the butter to a small bowl. Let cool to room temperature.
  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the bottom of an 8 x 4-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease and flour the insides.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, beat the brown butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla and buttermilk until smooth and creamy. Stir in the flour mixture in two additions. Mix just until combined.
  • Transfer the batter to prepared baking pan. Bake until the top is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 38-43 minutes.
  • Let the bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, them turn it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Top the cooled cake with two coats of butterscotch glaze.

Butterscotch Glaze

  • Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar and salt. Continue stirring over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for two minutes.
  • Turn the heat down and slowly stir in the heavy cream. Keep stirring until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
  • Transfer the butterscotch glaze to a small bowl and let cool until thickened.
Keyword butterscotch, cake, loaf

Strawberry Rose Pancakes

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

Strawberry Rose Pancakes

Pink pancakes made with strawberry purée and rose petals, topped with strawberry syrup and pink whipped cream
Print Recipe
Course Breakfast, Brunch

Ingredients
  

Strawberry Syrup

  • ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (170g) hulled and sliced strawberries

Pink Whipped Cream

  • ¾ cup (177ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons (45g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • ½ teaspoon pure strawberry extract
  • 1 drop pink gel food coloring

Strawberry Rose Pancakes

  • 1 cup (128g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 cup (170g) hulled and sliced strawberries
  • 1 large egg
  • ½ cup (118ml) whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons (30g) melted butter or vegetable oil
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 drop pink gel food coloring optional
  • 2-3 teaspoons crushed dried rose petals

Instructions
 

Strawberry Syrup

  • Purée the strawberries in a blender or small food processor. Pass the purée through a mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Stir in the sugar and 1/2 cup (118ml) of water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup thickens, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pink Whipped Cream

  • In a large bowl, beat the whipped cream to soft peaks with an electric mixer at high speed. Add the powdered sugar, strawberry extract and food coloring in 3 separate additions. Continue beating just until stiff peaks are formed. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Strawberry Rose Pancakes

  • In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together until well combined. Set aside.
  • Purée the strawberries in a blender or small food processor. Pass the purée through a mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Add the egg, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and food coloring (if using) and whisk until well combined. Stir this mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. A few lumps are okay. Stir in the rose petals.
  • For each pancake, scoop 3-4 tablespoons of batter onto a hot oiled griddle. Flip the pancakes when bubbles form on the surface. Continue cooking until the pancakes puff and are lightly browned.

Notes

*To find the gel food coloring I used, click here.
**To find culinary dried rose petals, click here.
 
Keyword pancakes, strawberry

Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Imagine you’re in a beautiful room, reclining on a plush velvet chaise lounge. There’s a dainty table nearby. On the table is a cake pedestal with a little pyramid of small, perfectly plump, pink pastries. They’re filled with sweet, luscious strawberry cream. And they’re all yours. This Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles recipe can make that dream come true. Maybe not the velvet chaise lounge, but really any comfortable chair will do while you indulge in these delicious little gems. Profiteroles have a way of making you feel regal and majestic. I think princesses and princes snack on them. Most of us don’t have a personal pastry chef or the budget to order from a French bakery every day, but we can certainly follow a recipe and make one of the easiest pastry doughs there is. Choux pastry or pate à choux is used to make profiteroles, cream puffs, eclairs, churros and other pastries. Once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.

This recipe features fresh strawberries, but frozen strawberries will work too. You can also substitute raspberries or peaches. To find the recipe for Peaches & Cream Profiteroles, click here. The strawberry purée can be made a day or two ahead and stored in the refrigerator. To make it easy on myself, I like to make the strawberry purée on day one, the pastry cream on day two, then make the profiteroles and strawberry icing and assemble on day three. It’s also helpful to practice the French culinary style of prep, mise en place, which means to have all of your ingredients and equipment in place before you begin. Everything will go much smoother and prevent you from feeling overwhelmed.

 

Strawberries & Cream Profiteroles

Mari Vasseur
Bite sized choux pastry puffs filled with fresh strawberries and cream filling and topped with fresh strawberry icing
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 18 profiteroles

Ingredients
  

Strawberry Pureé

  • 12 ounces (340g) strawberries, hulled and sliced About 2 1/2 cups after hulling and slicing
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon strawberry extract

Strawberries and Cream Filling

  • 1 cup (237ml) whole milk
  • â…“ cup (66g) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (17g) cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter, cubed
  • ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Strawberry puree recipe above
  • â…” cup (156ml) heavy whipping cream

Profiteroles

  • ½ cup (118ml) water
  • ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, cubed
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (64g) all purpose flour
  • 2 large eggs room temperature

Strawberry Icing

  • ¾ cup (90g) powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (30ml) reserved strawberry purée
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ teaspoon strawberry extract

Instructions
 

Strawberry Purée

  • Purée the strawberries in a blender or food processor. Strain the puréed strawberries through a sieve into a small saucepan. Stir in the lemon juice.
  • Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and simmer until the strawberry purée is reduced by half. Remove from heat. Stir in the strawberry extract. Set aside to cool completely

Strawberries and Cream Filling

  • Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  • Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk until smooth.
  • When the milk starts to boil, remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
  • Pour the egg mixture back into the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Pour the mixture through a sieve placed over a bowl. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and let cool completely.
  • Set aside 2 tablespoons (30ml) of strawberry purée. Add the remaining strawberry purée to the cooled pastry cream and stir until well combined. Cover strawberry pastry cream and chill in refrigerator.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whip the heavy cream, with an electric mixer at high speed, until stiff peaks begin to form. Fold the whipped cream into cooled strawberry pastry cream. Set aside in the refrigerator.

Profiteroles

  • Preheat oven to 400ºF (205ºC). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Combine the water, butter and salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat. Add the flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball.
  • Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until steam dissipates and mixture cools to lukewarm. Add the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until smooth, stopping to scrape down the bowl.
  • Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a large round tip. (I used Ateco tip 808.*) Pipe 1 1/4-inch mounds, about 2 inches apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Smooth the tops lightly with a wet finger.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven heat to 350ºF (180ºC) and continue baking until golden brown, about 8-10 more minutes. Using a toothpick or skewer, prick a small hole in each profiterole to allow steam to escape. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Use the tip of a paring knife to make a pilot hole in the bottom of each profiterole.
  • Place strawberries and cream filling into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. (I used Wilton tip 12**) Place the tip into the pilot holes and fill each profiterole with filling.

Strawberry Icing

  • In a medium -sized bowl, whisk all of the icing ingredients together until smooth. Spoon over the filled profiteroles. Refrigerate profiteroles until ready to serve.

Notes

*To find Ateco tip 808 click here.
**To find Wilton tip 12 click here.
Keyword profiteroles, strawberry

Blueberry Earl Grey Tarts

Posted on by Mari Vasseur
Blueberry Earl Grey Tarts

These Blueberry Earl Grey Tarts have three individual components, which, when combined together, are absolutely delicious. I experimented with each separate component of this recipe until I perfected them individually. The tart crust is flaky and tender, yet sturdy enough to hold the filling. The filling is just sweet enough for my sweet tooth and the whipped cream has just enough Earl Grey flavor.

This recipe makes enough whipped cream to cover the entire tops of the tarts or you can be like me and try to be artistic and avant-garde with your whipped cream. To make the Earl Grey infused whipped cream, use your favorite Earl Grey tea, whether it’s loose leaf tea or a teabag. We don’t discriminate here. All forms of tea are welcome! I do have a favorite Earl Grey tea. If you want to check it out, click here. The tea will make your whipped cream a dull pale yellow. This issue is purely aesthetic. I added a tiny bit of violet gel food color which brightens the whipped cream. You can add more if you want a lavender shade.

 

Blueberry Earl Grey Tarts

Mari Vasseur
Personal-sized tarts with sweet blueberry filling, topped with Earl Grey whipped cream
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Servings 6 4-inch tarts

Ingredients
  

Tart Crust

  • 1 ½ cups (191g) all purpose flour, sifted
  • ¼ cup (30g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (113g) cold, unsalted butter, cubed
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1-2 tablespoons (15-30ml) ice water

Blueberry Filling

  • 4 cups (about 565-600g) blueberries
  • â…” cup (132g) sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons (12g) corn starch
  • 1 tablespoon (15ml) lemon juice

Earl Grey Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup (237ml) heavy whipping cream
  • 2 teaspoons Earl Grey tea leaves or 1 tea bag
  • 2 tablespoons (15g) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1 small drop violet gel food coloring

Instructions
 

Tart Crust

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar and salt until well blended. Work in the butter and egg yolk, with a pastry blender or with your fingertips, until pea sized pieces are formed. Add ice water one tablespoon (15ml) at a time until the dough comes together.
  • Form the dough into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to overnight.
  • On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a scant 1/4-inch thickness. Cut the dough into six 5-inch rounds.
  • Press the rounds into six 4-inch or 4 1/4-inch tart pans. Dock the bottoms of the tart crusts with a fork. Freeze for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Place the tart pans on a large baking sheet. Line the tart shells with 6-inch parchment rounds. Fill with pie weights. (You can use dried beans or rice if you don't have pie weights.)
  • Bake the tart shells for 12 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and pie weights. Continue baking until the tart shells are light golden brown, about 4-6 more minutes.

Blueberry Filling

  • Set aside 1 cup (155g) blueberries. Combine the remaining 3 cups blueberries, sugar, corn starch and lemon juice in a medium-sized saucepan.
  • Simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until blueberries are softened and sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved 1 cup of blueberries during the last minute of cooking. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

Earl Grey Whipped Cream

  • Combine the heavy cream and tea leaves or tea bag in a small saucepan. Heat just until bubbles form around the edges.
  • Transfer the mixture to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Pass the cream through a sieve to strain the out tea leaves or remove the tea bag. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill.
  • Transfer the chilled cream to a large bowl. Whip with an electric mixer until thickened. Add the powdered sugar and food color in separate additions and continue whipping at high speed just until stiff peaks begin to form.
Keyword blueberries, tarts

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles

Posted on by Mari Vasseur

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles by Brownie Mischief

Summer is nearly over, and after the recent heatwave here in Southern California, I’m more than ready to welcome fall weather. But before I put on my fluffy sweater and dive into pumpkin spice everything, I want to enjoy the tail end of peach season, don’t you? Farmer’s markets and stores near my home are still brimming over with fresh peaches, so I picked up some peaches and decided to give them a proper goodbye and send them off in style.

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles by Brownie Mischief

I created some luscious peaches and cream filled, bite-size puffs of choux pastry, called profiteroles. They’re like cream puffs, only smaller. The filling is creamy, but so light and airy that I’m convinced that these profiteroles have no calories! The recipe I’m sharing with you uses fresh peaches, but feel free to substitute frozen peaches if fresh peaches aren’t available. There are a lot of steps to this recipe, but the steps are done in stages and are very easy to do.

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles by Brownie Mischief

I decorated my profiteroles with fresh, pesticide-free miniature rosebuds, also known as spray roses. If you can’t find miniature rosebuds, pesticide-free rose petals would be a good substitute. You may not get a chance to embellish these little beauties. They have a way of popping into people’s mouths even before you can decorate them!

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles

Bite-sized puffs of choux pastry filled with a creamy, fresh peach filling and topped with fresh peach icing.
Print Recipe
Course Dessert
Cuisine French
Servings 18

Ingredients
  

Peach Purée

  • 2 large fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced *see note below
  • ½ teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon natural peach flavoring

Peaches & Cream Filling

  • 1 cup whole milk
  • â…“ cup (2 ounces) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoon (1 ounce) unsalted butter
  • ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • â…› teaspoon pure almond extract
  • peach purée recipe above
  • â…” cup heavy whipping cream

Profiteroles

  • ½ cup water
  • 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) unsalted butter, cubed
  • â…› teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ cup (2 1/4 ounces) all purpose flour
  • 2 eggs room temperature

Peach Icing

  • ¾ cup (3 ounces) powdered sugar, sifted
  • 2 tablespoons reserved peach puree
  • 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
  • ¼ teaspoon natural peach flavoring

Instructions
 

Peach Purée

  • Purée peaches in a blender or food processor. Strain puréed peaches through a sieve. Stir in lemon juice.
  • Place puréed peaches in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
  • Reduce heat and simmer until peach purée is reduced by half.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in peach flavoring and set aside to cool completely.

Peaches and Cream Filling

  • Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  • Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk until smooth.
  • When milk starts to boil, remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.
  • Pour the egg mixture into the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.
  • Remove from heat. Stir in butter and extracts.
  • Pour mixture through a sieve placed over a bowl. Cover the surface of pastry cream with plastic wrap. Let cool.
  • Set aside 2 tablespoons of cooled peach purée. Add remaining peach purée to cooled pastry cream and stir to combine. Chill in refrigerator.
  • In a medium bowl, whip heavy cream to stiff peaks with an electric mixer at high speed. Fold whipped cream into peach pastry cream mixture. Set aside in refrigerator.

Profiteroles

  • Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Combine water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  • Reduce heat. Add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from sides of the pan and forms a ball.
  • Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until steam dissipates and mixture cools to lukewarm.
  • Add eggs one at a time and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth, stopping to scrape down bowl.
  • Transfer mixture to a piping bag, fitted with a large round tip. (**I used Ateco tip 808.)
  • Pipe 1 1/4 inch mounds, about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Smooth tops with a wet finger.
  • Bake for 15 minutes, then turn oven temperature down to 350ºF and continue baking until golden brown, about 8-10 more minutes. Using a toothpick or skewer poke a small hole in each profiterole to let steam escape. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
  • Using the tip of a paring knife, poke a pilot hole in the bottom of each profiterole.
  • Place peaches and cream filling into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. (***I used Wilton tip 12.)
  • Place piping tip into the pilot holes and fill each profiterole with filling.

Peach Icing

  • In a small bowl, whisk all icing ingredients together and spoon over filled profiteroles. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

*To make peaches easy to peel, blanch them  in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then dunk  in ice water.
**To find Ateco tip 808, click here. ***To find Wilton tip 12, click here.