From the Pantry: Peaches
By Amber Wilson
Nothing quite embodies summer like a peach—the precious, blushing summertime jewels, gently scented with floral notes kissed with vanilla, the heavy weight of the orb filled with nectar, and the promise of endless, languorous summer days. My fondest memory of a peach will forever be in the form of a peach pie I made one June afternoon. The pie was shared with loved ones as we sprawled out on the grass. We devoured it straight from the glass pie plate while watching the sun set. All that was needed to accompany the pie was a small jar of softly whipped cream, so soft it gently folded upon itself at the mere warm gaze of the peach pie. The peach wedges were plump and speckled with vanilla bean seeds. The juices were the color of pink rose petals. The crust was flecked with sea salt around the edges. There are few simpler moments in life and not many are so gratifying.
Depending on the variety of the peach, the exterior color ranges from the fairest yellows to the most intense reds, but it’s the shade of the flesh that really matters. You can buy peaches with either yellow or white flesh. Grown in North America and Europe, yellow-fleshed peaches are vibrant yellow or orange. Some varieties fade to a dusky fuchsia around the pit. They are harvested in mid- to late summer and are faintly more acidic than white-fleshed peaches, which are sharply sweet. Available in early summer, white peaches have white to light-yellow flesh with an occasional intense pink surrounding the pit. They have a higher sugar content than yellow-fleshed peaches and taste less tart. If peach fuzz is off-putting to you, nectarines are the answer. Nectarines are just fuzz-free peaches. The sweetest and undoubtedly the most endearing variety of peach is the donut peach, also known as the Saturn peach. They are squat, plump, and irresistibly sweet and tender, perfect for eating whole.
You might be tempted to stash your beautiful yet firm peaches in the refrigerator to ripen, but when left at room temperature, hard peaches should only take about two days to soften. On the other hand, if you’ve picked soft peaches, the refrigerator is the perfect place to keep your peaches fresh. Sliced peeled peaches keep for about five days when refrigerated in an airtight container, especially if you drizzle a few drops of fresh lemon juice on them. And since, sadly, peach season is short-lived, I look to the freezer to save peaches for recipes year-round. A stash of frozen peach slices baked into a pie will be a warm welcome on chilly autumn and winter nights.
One of the most common myths about peaches is that they must be peeled. Keeping the skin intact not only saves time and labor but also has health advantages. Peach skin contains vitamins, minerals, and nutrients and almost all the peach’s fiber. The next time you snack on or bake with peaches, try not peeling them; simply wash and dry whole peaches and then freeze them in a resealable plastic freezer bag. When you’re longing for a taste of summertime, reach into your bag and run the frozen peach under cool water and gently dry the skin. Let the peach thaw in the refrigerator or on the countertop and eat in sweet silence over the kitchen sink or use in whichever recipe you like.
If your recipe specifically calls for peeled peaches, there’s still a way to use those peach skins and ensure that no part of your peach goes to waste. Gather your peach skins, and bake them at a low temperature to dry them out. Once they’re dry and brittle, take a moment to admire their rose-petal look and floral scent before pulsing them in a food processor. Combine with an equal amount of granulated sugar, and you’ve got a heavenly topping to sprinkle on ice cream, cake, and cookies or to stir into tea (hot or iced!). You can also macerate your peach peels in a bit of granulated sugar until peach juices accumulate in the bowl and then make a glaze with the peach juice and confectioners’ sugar. It tints the glaze a gorgeous shade of blush pink that dresses up any baked good.
The most seductive flavor peaches have to offer is hidden within their pits. Noyaux, the French word for “cores,” refers to the almond-like kernels nestled inside the pits. The power of noyaux lies not in their taste but in their subtle fragrance: the sweet and floral aroma of almonds, vanilla, peaches, and a whisper of citrus. To extract noyaux, place the peach pits on a kitchen towel placed on a counter, cover with another kitchen towel, and use a hammer to crack each pit, removing the kernels. Heat will easily disable the poisonous compound amygdalin found in noyaux, so I toast them in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 10 minutes. Next, I combine 15 to 20 noyaux in a resealable glass jar with enough plain vodka to cover them and stash the jar in the pantry. After a few months, the noyaux imbue their delicate perfume to the liquor, yielding an almond-like extract that holds the subtle scent and flavor of summer in every drop.
Follow my lead and peach season will last in your kitchen well after summer heat has given way to autumn breezes. I’m comforted knowing I can re-create this treasured memory—a warm night feasting on luscious peach pie and melty ice cream with family—forever.
The post From the Pantry: Peaches first appeared on Bake from Scratch.