Peach Tea Cakes - For One

I have a huge bowl of peaches.  I don't really know what compelled me to buy, what seems to be, a bushel of peaches at the farmers market the other day.  But I did.  My quest is to "use them up"!

Last summer I made a stone fruit tea cake (here) that was absolutely delicious.  I have recreated the recipe, but individual size.  I have not delivered sweets to the G's in a while.  I have neglected them.  Hopefully, these little portions of sweet pastry dough with fresh peaches will redeem me.  I am also going to take a few to my father-in-law.  He loves anything with fruit in it!

This dough is really sticky.  I froze the dough for about an hour before working with it.  Then, cut the dough in half and put one half in the freezer while I created the bottom crust.  I pressed one ounce size portions in the palm of my hands and then put each disk in the bottom of each ramekin.  Freezing the dough made it much easier to work with.

You can use any stone fruit ( plums, apricots, nectarines, etc.) for this dish.  I just happened to have lots of peaches on hand.  These really are a must make dessert.  If I wasn't watching my girlish figure, I would have eaten all 12 of them!

Stone Fruit Tea Cakes
adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts
yield: 12 individual portions

ingredients:

2 Tbls. unsalted butter, for the ramekins
2 1/4 cups (11 1/2 oz.) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup (7oz.) sugar
6 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
3 eggs
1 Tbls. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups stone fruit, coarsely chopped
turbinado sugar

instructions:

• whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together.
• cream the sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer, until light and fluffy
• add the eggs, one at a time.  stir in the vanilla.
• add the flour mixture, stir until a smooth dough forms.  wrap in plastic wrap. freeze for 30 minutes to an hour.
• preheat oven to 375*.  melt some butter and brush each ramekin with the melted butter.  set aside.
• divide dough in half.  measure out 1 ounce pieces of dough from one of the portions of dough and flatten into each ramekin.  top with a good scoop of your stone fruit.  from the other half of the dough, pinch off another 1 ounce portion of dough and break it apart, unevenly, on top of the fruit.  sprinkle with turbinado sugar.  place ramekins on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• bake for about 30-35 minutes, rotating back to front half way through baking.  cool before serving or eat at room temperature.
• these keep for a couple of days so can be made the day before.

Peach Tea Cake

I am reading my magazines and I am finding so many wonderful recipes to experiment with . I found these Stone Fruit Tea Cakes and couldn't wait to try them. I had an over abundance of peaches and with plans to go to our cousins for lunch this weekend, I had the perfect excuse to make it.

I made the pastry dough (doubled it) in advance and stuck it in the freezer. This is not a great dough to work with, it is super sticky, falls apart BUT the end result is worth the trouble and hassle of working with it. Be patient, don't be discouraged. I was super discourage, I wanted to through the entire dough in the garbage, but had already committed to making this plus my peaches were prepped.

This is an outrageously delicious cake. This is the perfect summer dessert, but could be made year around using frozen stone fruit. Yet, next time, instead of sprinkling the sugar over the fruit, I would mix it prior and add a little lemon zest.

Top this with a a little vanilla ice cream and you have a great crowd pleaser.