Need Summer "Fruity Dessert"

[Windsor]

Can't live without you and need your help again!

My next challenge for you is a great summer "fruity dessert" to take to my next pot luck for 16 people. I am in the mountains of North Carolina with a great supply of SC peaches and all the other summer fruits.

I have to admit, I am not great at pastries. Any suggestions for some sort of crumble or chilled layer dessert that would be easy to transport or easy to assemble once I am there?

[funkymonkey]

if you've got loads of peaches and pastry isn't your thang, then i definitely think a crisp or a crumble is the way to go. i recently made a peach crisp and added some fresh rosemary to the crumbly topping. it was truly fantastic. the rosemary adds a nice fragrant, herb-y note; it's kind of unexpected but the peaches and the butter and the rosemary work really well together. adding rosemary to cobbler dough would be pretty tasty too, but i'm more of a crisp girl myself.

i posted a full recipe on my blog if you're interested, but you can take any basic apple crisp recipe, sub peaches, and add 1Tbsp. fresh, minced rosemary. Omit any cinnamon or other spices the recipe calls for. I tossed my peaches with some creme de cassis, since I had it, but it's not necessary. and vanilla ice-cream is a must! good luck!

funkymonkey
http://thebestbite.blogspot.com/

[JungMann]

I have been a big fan of pavlovas this summer. I love the crunchy meringue playing off the toothsome fruit and creamy chantilly. Perhaps peaches cooked in a ginger syrup might be a great hill country topping!

Otherwise everyone else's recommendations of cobbler are inspired.

[MobyRichard]

You might also consider a summer pudding, which only requires good bread, sugar, lots of berries and a large bowl to make, and is cool and delicious, transports easily and serves a great many.

[briaberger]

My favorite summertime dessert- Frozen Blackberry-Lemon Chiffon Cake. I like to mix it up and use raspberries, strawberries, and lime juice, too.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...

[taryn]

i have never made a trifle with peaches, but i bet it would be awesome. make the custard from the joy of cooking. bake an angel food cake (could use a boxed mix) then layer cubed peices of the cake with macerated peaches, custard, more cake, peaches custard and finish with a nice topping of fresh whipped cream. sorry i don't have a specific recipe, but i'm sure you could find something easily if you do a google search. trifle makes a wonderful presentation and ususally gets rave reviews. you can make it ahead of time and it only gets better the longer it sits in the fridge :)

[pamd]

was going to suggest a trifle... here is a nice one
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=653483

this one's good too (I love trifles) - could use peaches instead of mango
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...

[starkoch]

This will work with any stone fruit. The sauce is also great drizzled over watermelon.

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Fruit In Ginger Syurp

desserts

1 lemon
1/2 cup water
3 slices ginger root -- sliced 1/3' thick
4 whole star anise
or 1/8 cup star anise pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice -- or to taste
3 nectarines -- firm & ripe
about 1/4 pound
9 plums
1 cup blueberries -- picked over
or any stone fruit.

With vegetable peeler, remove 3, 3xl/2 inch pieces zest from the
lemon. In a saucepan bring the water to a boil with zest, ginger root,
star anise, sugar and one teaspoon lemon juice. Simmer stirring until
sugar is dissolved. Cool syrup and discard star anise. (syrup may be
made two days in advanced and chilled, covered)
Halve and pit nectarines and plums. Cut nectarines into wedges. In a
bowl toss cut fruit together with blueberries, syrup and remaining
lemon juice. Mixture may be made 8 hours ahead and chilled, covered.
Gourmet Sept '97

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.77 **

http://www.kokoscorner.typepad.com

[firecooked]

Agree on the cobbler direction.. here is my favorite:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...

I like to replace the schnapps (which I never have) with Amaretto, skip the cinnamon and add some slivered almonds. And is even better with apricots (which you don’t need to peel).

[kobetobiko]

You can make a big tray of flan and top it with all kinds of summer fruits. You can also bring whipped cream to top the flan and berries!

[othervoice]

Most definately, go with the cobbler....There's a million recipes out there. Paula Dean has a great one. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_37236,00.html

Another thought: Fresh peach shortcake

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recip...

both of these are excellent and would take advantage of those delectable fresh peaches. Have Fun!!

[mcel215]

I have this recipe for a simple, but delicious peach dessert:

To serve 16, I would make two. And I like it warm with a little vanilla ice cream. If you wanted to skip the whipped cream, it would travel better, or make it ahead of time, and wait to top it with whipped cream right before serving.

Serves 8 Easy Peach Cobbler
5 ripe peaches, pitted and sliced (4 to 5 cups)
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons, (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 salt
1 cup milk
Whipped cream, for serving
Directions
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sliced peaches and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Toss to coat peaches evenly with sugar. Set aside until sugar melts and peaches begin to extract their juice, about 10 minutes.

In a glass pyrex, 8 x 8 square pan, place 1/2 stick of butter (cut up) in the pyrex dish, and place in oven for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt. Add milk slowly, whisking until completely combined. Place batter in spoonfuls at outer edge of dish, and randomly into the center. Spoon peaches with their juice into the center of baking dish, keeping an outer edge of batter. Return to oven, and bake until tops are golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream.

[pikawicca]

Well, I think a peach cobbler is the way to go. Slice your peaches and toss them with an appropriate amount of sugar, depending on how sweet the fruit is. Dump into a buttered baking dish. Top with mounds of sweet biscuit dough. Sprinkle with sugar for crunch and bake. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. You can't get any better than that in the dog days of summer.

[mainsqueeze]

i think you should make a delicious clafouti! Sadly, I do not have my grandfather's recipe, but there are tons on epicious.