Sweet Melissa Sundays – Fresh Peach Muffins

I’ve been super-busy this past week with high school reunion plans… ordering favors, keeping up with ticket sales, writing announcements, straightening out reservations and answering hundreds of questions. I can’t believe it’s been 10 years! I’m also preparing for 4 business trips within the next month and a half… so, God knows that when it’s time to eat, I need easy and quick recipes to use! Fortunately, that’s just what JoVonn of The Givens Chronicles chose for this week’s SMS pick!

These were really yummy… especially after I doubled the cinnamon. Perfect for dessert and breakfast the next morning! 🙂 Thanks JoVonn for such a great choice – click on her blog above for the recipe and don’t forget to check out the other SMS bakers here!

Fresh Peach Muffins (pg. 5-7)
Source: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

 

Tuesdays With Dorie – Honey-Peach Ice Cream

This weekend was a scorcher. Literally, it was 100 degrees. And very stupidly, I agreed to help my little sister plant flowers in her yard. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely didn’t mind helping her – I always love spending time with her – but I seriously melted while we were outside. Fortunately, I had this frosty ice cream waiting for us in the freezer! It cooled us down and was so yummy! The peaches were delicious and just the right amount of honey came out in each bite. Her yard came out looking pretty nice, too… if I do say so myself. 😉

Many thanks to Tommi of Brown Interior for such a great summer pick – don’t forget to check out the other TWD members here!

And Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet friend Amy!! 🙂 Love ya!

Honey-Peach Ice Cream (pg. 437)
Source: Baking – From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

 

Tuesdays With Dorie – Parisian Apple Tartlet

I’ve patiently waited for this day since April ’08… and it’s finally here!! I went back and forth about what to choose from Dorie’s amazing book (seriously, TWD and ‘Baking’ changed my life), and I finally decided on the Parisian Apple Tartlet. Not only is the tart adorable in the picture, but the name reminds me of my last trip to France.

As I sent in my choice, I had reservations about using ready-made pastry, almost as if it was a cop-out recipe… but I eventually realized that if it wasn’t so amazing, Dorie wouldn’t have put it in the book!

So, here it is, my choice for the 75th week of ‘Tuesdays With Dorie’… the Parisian Apple, Plum and Peach Tartlet!! 🙂

Parisian Apple Tartlet (pg. 319)
Source: Baking – From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/8″ thick, 4″ circle cold Puff Pastry (preferably all-butter; see note pg. 315*)
1/2 firm, sweet apple, such as Golden Delicious or Fuji, peeled and cored
Light brown sugar
1 tsp cold butter, cut into 3 pieces
1 tsp cinnamon (my addition)

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat and put the pastry circle on the sheet.
Cut the apple half into 4 chunks and center the chunks on the pastry circle. Sprinkle the apple with 1-2 teaspoons brown sugar (and the teaspoon of cinnamon) – depending on how much sweetness you want – and dot with the bits of butter.
Bake the tartlet for about 25 minutes (the time will vary depending on how your apple bakes), until the pastry is deeply browned and puffed up around the apple and the apple can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife.
Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the tartlet cool – it’s great just a little warm and equally good at room temperature.

*Note: Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets are available in every supermarket across the country. However, I can’t encourage you enough to search out an all-butter puff pastry at a local specialty store. If the store doesn’t carry frozen all-butter puff pastry, perhaps it will order it for you. The pastry I buy – which is so good I quit making puff pastry at home – is made by Dufour Pastry.

Serving: You’ve got a choice – you can wrap the tartlet in a piece of waxy paper and eat it standing up, pretending you’re walking the cobblestone streets of Paris, or you can put it on a proper plate with proper cutlery and serve it as an elegant finish to a meal.

Storing: The tartlet should be served soon after it is baked and certainly on the day it is made.

Playing Around: Use this simple construction to make a pear, plum, apricot, peach or even a mango tartlet.

 

Sweet Melissa Sundays – Bear’s Peach Cobbler

Normally, in the South, you stick with your tried-and-true, but sometimes I find that trying different cobbler recipes is fun. I loved Melissa’s addition of the lemon juice to the filling… I’ve never seen it added in before, but it was delicious and I’ll definitely try it that way again! The biscuit topping was also great! Easy and quick to put together!

Thanks to Andrea of Nummy Kitchen for such a great choice! It was a perfect summer Sunday afternoon treat! 🙂

Bear’s Peach Cobbler (pg. 154-155)
Source: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

 

Fruity Summer Sangria

This was a perfect Sunday evening drink… along with pizzas on the grill and a little spinach-artichoke dip. It wasn’t cool enough to eat on the patio, so my little sis, my bestie from high school and I had dinner in front of the TV while enjoying the MTV Movie Awards and the New Moon trailer premier. It was super-yummy and I don’t have to tell you that the pitcher was empty by the time they went home… 😉

Fruity Summer Sangria
Source: My name & my good buddy Amy’s recipe

One bottle of your favorite red wine
2-3 c Ginger Ale
2 blood oranges, sliced
2 lemons, sliced
Handful of sliced strawberries
One package frozen peaches, thawed, with their juice

Mix everything together in a large pitcher and chill until ready to serve.

 

Peach Breakfast Swirl

My Saturday was made… with a trip to Canton and my new ‘Farm Chicks in the Kitchen’ book arriving in the mail! I love this book! So, when K decided to make a trip north and spend a weekend with me, I knew the perfect thing to make her for breakfast. Since there were only two of us, I cut this recipe in half and made muffins out of the swirl. I also didn’t have any cherry filling, so peach it was. 🙂

These are so quick and easy… giving you plenty of time to visit with your friends while they’re baking!!

Peach Breakfast Swirl
Adapted from: The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen – Cherry Breakfast Swirl, pg. 35

1-1/2 c sugar
1 c unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
4 large eggs
3 c all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 21-oz can peach pie filling
1/2 c sliced almonds

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a large jelly-roll pan. Cream the sugar with the butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts and the eggs. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and beat in the flour and baking powder just until blended.

Spread two-thirds of the batter in the prepared pan; the batter will look insufficient and will spread very thinly. Scatter spoonfuls of the peach filling over the top and top with tablespoonfuls of the remaining batter. Then, using the back of a spoon, flatten each little mound of batter just a bit. Sprinkle on the sliced almonds. Bake until the cake is lightly browned – 28 to 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in the pan, covered with plastic wrap, up to 3 days.