Pesche Dolci {Italian Peach Cookies}

By ctozzi

These cookies are generally saved and baked for special occasions, Bridal Showers, Weddings and Religious Holidays.

They take a little more effort than your average batch of cookies but the end result is definitely worth the extra effort.

The smaller cookies have jam filling, larger ones have pastry cream.

Ingredients

• cookies:
• 3 large eggs
• 450 g (2 cups) caster (superfine granules) sugar
• 237 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil
• 18 g (2 packages) Dr. Oetker Vanilla Sugar
• 21 g (1 1/2 packages) Dr. Oetker Baking Powder
• 237 ml (1 cup) whole milk
• 750 g (6 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• Crema Pasticcera {Italian Pastry Cream}:
• 500 ml (2cups) whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
• 6 large egg yolks
• 180 g (3/4 cup + 2 1/2 teaspoons) caster (superfine granules) sugar
• 40 g (1/3 cup or 5 tablespoons) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
• Ripieni di Marmellata di Pesche (Peach Jam Cookie Filling}:
• Cookie crumbs and bits
• 500 ml (2 cups) peach jam (if the jam is chunky process in a food processor until almost smooth)
• 7.5 ml (1/4-ounce or 1/2-tablespoon) Rum (You can add more or less Rum to suit your taste.)
• Assembling Pesche Dolci:
• 59 ml (2 ounces) White Vermouth
• Yellow liquid food colouring
• Red liquid food colouring
• Caster sugar (superfine granules), for rolling cookies
• Vanilla bean, seeds removed (save seeds for another use), cut into thin pieces resembling stems, for decorating cookies
• Fresh mint leaves, for decorating cookies

Preparation

Step 1

1.Line baking trays with non-stick baking paper or silicone baking mats, set-aside.

2.In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat sugar and eggs on medium speed, 2 to 3 minutes.

3.Gradually add the oil; continue to beat on medium speed.

4.Add vanilla sugar and beat to combine.

5.Dissolve baking powder in milk and then add milk to batter; continue to beat on medium speed until combined.

6.Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour; beat to just combine.

7.Let batter stand for 2 hours before proceeding.

8.Preheat oven to 180° C (350° F).

9.To roll cookie dough, wet hands with a little bit of vegetable oil. For small cookies, spoon about 1 teaspoon of cookie dough. For large cookies spoon 2 teaspoons of cookie dough. Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough ensuring balls are all the same size. (If you are making small and large cookies as I have do not bake on the same tray because the larger cookies will need a few minutes longer baking time.) (Please keep in mind you will need two cookies for each “Pesche“.)

10.Bake on middle rack just until starting to turn colour (you do not want them to turn golden), 15 to 25 minutes. (Smaller cookies usually 15 to 17 minutes and larger cookies 20 to 25 minutes. Make sure to watch both small and large cookies at the 14-minute mark to determine baking time for your oven and your size cookie.)

11.Remove baking sheet from oven and immediately remove cookies from baking sheet and transfer to wire rack.

12.Immediately begin carving out cookies. Using a sharp paring knife, starting in centre of cookie, carve small holes (about the size of a dime for small cookies and the size of a quarter for larger cookies, making sure you do not carve the holes too deep). Place hollowed out cookie bits and crumbs into a bowl for use in your jam cookie filling. Return cookies to wire rack to cool completely prior to filling.

13.When all cookies are baked and centres hollowed take a few minutes to prepare cookies to be filled. Match cookies by size and set two aside for each “Pesche“.

Crema Pasticcera {Italian Pastry Cream}:

1.In a small saucepan bring milk, vanilla bean, and vanilla bean seeds just to the boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and let steep 10 to 12 minutes.

2.In a large bowl, using a large hand whisk, cream together egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale.

3.Add the flour and whisk to well combine.

4.Gradually, in a steady stream, add the hot milk mixture to the egg mixture; whisking constantly until well combined.

5.Return the milk-egg mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes.

6.Remove from heat and strain Crema Pasticcera through a fine mesh sieve into a 20-cm (8 inch) square dish or 23 X 33 cm (9 X13 inch) rectangular dish. Discard solids. (A little tip for you – I remove the vanilla bean; give it a quick rinse and then allow it to dry and use it when I am making syrups or compotes (gives the compote or syrup a hint of vanilla taste) or I also place the vanilla bean in a mason jar (a large one because I continue to add beans and top with more sugar as I go along) with sugar and make my own vanilla sugar (make sure the vanilla bean is completely dry before storing with sugar.) (This time I saved the vanilla bean and used it to make my stems for decorating the completed Pesche.) Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto Crema Pasticcera to prevent a skin from forming while cooling. When Crema Pasticcera has completely cooled place in refrigerator to chill until ready to fill cookies.

Ripieni di Marmellata di Pesche (Peach Jam Cookie Filling}:

1.Place cookie crumbs and bits into a food processor; pulse to a fine crumb.

2.In a small bowl stir together the cookie crumbs and peach jam.

3.Add the rum and stir to combine.

4.Cover and chill in refrigerator until ready to fill cookies.

Assembling Pesche Dolci

1.Place 1-ounce White Martini into a small (deep bowl). Place the other ounce of Martini in another small (deep) bowl. Add yellow food colouring to one bowl and red food colouring to the other bowl. Add enough food colouring to achieve a bright yellow and a bright red. Transfer filling (Peach Jam Filling or Crema Pasticcera) to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip. Tip some caster sugar onto a flat plate (for rolling cookies), set-aside.

2.Pipe a small dollop of filling into each hollowed cavity and then pipe a little more filling on one cookie half. Join both halves to form “Pesche”. Run your clean finger around filling to remove any excess when sandwiched together. Repeat until all cookies are filled and formed.

3.To colour Pesche, dip top half of joined cookie in yellow food colouring (pat cookie on a sheet of paper towel to remove any excess before dipping the other half). Dip bottom half of cookie in red food colouring making sure it meets and covers the yellow half just a tad. (To get the colouring correct, stand the joined cookie up so that one cookie half is on the left and one cookie half is on the right with the filling in between, you want to dip the top half of the joined cookie in yellow and the bottom half in red.)

4.Make sure to dab off any excess colouring; roll cookie in sugar. Stand cookie upright.

5.To decorate add a sprig of mint and a vanilla stem.