Pesche Italian Peach Wedding Cookies Recipes

PESCHE CON CREMA (PEACHES WITH CREAM)

Steps:

• Make the pastry cream: In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring milk and lemon zest to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow; add flour and whisk until well combined.
• Remove lemon zest from milk and discard; slowly whisk hot milk into egg mixture. Return mixture to saucepan and place over medium heat; cook, stirring constantly, until cream thickens and begins to boil.
• Transfer pastry cream to a large bowl; cover with plastic wrap, pressing down on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool completely.
• Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. Whisk eggs in another large bowl. Add sugar and whisk to combine. Whisk in milk, butter, and lemon zest until smooth. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing with a fork, until dough is smooth and stiff. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with nonstick baking mats; set aside.
• Using a lightly mounded tablespoon of dough, roll the dough firmly between your palms to make a smooth round ball, about the size of a walnut. Repeat process, taking care to make sure all the balls are fairly uniform in size. Place balls on prepared baking sheets spacing about 1 inch apart; you should be able to fit 24 balls on each baking sheet. Flatten tops slightly with your fingertips.
• Transfer to oven and bake until bottoms are lightly browned, about 15 minutes; tops will remain pale. Transfer to a rack and let cool slightly.
• Assemble the peaches: While the cookies are still warm, use a small, sharp knife to cut a circle about the size of a quarter on the bottom (flat) side of each cookie, taking care not to crack the edges. Use the tip of the knife to scrape out enough crumbs to make hollow and hold about 1 teaspoon pastry cream. Set cookies aside.
• Place rum or maraschino liqueur and schnapps in a small bowl. Add enough red and yellow food coloring to create your desired shade of peach; set aside. Fill a shallow bowl with sugar; set aside.
• Fill each hollowed-out cookie with 1 teaspoon filling. Sandwich two cookies together so that the filling comes just to the edge, taking care not to crack or break. Using a pastry brush, brush "peach" with colored liquor and roll in sugar to coat. Transfer to a large airtight container and repeat process with remaining cookies, liqueur, and sugar. Cover container and transfer to refrigerator; let chill overnight.
• Just before serving, pierce each "peach" with a toothpick where the two cookies come together and insert the stem of a peach leaf. Alternatively, you can garnish cookies with decorative or chocolate leaves.

ITALIAN PEACH WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• 1. Beat the eggs; add the oil, baking powder, cup of sugar and flour. Mix well then refrigerate overnight. Roll into balls a bit smaller than a walnut. Bake 15-18 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet. When cookies have cooled a little bit, scoop out a small hole in the middle of the flat side of the cookie (large enough to hold a cherry) while handling very gentle. Then finish cooling. Fill the hole and spread a little frosting on the flat side of the cookie with cream cheese frosting and then insert the cherry in the whole. Place another flat side of cookie ontop of the filled one. Use your finger to smooth the frosting all the way around where the two cookies are joined together. This will help keep the cookies from absorbing too much liquid when dipped in it. Mix vermouth and food coloring together. Dip cookies quickly. Roll in sugar and let sit for 10 minutes. Shake off excess sugar and then roll in sugar again. Use a squeeze tube or can of green frosting to add the stem and leaf. Place each into their own cupcake paper cup. Beautiful! Looks like a PERFECT PEACH with a surprise in the middle! Tip: Try to match up two cookies that are similar in size after baking before joining them together for more perfect looking peaches. I have even frozen these with good results. Just make sure you put a label on them if there is the possibility of a recovering alcoholic is amoung those being treated to these beautiful cookies.

PESCHE (ITALIAN PEACH COOKIES)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Lightly grease cookie sheets or use parchment paper Mix together sugar, eggs and oil. Add flour and baking powder. Form 1" balls (cookies should be "flat" on the bottom where they rest on the cookie sheet) and bake about 10-15 minutes (until lightly browned on the bottom). while cookies are baking, prepare filling by combining the preserves and brandy. while cookies are baking, prepare icing by placing cup of sugar in a small deep bowl, the grenadine in a small deep bowl, and the brandy in a small deep bowl. When cookies come out of the oven, let cool for a few minutes. Take the cookies and use a knife to scoop out some cookie to form an indentation for the filling. Place some filling in the indentation and place the almond in the middle (the pit of the peach) Take another cookie and just put in the filling (no pit) this will be the other half. Put the two cookies together to look like a peach. Dip the peach to get it complete wet on the outside in the brandy, dip again in the grenadine for the red coloring. Roll peach in sugar and place in muffin cups. Before serving, garnish with leaves and or a clove in the middle.

PESCHE - ITALIAN PEACH WEDDING COOKIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°.
• Lightly grease cookie sheets.
• Mix together sugar, eggs and oil. Add flour and baking powder.
• Form 1" balls (cookies should be "flat" on the bottom where they rest on the cookie sheet) and bake about 10-15 minutes (until lightly browned on the bottom).
• While still warm, take a small pointed knife and scoop out a pocket on the flat side of each cookie.
• Fill with preserves & spread a small amount on the flat sides as you join 2 cookies together to form the peach.
• Color the brandy with a little food coloring & dip the peaches to give them a "blush".
• Then roll the peach in granulated sugar.
• You may garnish with artificial leaves for presentation.
• **Variation--if you have the time to make these lovely cookies on the actual day that they will be eaten, you may fill the pockets with pastry cream, and then seal the two halves together with melted dark chocolate!

LILLA'S PEACH COOKIES

Steps:

• Optional but highly recommended to measure out all the ingredients first and set aside
• In the bowl of a standing mixer, add eggs and sugar and beat with whisk attachment for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy
• add the oil all at once and mix until blended
• add the milk and mix until blended
• Combine the baking powder with the flour and then add to the mixing bowl with egg mixture and combine until very soft dough forms (see photo)
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
• preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line baking sheets with silicone baking sheet or parchment paper
• Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, portion dough into approximately 60 to 64 cookies. The shape should be round with a slightly flattened top (see photo)
• please note that this is a sticky dough! use cooking spray to help prevent dough from sticking to hands when forming cookies
• bake in oven for about 25 to 28 minutes. Note that these cookies are intentionally overbaked so that they can withstand the dipping step and not fall apart. That said, do not burn the cookies! They should have a golden color.
• After cookies are baked, carve them while they are still warm.
• The cookies should be cool enough to handle but still warm enough to allow carving. If they are cool, the cookies will be more likely to break when you try to carve the bottom out
• Using a small knife with a pointed tip, carve out the bottom (see photo) so that they can be filled with pastry cream.
• After all cookies have been carved, store them in a sealed container until ready to fill and decorate
• Note that this recipe makes a little more cream than needed; the extra pastry cream is delicious enjoyed alone!
• Also note that the sugar is divided, so please use sugar number 1 in first part of recipe and sugar number 2 in second part as described below
• Combine milk and sugar number 1 in a medium sized sauce pan/pot and heat until slightly boiling over medium high heat
• In the meantime, combine the cornstarch with sugar number 2 and then add to the eggs and mix well but do not introduce too much air
• After milk come to slight boil, pour about 1/3 of it into the egg/sugar/cornstarch mixture while whisking vigorously
• Return this egg mixture back to the pot containing the remaining milk/sugar mixture and heat over medium high heat for 2 minutes while whisking constantly. Mixture will become very thick. Whisk well continuously and make sure to stir the bottom of pot and bottom edges of pot to avoid scorching
• Remove pot from stove, add butter, and stir well until all butter is melted
• If using liquor, add to finished cream and combine well.
• Cover with plastic wrap (ensure the top of the cream is in direct contact with plastic wrap or film will develop)
• Cool and then store in the refrigerator until ready to use
• Add 1 cup of water, sugar, lemon and orange peels, cinnamon stick, peach jello, and vanilla extract to a pan and set over the stove. Heat and stir over medium flame for about 5 minutes
• Add a bit of the red food coloring (one drop at a time), and stir until desired color is achieved.
• Remove mixture/pan from flame and add remaining cup of water to dilute the mixture and cool it down a bit.
• Optional, add peach liquor to taste (add 2 tablespoons at a time and taste as you go)
• Organize an area for decorating cookies
• Set out everything you'll need: the carved cookies, the dipping syrup for dipping, and the pastry cream to fill the cookies. You may also need some paper towels to wipe up if the syrup drips. You will also need a baking tray lined with parchment or aluminum foil.
• We typically dip, fill, and put together one cookie at a time.
• Although most cookies should be similar in size, it might help to match up 2 cookies before proceeding to the dip, fill stage
• Dip 2 cookies (I dunk them three times), let excess syrup drip off, then fill each half with pastry cream and join the cookies together like a sandwich. Wipe excess cream that may ooze out with finger and place on nonstick paper lined baking sheet. Note that you should use a small and deep container to dip the cookies as the syrup starts to run low to make things easier.
• Continue until all the cookies are dipped, filled and joined together
• place the tray of cookies in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or so until they have dried slightly and then sprinkle with sugar (NOT powdered sugar but regular granulated sugar) and insert leaves to decorate. We use a sugar shaker but you can sprinkle with tablespoon.
• Cookies can be made 3 or 4 days in advance and stored in the refrigerator. They do not need to be covered as they should be quite moist and are not subject to drying out quickly.
• Pastry cream can be made ahead and stored for 2 days
• More tips on making pastry cream here
• It is not recommended to freeze pastry cream (see explanation in link above); however, you may freeze cookies ahead of time and then fill and decorate a day before needed.

ITALIAN PEACH COOKIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C. Line 3 large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
• With an electric mix or hand held whisk, beat eggs and sugar until pale and thick approx 10 minutes.
• Whisk in cooled, melted butter, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Continue to whisk until thick and creamy mixture.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and gently stir into the egg mixture. Followed by milk.
• Take a small amount of dough and roll into a ball. The size should be a little smaller than a walnut (approx ¾oz/20g). I have a little cookie scoop (ice cream scoop) which measures approx 1½in/3.5cm across (size #60 or #70 cookie scoop). This ensure even size balls. Make 52 little dough balls and place them onto the lined baking tray allowing a little room for spreading.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes. The cookies will be pale and are meant to be soft. Remove from the oven and leave to cool down a little bit.
• While still warm use a small knife or teaspoon to make a small hole in the bottom of the cookie. Use in another recipe like rum ball or truffles or crumble and sprinkle over ice cream.
• Fill each indent with pastry cream one then join the two halves together.
• Dip each peach into Alkermes liqueur. Drain on a wire rack for a few minutes to allow the liqueur to soak in. Then roll in granulated sugar.
• Place the peaches in cupcake cases and put them in the fridge for at least 12 hours before serving. They will soften beautifully.

PESCHE - ITALIAN PEACHES COOKIES

Steps:

• No need for a mixer - just cream butter and sugar with a wooden spoon, add eggs, continue to cream and then add lemon juice. Add almond extract (the amount is negotiable, and I tend to add a little bit more because I like mine very almondy). Combine baking powder with 3 cups of flour and add to slowly to creamed ingredients -- mix only with your hands! Add the rest of the flour until dough is not sticky. It takes some practice to get the texture perfect. You may have to add a little more flour to get it just right. You do not want it to be too greasy as the cookies will not rise well.
• Roll cookies into balls with about 1 tbsp worth of dough. Bake cookies at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes -- watch until start to turn golden. Let cookies cool fully (sometimes I cook them the night before and let them sit out to dry). When cool, carve insides out to make room for pudding.
• Make two bowls of water and vanilla extract. Add yellow food coloring to one and red and yellow to other. Add just a few drops as you just want a light coloring. Have another small bowl of sugar ready for dipping.
• Fill one cookie with chocolate pudding and one with vanilla pudding and stick together. Dip "peach" half way into one colored water and then walf into the other. Sprinkle or dip in sugar (don't go overboard on sugar, you just need a little sprinkle as a finishing touch). Put in cupcake paper and freeze immediately. Take out and that when needed.

ITALIAN PEACH COOKIES - PESCHE DOLCI

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 2. In a large bowl sift flour and baking powder 3. In another large bowl whisk eggs and sugar until combined and fluffy, whisk in milk, melted butter, vanilla paste and lemon zest until well combined. 4. Gradually add the flour into the wet ingredients and mix until incorporated and soft dough is formed. 5. From the dough form small balls, approximately 1oz (30g) each. Place the balls on the baking sheet and press slightly on top to flatten a bit. Leave 1-inch space between the cookies. 6. Bake 1 try at the time for 10-11 min. the cookies should stay pale and the bottom golden brown. 7. While the cookies still warm make little holes with a knife or spoon. 8. Make the filling: place ricotta, sugar, orange zest and vanilla paste in a bowl. Mix well until incorporated. Transfer to a piping bag. 9. Pipe the filling into the cookies, close two cookies together. 10. In a medium bowl pour apple juice and food coloring. in a small bowl place sugar. deep each cookie in the juice and then roll in sugar. Or brush the cookies with food coloring (in this way you can control the color) 11. Decorate with mint leaves and place in the fridge for 2 hours.

ITALIAN PEACH COOKIES (PESCHE DOLCI)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350Beat eggs and sugar until light, about 3 minutesAdd the vegetable oil and beat until creamy, then mix in the milk and vanilla.Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add those to the egg mixture until just combined (Do not over beat. Mix until JUST combined).Let set for 30 minutesUsing a ½ tablespoon cookie scoop, roll dough into small balls. You may need to oil your hands lightly or pat flour on your hands every few balls as the dough will be sticky. NOTE: You do not want to use much bigger of a cookie scoop or make the dough balls bigger than 1 inch. Remember, you will be putting two cookies together to form the peach after baking.Place balls on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats (I prefer the baking mats).Bake about 12-14 minutes depending on size and your oven. The cookies should be set but not browned.Once cookies are slightly cooled, scoop out the center of each cookie and place in a plastic bag. NOTE: Be careful not to scoop too deep to make the cookie break. I used an X-acto knife to carve out the centers of my cookies.Once all the centers are scooped out and placed in a plastic bag, roll the centers to fine crumbs using a rolling pin or glass.Mix the cookie crumbs with 1 jar of peach preserves to make the filling for the cookies. (You may want to start with ¾ of the crumbs until the filling is the consistency you desire. I typically use all the crumbs and one jar of preserves. You want the filling to be sticky).Fill each cookie with filling and put two halves together, making sure that no filling is oozing out. (If it starts to ooze out, run your finger around the center of the cookie to remove any excess filling).Fill a cup (wide enough so you can dip the cookie) with Peach Schnapps. Color the Schnapps with red and yellow food coloring. I use a lot more red than yellow to get a nice "peachy" color. You can play around with the coloring for your desired look.Using food prep gloves or cleaning gloves, dip each cookie in the Schnapps for 1-2 seconds. You don't want it to be in long enough that it gets soggy, just a quick dip is good.Place the dipped cookies on a paper towel to dry for a minute or so, then roll the cookie in sugar.If you are serving these right away, you can attach the leaves. If you are freezing, wait until you are serving to attach the leaves. These plastic leaves can be purchased at a candy or cake supply store. They are usually sold in packs of 25 or 100.ENJOY! You worked hard!!