-Pink Peppercorn & Thyme Pickled White Peaches
-Honey Crème Fraiche Mousse (Sounds suppppeerr fancy but its really simple)
-Bellini Gel
-Thyme & Pink Pepepercorn Tuille
-Davidson Plum
Plated Desserts are the love of my life. I immensely enjoy them and am dreaming up new things often. They just elevate the whole dessert, meal even to make it super special. You see a plated dessert you know you're in for something special.
While anyone who knows me at all knows I am a serious CHOCOHOLIC I do quite like how fresh and light this is. It is the perfect fresh end to a romantic meal or if you are me, then Wednesday night.
The tang from pickled peaches with the subtle honey, light crème fraiche mousse, herby thyme paired with fruity and sharp pink peppercorn mirrored in the pickling liquid and the crisp tuille create the perfect balance of flavours and textures.
It is a very light dessert and comparatively fairly low on sugar. Best part is you can pre-make every single element so you are free on the day to just plate up and be your impressive self!
Don't let the number of elements fool you. If you can whip cream and, cut peaches and boil water you're in business.
If I have one thing to say is please, I urge you buy a digital kitchen scale. I have tried to use tablespoon measures here but patisserie does require a bit of precision.
3 different plating options for you.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
PINK PEPPERCORN & THYME PICKLED WHITE PEACHES
White wine vinegar 350ml
Water 400 ml
Sugar -50g
Pink Peppercorns - 1tbsp dry toasted for 1 min and lightly crushed
Lemon Thyme - 8-10 sprigs divided to use in 2 separate steps
White/ Yellow Peaches - 6
Salt - pink / sea salt a pinch
BELLINI GEL
Water 50ml
Bellini - 250ml, room temp is best .Serve the rest of the bottle chilled, with dessert
If you don't have or don't want to buy store bought:
200ml Sparkling Wine (sub with sparkling or flat water and 1tbsp pickling liquid for alcohol free version)
50 ml Peach liqueur or white peach puree
Sugar 30 g
Agar Agar 5g (1/2tsp slightly overfilled) - digital scale would be best here
HONEY CRÈME FRAICHE MOUSSE
Thickened 275 ml Divided 200 ml in a cold stand mixer bowl/regular bowl 75 ml in a small saucepan to heat
Crème Fraiche 200g
Honey 2tbsp 40g approx
Gelatine, gold leaf 1 leaf 2.2g
Pink /Sea Salt 1/4th tsp
THYME & PINK PEPEPERCORN TUILLE
Egg white 50g
Plain Flour 50g
Icing Sugar 50g
Butter unsalted 50g, softened
Pink Peppercorn 1/4th tsp freshly cracked
Lemon Thyme leaves from 2 sprigs/ 1/2 tsp dried Native Thyme if you are in Australia.
Davidsons Plum powder few pinches to sprinkle over the baked tuille + plate
Edible flowers for garnish
Method:
PINK PEPPERCORN & THYME PICKLED WHITE PEACHES
Start this at least 3 hours before plating and up to a week in advance
Heat all the ingredients except peaches and half the thyme in a medium sized, non-reactive saucepan, over medium heat, allow to boil for 8 mins. Take off the heat, allow to cool for 5 mins,
Cut peaches into 8 wedges, core removed if plating with the style in the image above or for the style below, halve and thinly slice 4-5mm aprox, no need to get the ruler out just an indication. Cut the peaches just before immersing into the pickling liquid to avoid oxidation/browning.
Add the peaches and turn on heat on low allowing peaches to cook for 2 mins, 5 mins if you've cut them in 8s. Strain out the peaches carefully into a flat, shallow container with a lid, mine was 275 x 203 x 52mm / 1.75 l container. Avoid overlapping, I used 2 containers to ensure the soft peached don't break.
Continue to boil the liquid on medium heat for 10 mins or till it has reduced slightly. Add remaining thyme. Pour over the peaches, allow it to cool slightly before covering. Store in refrigerator till ready to serve.
I've eaten them after 2 hours of pickling & they are yum but they are best after 2-3 days days.
BELLINI GEL
Combine Agar and sugar in a small bowl with a spoon.
In a small saucepan Heat water+ 50 ml bellini/sparkling wine/ peach puree, stir in the sugar and agar and bring to a boil, boil it for 3 mins on medium heat. Take off the heat mix in the rest of the liquid. Transfer to a shallow container mine was (600ml capacity 61 x 181 x 126mm) anything around this size would work. this is important if you are going to cube your gel. Refrigerate till set about 1.5 -2hrs
To serve, invert the container gently onto a chopping board and cut small cubes.
If you'd like to make this into a fluid gel as I've done below, once set, blend the jelly.
Salted HONEY CRÈME FRAICHE MOUSSE
Start this at least 2 hours before serving or up to 3 days in advance.
Soak gelatine in cold water for 8-10 mins.
Remove Crème Fraiche from the fridge.
Heat 75ml cream on low heat till steaming. Take off the heat.
Squeeze out the water from the gelatine, add to the cream, mix to ensure it well combined
Mix in the honey and transfer to a small bowl, set aside for 5 mins, till it's only slightly warm to touch 32-35C if you have a kitchen thermometer.
Whisk cold cream to medium peaks with a handheld or stand mixer, doing this by hand wont kill you but help you burn some of the calories, more dessert for you!
To a large bowl add the honey mixture, add in the crème fraiche and whisk lightly to combine ensuring no lumps are left. Add 1/4th tsp finely ground pink salt. Fold in the whipped cream in 2 batches with a silicone spatula, avoid knocking out too much air.
If you plan to quenelle transfer to a sturdy medium sized container so as to get a clean edge. Cover and refrigerate.
THYME & PINK PEPEPERCORN TUILLE
Preheat oven to 160 C
Sift flour and icing sugar together.
Place softened butter in a bowl, add the egg whites, flour, icing sugar and small pinch of salt and combine with a whisk to ensure there are no lumps.
Take a tray and spray the back of it with oil, cover with baking paper.
To make shards, spread about 2 tbsp batter as thinly as possible (2mm approx) over prepared tray, sprinkle thyme and pepper and bake for 8-9mins turning the tray halfway. Once out of the oven carefully slide the paper off the tray onto a cooling rack, allow to cool and break it up. Repeat till you finish all the batter.
To make discs, acting quickly use a cookie cutter to cut the tuille while its still on the hot tray.
Allow to cool and store in an air tight container
Assembly
To Serve:
Lay a microfiber cloth on a plate, with half hanging out of the plate.
Gently, with a small offset spatula place the sliced peaches onto the prepared plate to remove excess pickling liquid off the peaches, fold over the overhanging cloth, set aside.
Quenelle (sorry I couldn't find the time to make a how to on this but there are several videos on youtube) or dollop mousse onto a plate.
Arrange the drained peaches around the mousse depending on which style you go for.
Scatter cubes of gel around it top with the tuille, garnish with a sprinkling of davidson plum powder, pink peppercorns, some fresh thyme, pink salt as well as a small drizzle of the pickling liquid.
If you want to use fluid gel to plate warm up a metal spoon and form a crater in the mousse, fill it with the fluid gel.
Enjoy with a chilled bellini!
If you do not have Davidsons plum use freeze dried/ fresh raspberries.
For vegan option replace the Mousse with your choice of plant based yogurt and skip the tuille.
