Peach turnovers

The farmers markets in Virginia are brimming with peaches, white, yellow, free-stone, cling- stone. All delicious, filling the air with their sweet perfume, juicy, a lovely shade of coral pink with the slightest blush of red. If you go to the farmers market and you know you are going to bake with them, ask the seller if they have “ugly peaches.” These are the peaches that misshapen or slightly over ripe. They taste just as delicious sometimes more so, and you can purchase them for a fraction of the price as you would in the grocery store.

Now during peak season there is no need to cook these delicious fruits. This morning I had a white peach, with prosciutto, olive oil, salt and pepper for breakfast. But for those of you who prefer a pastry breakfast, I decided whip up this easy little number. With a little bit of ice cream or whipped cream it would be a lovely dessert. But it is delicious with coffee. I prefer home-made turnovers because the dough is moister, more buttery. The hands on time are about 10 minutes, it bakes for 20 minutes and it makes 12 of them. You can use either flour or cornstarch as a thickner for the filling. Using fresh peaches will make a very wet filling if you do not use a thickner. I have a relative that is allergic to corn so for her I would use flour. But do as you like, it is your kitchen.

Ingredients

1 large ripe peach
1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
1 tablespoon of flour or corn starch
1 egg for egg wash
1 package of puff pastry or two 12X8 sections of homemade pate brisee

Method

1. Preheat the oven 400 degrees
2. Prepare two baking sheets with parchment paper
3. Rinse and dice your peach
4. Stir together the diced peach, sugar, and flour/cornstarch
5. Un-roll or roll out your dough so that it is about a ¼ of an inch in thickness
6. Cut into twelve even squares. Don’t get out your ruler, but they should be about the same size so that they will cook evenly
7. Dollop about a 2 teaspoons of the filling into each square
8. Brush each edge with egg wash and fold over. Seal the edges with a fork so that you can greedly ensure that all the delicious filling stays in the pastry. Poke a few holes in the top to let the steam escape
9. Bake for 20 minutes
10. Enjoy hot and fresh from the oven

10 steps, 10 minutes, delicious dozen of peach turnovers, perfect for company or a brunch. Who am I kidding, I made these for breakfast for no reason. But if I did have company over, I am sure they would really enjoy them.

As always, much love, many blessings, and happy baking… and going to the market!