End of August.
The end of summer is behind the corner.
And before the season ends, I share a recipe for a “good by chance” peach and macaroon cake. Now I’m telling you the genesis of this cake.
Happy times to remember.
Of the summer of the year that I will not -no one of us- forget, I will keep a few memories.
Instead of saving things that went wrong or thinking about those that didn’t happen because of Covid19, I prefer the lightness of hand luggage where I filled happy moments and a slice of peach amaretti cake.
My Summer happy memories list.
Some readings, above all W. Allen, Apropos of Nothing.
The countryside’s silence.
Clothes hang to dry in the wind. Sometimes their smell among the narrow streets of small villages where I walk with all my senses alert.
A skyline that looks like a postcard.
Some smiles.
A little bakery.
When the chirping of cicadas ends, and the song of crickets begins.
One female firefly, never seen before.
A sky full of stars.
A recipe for a peach amaretti cake.
Good by accident.
How does a cake conquer the strange title of good by accident?
At the beginning of July, I baked a peach cheesecake. And then another in early August, when I was supposed to be on vacation.
In fact, I left and returned after 24 hours.
Just the time to sleep on the decision, I believe, my husband and I took as soon as we arrived at our destination.
We realized, right away, that there was no affinity between our family and that place.
It has been a complex year. And while we craved vacations in the countryside, after the months spent locked in the apartment, that place was not the nature we needed.
With no regrets, I zipped up a suitcase I had never unpacked (there was no closet to store clothes in), and loaded the family into the car to return home.
Fortunately, the return trip was short.
… but good for real.
I will not say that the city is beautiful in August. Even if it is.
But despite having other plans, home turned out to be – as always – a place of the heart, comfortable and reassuring.
In August, I promised myself I would take a break from the kitchen. Then, once at home, perhaps to appease the displeasure, I left my hands free to break cookies and caress the rough grain of sugar.
The recipe came about by chance. But it is thanks to the blog that I wrote the quantities and the process.
I did well writing the amounts; because this cake is so good, even though it came by accident. It deserves a place in the jar of my summer memories and on my blog.
My peach amaretti cake recipe.
On a base of crumbled cookies, I spread fragrant dark chocolate chips and lay peaches, peeled and cut into four. Then I pour a soft batter from which the peaches emerge, like domes of many minarets.
The cake has a soft, moist, fragrant texture.
With a scoop of ice cream, this cake -perfect for breakfast or snacks- becomes an after-dinner dessert.
Buona cucina, Monica
Family habits.
I tell my family tradition of preparing preserves, syrups and passata di pomodoro at home in the post Homemade Fruit Syrups and The Bonfire Season.
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Food Tip
It’s your choice to use fresh or canned peaches.
Peach Amaretti Cake Recipe
serves 4-6
rectangular baking tray 22cmx18cm
List of the Ingredients
Base
150g cheesecake cookies
50g amaretti cookies
100g butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
chocolate chips, to taste
Batter:
1 egg
50g amaretti cookies
50 g flour 00
40 g brown sugar
100 ml milk
1 teaspoon of yeast or a pinch of bicarbonate
3 peaches cut in half
chia seeds to taste
Directions
In a bowl, mix chopped cookies, but not too finely, with sugar.
Melt the butter and pour over the chopped cookies, stirring with a spoon.
Pour the mixture into the baking dish and spread evenly over the bottom.
Sprinkle chocolate chips over the base to your liking but without overdoing it. Or do you?
Peel, cut the fruit in half, remove the stone from the peaches, then arrange the peach halves on the cake, as you see in the photo at the bottom of the post.
But, if you prefer, slice and cover the base.
Refrigerate and let stand at least 30 minutes.
Finely chop amaretti biscuits with sugar, add flour and baking powder and mix.
Add in also egg and milk. Mix the dough with an electric whisk.
Pour the batter over the cake, and cover the peaches but not entirely. Sprinkle with chia seeds, and bake in a preheated oven at 180C degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes.
The surface should be crisp but not burnt.
Let cool before cutting.