ROSé-POACHED PEACHES WITH WHIPPED MASCARPONE

Rosé-Poached Peaches with Whipped Mascarpone image

Peaches are enjoying the "rosé all day" trend of summer. This seasonal fruit gets poached in an aromatic liquid, then served alongside sweetened whipped mascarpone cheese and topped with crunchy candied pistachios. It's an incredibly easy showstopper dessert.

Provided by Zac Young

Categories dessert

Time 30m

Yield 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 14

Previous Next

Ingredients

1 vanilla bean
One 750-milliliter bottle rosé wine
1 cup honey
1 tablespoon black or pink peppercorns
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
2 navel oranges
2 lemons
4 ripe peaches, halved and pitted
8 ounces mascarpone cheese
Kosher salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Pinch cayenne pepper

Steps:

Halve the vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp paring knife. Set one half aside and put the other half in a large pot. Add the rosé, 3/4 cup of the honey, peppercorns, fennel seeds and 1 cup water. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest of the oranges and lemons and add the zest to the pot. Squeeze in the juice of 1 orange. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve the honey. Reduce the temperature to low and add the peaches (the liquid should be still and there should be no simmering bubbles). Cook, flipping the peaches halfway through, until they are softened and the skins start to pull away, 10 to 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the mascarpone in a large bowl and whisk until loosened. Scrape in the seeds from the remaining vanilla bean half and add the scraped vanilla bean pod to the poaching liquid. To the mascarpone, add the remaining 1/4 cup honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt and the heavy cream and whisk until medium stiff peaks form, 3 to 4 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Add the pistachios, light brown sugar and cayenne pepper to a small skillet and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved, syrupy and evenly coats the pistachios, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a parchment-lined plate and let cool completely, about 5 minutes (the coating will be sticky but will harden as the nuts cool).
Divide the whipped mascarpone among 8 serving bowls. Use a slotted spoon to remove the peaches and add one half to each bowl. Evenly sprinkle the pistachios over the top.