Peaches with Ginger, Pecan, and Brown Sugar Cake

This post should be more aptly entitled "Summer's Last Hurrah."  Like these peaches.  Just when I thought the sad end of stone fruit season had come, I ran into these peaches at the market.  And they are some of the juiciest, most peachy-tasting peaches I have ever had.  Most of them didn't even make it into dessert form--they just disappeared into my belly as soon as I brought them home.  True noms!

What I did manage to save, though, went into this cake, which was designed purely as a sweet vessel for thick slices of these wonderful peaches.  (Like, seriously, people. This is about the peaches.)  The cake itself is a ginger-pecan cake, with the perfect balance of freshly grated ginger to add a bit of spice and toasted pecans to add a bite of nuttiness.  The frosting is a simple affair--basically a creamy, sweet bed on which to rest peaches, with the dark, rich undertones of brown sugar instead of white sugar.  Just because dark sugar is so much more superior. :-)

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As for summer, I'm having the hardest time getting my head and body and spirit back in the game for the new academic year.  *sigh*  This is not entirely helped by the fact that I am... get this... going on vacation!  Ohhhhh yeah....  :-)  I know, I know, I'm totally playing hooky from one of my schools (granted, my home institution is still on summer break, so I feel at least partially justified in this), and I am headed out to the Big Island of Hawai'i.  Haha!  You don't know how excited I am for this.  I've never been to Hawai'i before, so this is going to be extra awesome.  (I'm sorry if you're jealous...)

That said, please!  I need your recommendations for places to go, things to eat, experiences to have on the Big Island!  If you have any, please leave them in the comments below.  Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated.  I'm also looking for any contacts to cacao growers on the Big Island for a special project, in case any Hawai'i cacao growers or anyone who knows anyone reads this blog.

Just a few more days of work before vacation, but at least, in the meantime, I have a slice of peach cake left in the fridge... :-D


Read on for recipe....

Fig, Mascarpone, and Pistachio Tart

Given that nearly every stall at the farmers' market this past weekend was brimming with figs, I'd say that it's officially fig season here.  Swoon!  The arrival of figs marks one of my favorite food seasons--late summer and early autumn.  I swear that this cross-over time has some of the best produce ever: melons, tomatoes, berries, stone fruit, peppers, apples, pears, winter squashes.  Basically, any foodie's dream.

Since I missed fig season last year due to my finger surgery, I've been *itching* for figs to finally come back this season so that I could make this tart, which I've been lusting after since last August: figs, mascarpone+brown sugar filling, and pistachio crust.  Three of the best things packed into one dessert!--sweet and soft figs atop a creamy bed of rich and fluffy mascarpone cheese, sweetened and darkened by just a little brown sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract, with a faintly nutty and very buttery pistachio sweet pastry crust.  Oh, and topped with a light glaze of raspberry-apricot jam, like a little touch of sugary sparkle. :-)

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The arrival of figs to the markets also marks the beginning of the academic year.  Sigh!  Usually I'm quite happy with everything starting back up, getting back into the grind of things, but this year, summer was just too, too short.  (That's what you get bouncing back and forth between a school on quarter system, which ends for summer break in mid-June, and a school on semester system, which starts for the fall in late August.)  Then, I felt even more cheated out of my final days of summer when, on Monday, one of my professors pointed out (while eating a slice of this tart, coincidentally) my error in thinking that school actually started a week later than it actually does (read: it starts now)!  Ack!  Talk about a rude awakening.

So, I suppose it's fitting to be posting this tart recipe, which I'd planned to post for next week, a week early (by demand of fellow Instagrammers).  Welcome to (early) autumn, folks!

P.S.  If you think I'm going to acquiesce so easily over ending summer this early, think again.  I've still got summer plans, yo.  Stay tuned.  :-)


Read on for recipe....