Blini with baked white peaches and a sweet muscat wine syrup

Blini with baked white peaches, sweet muscat syrup, crème fraiche and walnuts

This is the sort of breakfast I love to have on the weekend during this time of the year. It celebrates our beautiful stonefruit season and yes it takes a bit of extra time to make then simply fried eggs on toast, but it is SO worth it. The sweet muscat syrup is a dessert wine that basically cooks down with the sugar and becomes dark and delicious…you can though of course replace it with maple syrup but I really recommend it! + the alcohol cooks out of the sauce whilst you cook it but leaves the indulgent flavour of the muscat wine. I love blini (Russian Crepes) and I can have them for breakfast every weekend happily. This dish though would also be lovely for dessert where you can cook everything prior to your dinner earlier in the day and then warm up the peaches and sauce just before serving – it’s easy and quick! The white peaches are just so beautiful this time of the year. They are fragrant and although an incredible treat just as they are, they also are incredible to cook with..they become even sweeter, and are just divine. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do – I will be making it for breakfast visitors this summer season! A recipe created in partnership with Australian Summer Fruit.

Recipe Tips

• You can make the batter for the blini the night before and store in the fridge so that it’s ready to go in the morning.
• When cooking blini, The first one is nearly always a test one – adjust seasoning and cooking temperature based on that one if needed.
• I recommend to add a fresh coating of butter for the blini as you cook each one.
• Maple syrup is an easy substitution for the muscat syrup sauce.

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 egg

2 cups plain flour

a pinch of salt

3 cups milk

½ tsp bi carb soda

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

100g butter

4 x white peaches

¾ cup brown, raw or light muscovado sugar

½ cup Muscat wine (a sweet dark dessert wine)

75g walnuts

1 tub of Crème fraiche

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Wash and cut the peaches into quarters and remove the seed. Place on a baking tray or cast-iron pan and sprinkle with ½ a cup of the brown sugar. Place into the oven to cook for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove and using a spoon flip the peaches onto their other side and scoop out the sugar on the base of the pan and drizzle it over the peaches. Place the pan back into the oven to cook for an extra 15-20 minutes. The peaches will be sticky and golden by the end of this time but you can keep them in for longer if you wish.
2. Place the walnuts in a separate small baking tray and place into the oven for 10 minutes. Remove, chop in half and set aside.
3. Meanwhile make the blini. Break the egg into a large mixing bowl and mix it together. Add in the milk and sieve the flour into the bowl. Combine the bi carb soda and apple cider vinegar together in a small cup until it fizzes and transfer it into the bowl along with a small pinch of salt.  Whisk the ingredients together until they have completely combined and you get a thin and silky batter, with no big clumps of flour (it’s completely fine if there are still some tiny clumps). Use a ladle to check the consistency by scooping and pouring it back into the mixing bowl then adjust the consistency if you need to by adding either more flour for a slightly thicker consistency or add more liquid if you need it thinner (use more milk or water to do this).
4. To cook the blini, heat either a non stick pan or a cast iron pan (medium size) on a high heat then reduce to medium heat (I cook my blini on a number 6 – that is for an induction stove top). Melt 70g of the butter in a small pot.
5. Using a kitchen brush, add a bit of the butter to the pan to thinly coat it. Use a ladle to scoop and transfer the blini mixture on to your pan. Pour approximately 1 ladle full (or a tiny bit less – depends on the depth of your ladle) of the batter onto one side of the pan and use your hands to swiftly move the pan in a round motion so that the batter reaches and covers the whole entire surface.
6. Cook the blini on medium heat on each side for a couple of minutes (2-3 minutes) each side, adding more butter when needed. Increase the heat if you need to or reduce it if you need to (each stove top is a bit different!). Use a metal spatula to lift and then flip it to cook on the second side.
7. As you cook each one, place them one by one on a plate and a bit of the extra butter on the surface of each cooked blin. Layer them on top of each other.
8. Make the sweet muscat sauce by placing the rest of the sugar and the muscat wine into a small pot. Bring to the boil then reduce to a low simmer and cook for a few minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Set aside until serving.
9. Serve the blini by folding them and topping with approximately 4 wedges of baked peaches per person. Top with the crème fraiche, the walnuts and drizzle with the sweet muscat sauce.