Time: 50 minuti più tempo di riposo
Difficulty: Media

Traditional desserts exist for every region, here in Tuscany are famous peaches, let’s prepare them together!
Characteristics: The peaches of Prato are round sweets made of flour, sugar, yeast and butter, soaked in alkermes and stuffed with custard. the name was born for the particular aspect that, for shape and color, recalls that of the peach.
Historical notes: The roots of this cake date back to the second half of the nineteenth century, in the year of the unification of Italy that would have made their appearance. The peaches of Prato have the crunchy on the surface, thanks to the pleasant granulation of granulated sugar.
At the first bite, the teeth sink into a soft brioche paste dipped in alkermes and then get to the cream characterized by a delicate hint of vanilla.
Notes: There is also a less known variant, the peaches in Gallicano, a village of the middle Serchio Valley. These cakes are filled with cherry jam or apricots. They were usually prepared on the occasion of the feast of the Madonna, in summer.

Ingredients for the Small Leavening
75 g Special Molino dalla Giovanna leavened cakes
75 g water     
5 g fresh yeast       
For the dough                      
250 g Special Sweet yeast Molino dalla Giovanna        
150 g yeast                      
150 g whole milk
25 g fresh yeast
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks          
60 g sugar
30 g sunflower seed oil
20 cocoa butter
A pinch of salt          
The grated peel of a lemon
The pulp of a vanilla berry
For Crema
500 g whole milk
4 egg yolks
135 g granulated sugar
40 g gluten-free corn starch
Gluten-free fine rice flour for dusting
Wet
500g of water
250 g sugar
20g Alchermes without gluten

Proceeding
Start to prepare the yeast in a bowl by pouring 100 g of mix, add the yeast in the water and mix everything well, knead by hand directly in the bowl.
When the dough is smooth and creamy, leave to rise covered with film for 40 minutes at room temperature.
To prepare the cream, pour the milk into a saucepan and bring it to about 85 ºC, whisk the yolks in a bowl with the sugar, add the starch and continue to work until you get a frothy mixture. Drizzle the hot milk, stirring continuously with a whisk, until you mix everything.
Transfer the again into the saucepan, put on the heat and stir until it is thickened.
Turn off and transfer the cream to a low and wide pan, sprinkle with a little sugar, then spread on the surface kitchen film and let it rest until it is cold.
Pour in a mixer or in a bowl the mix and the yeast and mix everything, dissolve the fresh yeast in the milk, then add the sugar and pour at the base of the mix, little by little; knead well, then proceed with the oil and the eggs and continue to work until completely amalgamate.
Finally add the lemon rind, a pinch of salt and the seeds contained inside the vanilla pod (to take them, it will be enough to cut it with the tip of a knife, lengthwise and extract them) and cocoa butter melted earlier and left to cool. Work until you reach a homogeneous mixture, then form a ball with it helping, if necessary, with the finest rice flour.
Roll out with a rolling pin on the slightly floured surface, until the dough is 1 cm thick; using a small circular dough cup, Cut the dough obtaining discs of the same size and about 10/20g maximum weight let rise for about 40 minutes in a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
At the end of the leavening time, heat the oven. 220 and once at temperature, cook the peaches for 10 minutes in static mode.
Leave to stand and cool at room temperature, meanwhile prepare the wet Alchermes: heat water and sugar for about 20 minutes mixing with a whisk to dissolve well, then turn off the heat and let cool before adding the liqueur.
Made the syrup and still warm, completely immerse the peaches inside, drain after a minute. Take one ball at a time, and using the sac a poche, fill it inside with the cream making it slightly overflow, lay on top of another to make the classic peach with the stuffing in the middle, then breading in sugar.
When you have stuffed all the balls, lay on a serving plate and serve.