Peach Brandy Pate de Fruit

I remember my first trip to Fauchon on Park Avenue. Pink and French, there was rarely a store that so precisely sang my tune. I touched everything, from the boxes of tea and biscuits to the jars of cassoulet. I think I was having a shopping flashback about the KaDeWe when I saw them, perfect cubes of shiny. Rows of sugared pate de fruit called to me. I couldn't answer, they were a little too rich for my poor pockets.

Pate de fruit is one of those French confections that proves there's still magic in patisserie (although this is really candy-making and not pastry-making per se). Like jelly, it requires only a few ingredients - fruit, pectin, sugar - but without that deft touch you'll have soggy fruit juice jello shots.

I clearly lack that touch right now, because my pate de fruit was not shelf stable (you should be able to keep it at room temperature without major disasters). It tasted great, but we wound up using it as a topping for yogurt after it destabilized.

But for a few minutes, I was transported. My pate de fruit glistened in the late summer sun, kissed with peach brandy, waiting to melt into nothingness.

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