Category:
Fresh pastries and bakery, biscuit, confectionary and pastry products;

1. Product name:
Pesche di Prato

2. Other names:

3. Short product description:
Pesche di Prato are round buns made with flour, sugar, yeast, butter and orange juice, soaked in alchermes, cut in half and filled with pastry cream. They’re soft and very sweet with an intense custard flavour. They are made all year round.

4. Production area:
Province of Prato and Firenze.

5. Production status:
r disappeared r at risk r active

6. Production process:
s Mix the flour, butter, yeast, sugar, salt, orange juice and alchermes on a wooden board
s Knead by hand to shape small, round balls
s Leave to rise on wooden planks and damp cotton cloths
s Bake in the oven
s After they’ve cooled, cut in half and leave to dry out. Then dip each half in alchermes and roll in sugar
s Sandwich with pastry cream

7. Materials, equipment and premises used for production:
s Wooden planks for kneading
s Damp cotton cloths for leavening
s Oven for baking

8. Notes on traditionalism, homogeneity of spread and persistence of production rules over time:
Pesche di Prato are traditional thanks to their combination of ingredients and particular appearance, which, in shape and colour, looks like a peach. The hand kneading and leavening on wooden planks and damp cloths are fundamental to the product’s taste and uniqueness. Industrially made pesche are smaller and drier than artisanal ones. Preservatives are not used, so the product doesn’t have a long shelf life. They have been made for decades.

9. Production:
Pesche di Prato are increasingly requested by customers. They are considered “old” dough (as they are purposefully left to dry out) made mostly by amateurs, and for this reason are only produced on the weekend or occasionally by 4 pastry shops in Prato and Montemurlo. Production is around a few thousand pieces a year, but is consistently decreasing. They are sold exclusively in the area.