Make use of stone fruits, pits and all

It’s that glorious time of year, that tiny window between summer and fall when beautiful things like stone fruits are available, but sometimes there’s a chill in the air, so it’s not unreasonable to actually preheat your oven.

The season for all of the local fruits will be wrapping up before you blink, so load up on plums and peaches while you can. Wisconsin peaches may be small, but they are flavorful. And don’t discount them based on color — I’ve been eating basketfuls of a light yellowgreen doughnut peach this year that smells intoxicating and tastes like a dream.

And don’t throw away the pits! Nestled within each stone fruit’s pit are the seeds, or kernels that have a distinctive bitter-almond flavor. The French call it “noyaux.” As you finish your fruit, clean up the pit and store it in the freezer until you have about 15. You can use the pits from any stone fruit, so plums, nectarines and peaches are all fair game.

When ready, place the pits in a plastic bag and wrap in a towel. Use a mallet or flat side of a meat tenderizer to crush them, and gather up the kernels for some fun.

Now, it is true that the pits contain a trace amount of cyanide; however, for this dish you will be cooking them twice, and not actually ingesting the pit. However, if you’re concerned, there’s an alternative listed below.

You can also use your noyaux bounty to steep cream for ice cream or in vodka to make a noyaux extract. It does taste of almond, but it is more complex and will leave your guests asking “what flavor is that?”

Here, peaches are tossed with brioche and an egg custard, then baked up into a puffy bread pudding. A warm bourbon butter sauce is drizzled over the top. Serve warm when there’s just a hint of chill in the evening air.