Peach Crumb Cake

Still making my way through the load of peaches!

This time we're going from Peach Crumb Pie to Peach Crumb Cake.

 This cake is light and not too sweet...perfect for breakfast or a late night snack. Don't be shy with the peaches on top. I used 4 peaches but they were small. If you're using larger peaches, it's okay to just use 4 but if your peaches are on the small side, I'd go with at least 5 peaches.

Make the topping first by throwing all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse til crumbly.
Then make the cake batter.
Then pour it into your prepared pan and spread evenly.

Place the sliced peaches over top of the batter.
Then sprinkle the topping over the peach slices.

Then bake... and cut yourself a nice big piece!

Peach Crumb Cake ( from "The Best of Gourmet 1994")

Topping:
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 stick ( 6 tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 tsp. cinnamon

Cake:
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup AP flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 large peaches ( if small, use 1 more)
***************************
Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8" round or square pan.
1. Topping: In a food processor, combine flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon and pulse til the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.
2. In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar til the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt and beat the batter til just combined.
5. Spread the batter evenly into you prepared pan, then place the sliced peaches over top.
6. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the peaches and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or til tester comes out clean.
Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

Texas Peach Pecan Bread

One of our local farms was holding its annual Peach Festival this past weekend and we stopped by to visit and sample all things peach! One of the more unusual peach items to sample was Peach Gazpacho. But they also had Peach Salsa and, of course, peach ice cream.
They gave out recipes for all these plus this recipe for Texas Peach Pecan Bread. We love breads like this in our house. They're so good with coffee in the morning or afternoon tea. And another chance to use up some more peaches!

The bread..or really cake.. turned out great. It's moist, having some sour cream in it and the little bit of nutmeg adds a nice flavor. The peaches don't come out at all mushy and the pecans give it that wonderful crunch. And it's easy to make and I'm sure it would freeze very well.
I did make a few slight changes to the original recipe I decreased the amount of sugar and salt.

Begin by mixing the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

In a mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the sour cream and mix well.

Beat in the dry ingredients til just combined, then stir in the chopped peaches and chopped pecans.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake 50 to 60 minutes.

Texas Peach Pecan Bread

2 cup sifted AP flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2/3 tsp. salt ( I used 1/2 tsp.)
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar ( I used 1 1/4 cup and the sweetness was just fine)

4 tbsp. sour cream

1 cup peeled, chopped peaches

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and lightly flour a 9" x 5" x 3" pan.

1. Mix flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. Cream butter and sugar til light, about 2 minutes.

3. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

4. Add sour cream and blend well.

5. Beat in flour mixture til just combined.

6. Stir in the chopped peaches and chopped pecans.

7. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or til tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

8. Allow bread to cool in pan about an hour, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Wrap bread well. I'm sure a bread like this only improves with time!

Peach Barbeque Sauce

Yes I know, it's not a post about a cookie or brownie or cake or pie but I have to do something with all the wonderful abundant peaches this summer and we can only eat so many pies and cakes, upside down or right side up!
So when I came across this barbeque, (or barbecue) sauce recipe in a local food editors post I thought it sounded like a good way to use up some peaches.
The recipe involves a lot of ingredients but if you get them assembled, it goes together very quickly.
The flavor of the sauce is wonderful. It's a kind of sweet and spicy sauce with the slightly sweet from the peaches, brown sugar, honey and maple syrup. Then the spicy from the mustard, vinegar, worchestershire sauce and garlic.
We don't yet have a outside grill so I baked chicken and pork ribs with the sauce and it was great!
I put some into the freezer because even with halving the recipe it still made more than we can use right away and I don't want it to spoil, (and no, I'm not into canning!). So I think it will freeze well but only time will tell.

Get all your ingredients together and just go down the list, adding each one into your saucepan.
First, peel and slice the peaches, then place them into a blender or food processor and puree.
Then add all other ingredients into the saucepan...

And place the saucepan on the heat and bring to a low boil.

Boil the sauce on this low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Take off the heat and cool down, transferring to a bowl if you want it to cool faster.

Peach Barbeque Sauce

Makes approx. 6 cups

6 large peaches, pitted and peeled

1 1/2 cups vinegar ( the recipe didn't specify which kind of vinegar so I used red wine vinegar)

1 cup oil ( the recipe didn't specify which type of oil so I used canola)

1 small clove of garlic, minced

2 tbsp. dijon mustard

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 tbsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. worchestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. black pepper

3/4 cup maple syrup *( I used half maple syrup and half honey)*

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with a tiny amount of water to make liquid

1. Puree the peaches.

2. Mix a tiny amount of water with the cornstarch to make it liquid.

3. Add the peaches and all the other ingredients into a medium saucepan and stir.

4. Put pan on heat and allow the mixture to come to a boil over medium heat, lowering the heat to low boil, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

5. If the mixture looks too thin, add in some more cornstarch ( mixed with water) to thicken to the consistency of barbeque sauce.

6. Cool the mixture to room temperature ( transferring into bowl to speed up the cooling).

* Note: I think using Agave or Brown Rice Syrup might work in place of the maple syrup or honey, but I'm not totally sure. Just a thought!*

Peach Shortcakes

This has been a week of baking mistakes! My week began on Monday when I drove out to one of the local flea markets that also sells produce..cheap but great produce! When I say cheap, or rather inexpensive, I mean about ten pounds of the most delicious peaches for two dollars! That's a great deal. But that was the week before.
But last Monday, knowing how great these peaches were, I bought twenty pounds this time. Double the amount. But it wasn't til I got home that I realized I had bought twenty pounds of white peaches! Now, I have nothing against white peaches. These were as delicious as all the others, mind you, but they were white! And white peaches just don't have the flavor of yellow peaches for baking. We've been eating alot of peaches this week around here!

But I digress..back to the mistakes. So as I was saying, maybe it was a sign of things to come!( Or maybe it was a sign I should have spent this week at the beach!).
I made a lemon sponge cake that you're never going to see, and some lime cookies that you roll up and freeze, then slice and bake, also trashed. (And can I just say I have a strong dislike for slice and bake cookies! But more on that at a later time.) And there were several others but eventually I baked my way out of this mess and found a shortcake recipe in an older issue of Martha Stewart's "Living" Magazine and changed it around a bit. Quite a bit! Actually it's nothing like the original! But it was the cake part I liked and used so..thanks Martha!
I cut shapes out of the cake and layered fresh peach slices with whipped cream for a quick and delicious dessert. You can use any fresh fruit, such as strawberries, blueberries or raspberries.

Begin by whisking the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Then cream the butter and sugar in a mixer bowl til pale and fluffy.

Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla.

Add the eggs and beat well after each addition.
Beat in the flour mixture alternating with the milk.

Spread into your prepared pan and bake 15 to 17 minutes.

Cool in baking sheet on wire rack. ( I halved the recipe and used an 8" pan).

Sheet Pound Cake for Fruit shortcakes, ( adapted from Martha Stewart recipe)


Makes one 9" x 13" cake

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 cup AP flour, plus more for sheet pan

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 1/2 ozs. ( 5 tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, optional, ( but I think needed)

1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 large eggs

1/3 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 9" x 13" rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray, then line with parchment. Dust with flour, tapping out excess.

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

2. Cream butter and sugar in a mixer bowl til pale and fluffy.

3. Beat in zest, if using and vanilla.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

5. Reduce speed to medium and beat in flour mixture in 2 additions, alternating with milk.

6. Spread batter into prepared sheet pan and bake til tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool in sheet pan on wire rack.

Once cooled, cut round shapes out of the cake using a cookie cutter or just cut into squares with a knife, (but shapes are more fun!). I even used a tiny heart shape for the top.

Then place the cake onto a pretty plate, then just make layers of fresh whipped cream and sliced fruit. It looks pretty and it's quick and easy. I do love the whipped cream but ice cream would also be great!

Individual Peach Upside Down Cake

Peaches are my all time favorite fruit and I've been making a lot of peach pies lately. But I wanted to try something a little different so when I found this recipe from, another one of my favorites, Alton Brown, I thought it sounded really good. Then, when I read all the positive reviews on it, well, it sounded even better!

It goes together really quickly and it's easy, too. But, of course, the best part is that it's so darn good! And just out of the oven..well, you can see I couldn't stop at one bite! It was still so warm that the whipped cream just melted and dripped down the sides. Thank goodness they're small individual cakes! I think my son, Kris, summed it best when he took his first bite and said, "WOW!"

To begin, get out four 6 oz. ramekins. I used my old fire king glass custard cups that worked great.
I put the 3 tablespoons of butter into one of the cups and melted it in the microwave.

Reserve one tablespoon of melted butter for the batter and divide the remaining 2 tablespoons between the 4 cups.

Then sprinkle the 1/4 cup of brown sugar among the cups.

Take your peeled peaches, or blanched and peeled peaches which I highly recommend, (much easier, but slippery), and cut them into 12 to 14 slices.
Place the slices over the butter and sugar in the cups.

The next step in his original recipe calls for adding chopped crystallized ginger on top of the peaches but I didn't use it. If you want to include it, now's the time)

Place the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

Then take the wet ingredients you've mixed together in another bowl and add to the dry.

Mix only 10 times! Really..that's what he says! No more than 10 times. The batter will be lumpy but that's okay. The lumps bake out.

Sorry, my peach pix are in the wrong spot. Just thought they looked pretty so I left the photo in!

Spoon the batter over the peaches. As you can see, I did have a few extra slices of peaches I didn't use. I did manage to find something to do with them, however!

Place the ramekins or cups onto a baking sheet and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center to test for doneness.

Then wait 5 minutes, which is the most difficult part of this recipe! Run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake. Then place a plate on top and turn upside down onto plate.

Individual Peach Upside Down Cake, ( adapted from Alton Brown's recipe)


3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and divided

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 medium peaches, peeled (Blanching notes below)

1 oz. finely chopped crystallized ginger ( I left this out)

2.5 ozs. AP flour ( approx. 1/2 cup)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk, room temp.

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Whipped cream or ice cream, for serving, optional

Preheat oven to 350. Place rack in center position in oven.

1. Place 3 tbsp. butter in one of the ramekins and melt in the microwave.

2. Take out 1 tbsp. of the butter and set aside to add to the batter.

3. Evenly divide the remaining butter between the 4 ramekins.

4. Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar into each ramekin.

5. Place the peach slices on top of the sugar of each ramekin.

6. Add the crystallized ginger on top of this, if using.

Make the batter:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. In a small bowl, whisk the buttermilk, sugar, 1 tablespoon of melted butter and vanilla.

3. Pour the wet mixture to the dry mixture, stirring only 10 times! Use a rubber spatula for this. The mixture will still appear lumpy, but that's okay as the lumps will bake out.

4.Scoop the batter into the ramekins, over the peaches, dividing evenly.

5. Place them onto a baking sheet and bake 20 to 25 minutes, or til a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Allow them to cool 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and turn upside down onto a serving plate.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

To Blanch peaches:

Place the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove them and place them immediately in ice water for 30 seconds to stop the cooking process. The skins come off easily but, be careful, they're very slippery!