Peach Cake

The cool breeze this morning had visions of apple cider and pumpkin pie dancing through my head, but with it also the sadness that comes with the closing of another summer season.  And while we may have a few more Indian Summer days, they will be fewer and further between as we transition into fall.

And so also comes the last of the peaches.  For me that is the true end of summer, since it is the sweet and juicy tang of a peach I look forward to all summer and when they finally appear at the farmers market, I diligently purchase a peck every Saturday.  Now the last of the summer fruit has a dwindling presence at the local stands as I keep looking for ways to enjoy and preserve this flavor of summer. So far I have canned, frozen, dried, muffined (yes I just turned muffin into a verb), french toasted, syurped and just straight up eaten the peaches, but I am starting to grow peach weary and decided it was okay to turn on the oven during the cooler evenings to bake a cake.

I remembered making a peach cake a few years ago that was delicious, however had no luck in finding the recipe, so of course I went right to Google...which lead me to the most wonderful peach cake I have ever made!  This cake is so wonderful that there is nothing I would change about the recipe. I am providing the link and not posting it here because it is not my recipe, but I am including my pictures.  This little cake is truly worth the time involved in each step, and while not difficult, does take a bit longer to make because of roasting the peaches prior to assembling the cake.  I found I did not need to add the Panko bread crumbs to the roasted peaches.  Follow every step, you will not be disappointed!

Perfect Peach Cake recipe from My Pantry Shelf

Fresh out of the oven, I went back for seconds...then thirds.

Then for breakfast again this morning because fruit in cake = breakfast cake!

Raw Apple Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

The fall is probably my favorite season of the year. The air is fresh and crisp and there are lots of different things to bake with. Plus it is cool enough to finally want to bake again after those hot summer months. I started off this cool weather snap with using some of the apples I picked up at the farmer's market. I used a recipe that my dad used to use when I was little to make the healthiest apple cake I have ever come across. The cake uses all whole wheat flour which is not often done because it normally will make a VERY dry cake. However with all of the apples, there is no way that this cake could ever be dry. I added the salted caramel sauce once the cake had cooled and it resulted in a great combination with the apples, almost like a camel apple in a cake!

Raw Apple Cake

1/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. peeled and chopped apples (I tend to use more like 5 cups...I like lots of apples!)
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tbs. ground flax seed
1 tbs. wheat bran
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together the sugar and the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Beat in the oil and vanilla. Stir in the apples until covered. Mix the flour, flax seed, wheat bran, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg in a separate bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the apple mixture. Pour into an oiled and floured 9 inch square baking pan. You can also use two 8 inch round cake pans. I also just greased the pan and then lined the bottom of the pan with parchment.

If using a 9 inch pan, bake for 45 minutes. If using two round pans, bake for 35-40 minutes.

For the salted caramel sauce from Cara Lee Cupcakes and Cake, I used a recipe that I have posted before and it has yet to let me down!

I originally wanted to make this a two layer cake with a caramel filling, however it is probably too moist to do that. Plus I was out of cream to make the sauce and wanted to cut into the cake and it never looks good when a chunk is already cut out of the top layer!

Pear Ginger Maple Pie

I got back from the beach yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed my weekend free from technology. Just me, the sun, and lots of sunblock! The downside to this trip is that when I returned, the roofers were still hammering away and the gutters still have to go up. So much for wishful thinking that it would all be done by the time I got home.

And, to be even more of a Debbie Downer, I was trying to bring my plants back to life, by giving then a thorough soaking and I stepped on a nail! Yes, one of the nails that has been flung into my yard by said roofers. Needless to say to be on the safe side, I cleaned up my foot and hauled it to Target to get a Tetanus shot (really, what can Target NOT do?) Now that I have averted potential lock jaw, I feel better, but I am not sure what hurts worse, the shot site or nail wound!

I also returned to find I had missed the Pie Party! So despite my late submission, I am still posting about pie (cause pie makes everything better) and sharing a recipe that I got from my neighbor, who is also quite skilled in the kitchen. I love when she pops over to share something that she has whipped up! This time she shared a slice of Pear Ginger Maple Pie. I quickly requested the recipe which she shared, notes and all! The original recipe is from food blogger Garrett McCord of Vanilla Garlic.

Pear Ginger Maple Pie Recipe
from Simply Recipes via Garrett McCord

INGREDIENTS
•1 recipe dough for pate brisee pie crust (or use frozen crust)(I went with frozen)
•6 cups of peeled and roughly chopped pears (use Bosc or Bartlett)(Red Danjou work too)
•1 ½ tablespoons of cornstarch
•1/2 teaspoon of salt
•1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
•1/4 cup of pure maple syrup
•1 tablespoon of lemon juice
•1 teaspoon of lemon zest
•2 tablespoons of chopped candied ginger (or 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger)

Oatmeal Crumb Topping Ingredients
•2/3 cup of flour
•1/2 cups of old-fashioned oats
•1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
•1/4 teaspoon of salt
•1/3 cup of cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch pieces

METHOD
1 Roll out pie dough and place in a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie dish and place in the freezer to set. (A 9 inch works fine too)
2 Preheat the oven to 400 F. Place the chopped pears in a large bowl with the cornstarch, candied ginger, brown sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Toss well.
3 Place the pear mixture into the chilled, crust lined pie dish and smooth the top of the fruit. Place the pie into the center oven rack and bake for 45 minutes. (Put a baking sheet on the rack under the pie to catch any drippings.) After 30 minutes, line the edges of the pie with foil or a pie protector to prevent them from burning.

4 While baking take all the Oatmeal Crumb Topping ingredients and place them in a bowl. Use your hands and mix the ingredients until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until use.

5 After 45 minutes reduce heat to 375F. Remove the pie and carefully place the crumb topping over the pie, covering all the fruit. Bake for another 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least one hour. Serve.

Yum!
I am not nearly finished on the topic of pie as it is a part of my family food history!

Family Reunion and Berry Trifle

This past Sunday was spent getting together for our annual family reunion. It was wonderful to see everyone and spend time outside by the pool. It was an even better surprise to see my sister Emma, who showed up unannounced from Ithaca! She is fabulously talented and always busy with work, so it was nice to be able to catch up with her and her boyfriend.

One of the best parts of the reunion of course is the food. When I was much younger the family would get together at a park and there would be rows and rows of food, but also many more people. Now that everyone is much more spread out, we just get together at a cousin's house to play frisbee golf, swim and of course eat good food.

My mom offered me the job of cooking/ preparing the food for the day and I was glad to take her up on that offer. So I ended up making the mini caprese salad, a berry trifle, and Mediterranean pasta salad.

The berry trifle was a huge hit so here is the recipe. I found this by searching online for a trifle recipe, however I do not really follow the recipe, I really just needed some ideas. So this is my variation on what I found.

Berry Trifle

1 box vanilla pudding
1 orange
1 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
2 c. whipped topping (or whipped cream)
3 c. blue berries (I just buy 2 boxes at the store, or use as many as will fit in the dish)
2 c. strawberries sliced
1 pound cake (you could also use angel food cake and other "light" ingredients to make it low fat and low calorie)

Mix milk, sour cream and pudding together in a bowl until blended. Then zest (use a small grater to shave off the skin of the orange, but not the white part) the orange and mix into the pudding. Cut the orange in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl. I do this over my hand to catch any seeds. Mix well. Finally fold in the 2 cups of whipped topping and place in the fridge.

Wash berries and slice strawberries. Slice the pound cake into small cubes about 1 inch by 1 inch.

Place sliced strawberries around the base of a clear glass trifle bowl or other tall dish. Cover the bottom with a single layer of cake. Next top with 1/3 of the cream mix. Then add a layer of blueberries, cake and 1/3 cream. Next is a layer of the sliced strawberries, cake and cream. That will take me to the top of the bowl. Sometimes I have to mix in the rest of the whipped topping with the last 1/3 of the cream mix to have enough to cover the cake. Finally top with a layer of blueberries. Feel free to vary the layers as you see fit. The first time I made this (see pic above) I was not able to get as many layers in the bowl because I used too much cake.

Thank You Apple Pie

I was fortunate enough to be able to spend my Memorial Day weekend at the Beach! While it was perfect beach weather, my sister and I were not there just to enjoy the rays, but to also get the beach house in working order for the summer, yard work and some serious cleaning! Needless to say the beach was calling to us and so we were very efficient in our house work.

The weather and beach were fabulous and though it is still not officially summer yet, it sure feels like it now, I don't want to go back to work! But before I get to the food, a word of warning...don't ever use sunblock from the previous summer! Just go out and but a new bottle! I am speaking from a painful experience here. I used a new bottle of the spray stuff on Saturday and came home with a nice tan, but Sunday was a disaster! I used a bottle from last year and slathered the stuff on thinking I would be good to go. Not the case! I ended up cooked anywhere that the sun had not previously been exposed to. So at this point I am sporting a 28 year old Coppertone baby tan line!

Now for the food.

We are fortunate enough to have some fabulous neighbors at the beach who have been mowing the lawn for us since we are not able to get down there regularly. So I was thinking what better way to say "thank you" than to bake something. I was trying to decide what to bake and went back and forth between chocolate chip cookies, muffins, or an apple pie. My decision was made when our Friday "snack" at school had a bunch of extra apples. I took those home with me and carted them "down the ocean" to bake.

This pie was not anything special, I took the short cut with the crust and just used a store bought one, but it was made with lots of thanks in mind. It turned out beautiful and our neighbor Mike said it was great.

Basic Apple Pie
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
8-10 apples (depending on the size you may need more or less, you want enough that the fruit is about 3-4 inches above the edge of the pie pan)
3/4 cup sugar
1-2 tbs. cinnamon
4 tbs. butter
2 store bought pie crust (I will include a recipe for a easy pat-in-pan pie crust soon)

Peel, core and slice all of the apples.

Place the bottom crust in the 8 or 9 inch pie pan. Let the edges of the crust hang over the edges, do not trim them off. Place sliced apples in the crust.

Sprinkle the sugar over the apples evenly.

Do the same with the cinnamon. Then slice the butter and place pats of butter over the cinnamon evenly around the pie.

Now place the second crust over the pie. Use your fingers to roll the bottom crust and top crust together toward the edge of the pie plate so that you are creating a seal between the top and bottom crust. You can then use your thumb and forefingers to create a pinched edge around the pie.

The last step is to cut vents into the top of the crust. Use a sharp knife to cut 4-5 lines in the top crust. This will let the steam out while the apples are cooking and allow the crust to settle with the apples as they cook.

Besides peeling all of the apples by hand, this is a pretty quick and easy way to make a fabulous pie. It is also good to add a few Crasins, raisins or even chopped dried apricots to the sliced apples to give the pie a unique flavor.

Thanks to my lil sis for taking the pics this time. Much easier to have a photographer than balance dirty hands and a camera!

Finished!