Tasting Spoons

It intrigues me, always, when I read a recipe and find some new or different technique. Such was the case with this recipe. It’s not exactly an innovative instruction, but normally you don’t cover a cobbler or cake while it’s baking. In this case, you cover it with oiled foil for half the baking and uncover for the second half. And this fruit pudding cake requires about 80-90 minutes of baking. That’s a heck of a long time.

Before we get to the recipe itself, I want to talk about peaches and nectarines for a minute . . . I know (because Carolyn knows all, tee, hee) that some of you, my good readers, who subscribe or use a reader, chose not to read my instructional pieces about how to buy great fruit and vegetables (I’ve done two so far – peaches/nectarines, and cucumbers). I suppose in the big scheme of things, I shouldn’t care, but I’m merely telling you, it’s worth the reading. Really it is. (If you want to read it now, just click on the links above to go to each of those posts.) I’ve learned things from the book this info has come from. In this case, when I was shopping for peaches, I remembered what Russ Parsons had told me - and I’m doing this from memory – firstly that peaches and nectarines are interchangeable, for all intents and purposes, (okay, good so far, so I chose nectarines) – then he said choose the white-fleshed fruit if it’s available (check), and choose fruit that has less rosy tinges to them – in other words, choose the more yellow skinned rather than the red skinned (I did my best, check). Once home, I placed them on the kitchen counter (check) for about 4 days, actually, until they were perfectly ripe. That day wasn’t one when I could use them, so I popped them in a plastic bag and into the refrigerator (check). It’s been 3 or 4 more days since I did that, and amazingly, they were perfectly okay once I removed them from cold storage. I’m a happy camper.

I haven’t done much cooking of late. No particular reason, other than I’ve been busy doing other things (like painting, for instance, going to my weekly art class, shopping, going out to lunch with friends, movie-going to see Mama Mia). And, we had lots of leftovers in the refrigerator. I don’t mind leftovers at all, and my DH is wonderful about eating them. In fact he rags on me something fierce whenever we have to throw out something. Alas, we do now and then. But our refrigerator, finally, is more or less bare. Well, that’s not exactly a truthful statement. If you opened my frig you’d find nearly all shelves half full – of bottles and jars of things that have to be refrigerated all the time (pickles, dressings, marinades, mustards, some liqueurs, crème fraiche, still some Devon cream leftover from the tea about 6 weeks ago, oils, jams, condiments, hot peppers, and on and on it goes). The vegetable drawer is crammed full too, as well as the shallow cheese/salami drawer. Of course, there’s also some milk, fat-free half and half, some cream, sour cream, fresh salsa, and lots of Greek yogurt too.

So, now we get to talk about the recipe. Sorry for the diversion . . . I went to my recipe trove and searched for something to do with the nectarines. Out popped this recipe. I adore pudding cakes – you’ll find that I posted a lemon sponge cake and a gingerbread pudding cake in months past, both really tasty. I’d never made a peach (well, nectarine) one. First I peeled and sliced (and measured) the nectarines. I took two little slices to taste – oh my goodness were they fabulous.  Now, a slight confession: the original recipe called for 4 cups of sliced fruit. I had 4 rather smallish nectarines, and I thought I’d be lucky to have 3 cups. Actually, it was a bit over 2 cups. So, I halved the recipe. The list of ingredients, when halved, was difficult (I hate it when you have to measure 7/8 of a cup or 3/8 of a cup). So, the recipe you’ll see below is the full 9×13 size, since I didn’t think you guys would want to have to do all the odd-estimating measurements, either. I baked mine in an 8-inch round cakepan. I don’t own an 8-inch square pan (just a 9-er), so figured the 8-inch round cakepan would be a better use of the volume/space.

The recipe appeared in Bon Appetit, in August of 2007. It was in the column where people write in to ask for restaurant recipes. When I searched online for it, it wasn’t AT the epicurious website (odd), but I did find it at somebody else’s food blog. Before I made it I wanted to read what others thought of it. Several people who have eaten at the restaurant, and had moved away from Austin, were thrilled to find the recipe online (per the comments to the blog).  Apparently the pastry chef at this restaurant is Asian, as the recipe on the menu is called Wom Kim’s Peach Pudding.

Remember, pudding cake is a unique chemistry – the batter separates into a pudding layer, and also has a second layer more resembling a cake. When this pudding cake was sliced and served, it didn’t have much ooze left (probably because I baked it too long). In this particular recipe you spread the batter into the baking dish, then spoon the freshly sliced peaches/nectarines on top. Once baked, the fruit has settled (mostly) to the bottom and the cake is on top. In my instance, since I was using a smaller vessel, I cut down the baking time. Next time I’ll bake it less time. You can see from the collage of pictures, the one with the shiny center is halfway through the baking – from then I probably needed to bake it about 30 minutes and check it with my tester in 5-minute increments. And next time I’ll know to make the full 9×13 glass pan full, and to have at least 8 peaches or nectarines on hand to make it!

The results? It was delicious (is that my most favorite word on this blog? sorry . . .). Ahem. It was very good, but I think the cake overpowered the delicate flavor of the nectarines, though. If you want straight, unadulterated peach or nectarine flavor, cut them up and serve with cream or eat out of hand. If you don’t mind the mingling of flavors (the cake part was a bit crunchy on top - which was a great texture  . . . I liked it, it was perfectly baked, a bit darkened around the outside edges from sugar caramelization, just as the recipe recommended). I served it with a small globe of vanilla ice cream rather than whipped cream – I wanted the cold contrast.

Peach Pudding Cake

Recipe: Wom Kim at Hyde Park Bar & Grill, Austin, TX

Servings: 12

4 cups sliced peaches — peeled, or nectarines

CAKE BATTER:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 3/4 cups sugar — or less

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk

Sweetened whipped cream for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray an 9×13-inch glass dish with vegetable oil spray and set aside.

2.  In a bowl whisk the flour (both quantities), baking powder, salt and soda. 

3.  In an electric mixer beat butter until smooth.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, incorporating both well.  Using low speed, add flour mixture, alternating with the buttermilk in three additions each, beating well between each addition.

4.  Transfer batter to baking pan/dish, spreading evenly.  Arrange peach or nectarine slices over batter, overlapping slightly as needed.  Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with vegetable oil spray; cover cake with foil, spray side down and seal edges. 

5.  Bake for 45 minutes, then remove foil covering.  Return to oven and continue baking until top is golden brown, edges are crusty, AND a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 more minutes.  Cool for one hour, then serve with whipped cream.

Per Serving: 335 Calories; 13g Fat (33.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 52g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 67mg Cholesterol; 291mg Sodium.

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This is another installment in my so-called series on fruits and veggies, all based on the book “How to Pick a Peach,” by Russ Parsons. Here in California, peaches and nectarines are in high season. And they are delicious this year, I must say.

What I Learned:

• Peaches and nectarines are nearly interchangeable (other than the obvious: the nectarine has no fuzz) from the consumer’s point of view.

• White-fleshed fruit is better and sweeter than the golden fleshed (yes, really).

• As consumers we seem to prefer red-toned skin of the fruit, but really the best P’s and N’s are those with a golden tone to the skin. The red is a breeding technique (a genetic variation actually) and doesn’t indicate anything; in fact, it hides whether the fruit is ripe or not.

• Parsons tells an interesting tale about a marketing experiment: A tasting panel was given two nectarines: one a fairly tasteless red variety, the other a great-tasting gold. Sitting around, tasting and talking about the fruit, the consumers unanimously agreed that the gold was a much better nectarine and that was the one they would buy. Then, on the way out the door, the panelists were offered boxes of nectarines as a thank you. One held the preferred golden fruit, the other the red. To a person, the consumers picked the red fruit to take home. Red sells.

• Growers have bred out peaches with the tiny beak at the bottom – it tends to break during packing and shipping, which can cause the entire case to rot.

• All nectarines are grown in California; peaches come from 28 states, but more than half from California.

• The greatest demand for white-fleshed fruit is from Asia – used to be that more than 80% of the fruit went to Taiwan. Not true any longer as we’re tending to recognize the value in the white-fleshed fruit.

• The difference between a nectarine and a peach is simply one gene. They’re so closely related, though, that sometimes peach seeds will sprout a nectarine tree. [Isn’t that amazing?]

• Nectarines are a slight bit more acidic with a lemony top note. Peaches tend to be muskier and richer in flavor.

How to Choose & Store:

• Remember, red doesn’t mean better. Choose from the background color – golden, not green. If it’s hung on the tree to near maturity, it should have a distinctive orange cast.

• If they are still firm, leave out on your counter until fully ripened, then refrigerate. Do not chill under-ripe fruit – it will turn mealy and dry.

• Don’t peel nectarines, but peaches should be peeled. Cut a shallow X in the blossom end, then blanch quickly in boiling water, then place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. The skins should peel right off.

Parsons gives recipes for Peach Gelato, Nectarine-Cardamom Ice Cream plus Nectarines and Blackberries in Rose Geranium Syrup. But he mentions his favorite (no recipe), which is merely fresh peaches and shortbread.

 - - - - - -

Or how about a peach shortcake? I had some buttermilk golden raisin scones in the freezer - I baked those, smeared on some Devon Cream (both of these items left over from the luncheon tea about a month ago) and sliced the peaches on top. And then I drizzled about a teaspoon of heavy cream over the top. My market doesn’t have any white-fleshed peaches (yet), but these yellows were just fabulous. I searched for the ones that had less red on the skin - they all were quite red, but I spotted a few with less red than others.

Here are the recipes I’ve posted so far for peaches or nectarines:

Southern Peach Cobbler

Peach-Raspberry Streusel Cake

In case you’re interested, the photo at the top was taken in my kitchen, but the nearly setting sun happened to be narrowly slotted right into my photo area. I re-arranged the peaches with that lovely warm highlight on the center of the bunch. Makes it almost look like they are luminous, doesn’t it?

Before they’re all gone, I wanted to have just a few more peaches. We didn’t eat them out of hand in the first couple of days, so I decided to try a new recipe for Peach Cobbler. Now, I like cobbler in nearly every form imaginable. Apple probably is my favorite, but lots of other fruits can stand in and make me happy.

But, it was a week or so ago I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, and she wrote up a detailed post about marrying a southern gent, and how she’s collected cobbler recipes for a long time. She liked some things about one recipe, but other things about another. Finally, she found one with the right texture, worked with it and subsequently came up with her own version combining all of the recipes from a bunch of “southern ladies,” she said. With that write-up (kind of like the home kitchen answer to the Cook’s Illustrated treatises on recipes), I had to try it. I don’t think I had quite enough peaches, but she mentioned that the recipe is forgiving that way. I’ve simplified the directions just a little bit and hope I haven’t changed the recipe significantly.

Her blog has an error about the amount of cinnamon (one teaspoon vs. one tablespoon), so I just had to improvise and use my best judgment. She doesn’t have an email address to contact her, and somebody else posted a comment asking about the error, but she hasn’t answered or fixed it yet. So, that’s why I had to just make a management decision. That meant using 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Which is a lot. Plus, I couldn’t find the pecans in my freezer, so used walnuts instead. Pecans would certainly be more southern, but there are very few nuts in this dessert anyway.

Peabody mentioned that before she married her southern gent, what she knew about peach cobbler was just peaches, some kind of topping, then bake. But this has a kind of cake to it, and the peach slices slide down into it somewhat. I really liked the edges of the cake - a little bit crunchy, then with the smooth, moist cobber and peaches in the middle. I’d suggest each serving get a little bit of the edges (less peaches there).

Now, I must interject here, that I do like cinnamon. A lot, actually. But I’m very particular about what I use. No store bought for me. (You can, this is just picky me who thinks she knows a lot more about cinnamon than the average cook. I really may not know more, but I know what I like and don’t like, that’s all.) I buy my cinnamon from Penzey’s. Have for years. Cassia cinnamon is what you usually find in the grocery stores. But I’ll tell you, Penzey’s cassia is one strong cinnamon. I use their Indonesian Korintje Cassia mostly. A few years ago I bought their Vietnamese cinnamon, which I believe Penzey’s says is the highest quality and the “best.” I didn’t care for it at all. I also have Ceylon cinnamon from Penzey’s too, which has citrus overtones, but is less strong tasting than cassia. In this cobbler I used the Indonesian Korintje Cassia because I knew the cinnamon taste would be a welcome highlight. If cinnamon is going to be a minor flavor, I use the Ceylon. Otherwise, it’s the Korintje type. And because Penzey’s cinnamon is so much stronger tasting than store-bought, I reduced the amount called for in the recipe - by about 1/5 I’d guess. If using regular cinnamon, just use the full tablespoon. Oh, and by the way, Penzey’s does have some stores around the country. Mostly they’re in the northeast, but there’s now a store here in California, in Torrance. Thanks to my friend Cathy for that tidbit. Next time I’m driving that direction I’ll definitely stop in there.

My recovering foot was so tired by the time I got this made I didn’t take time to whip any heavy cream, so I just drizzled it with the heavy cream instead. It was fine. More than fine. Delicious, in fact. I’d make this again, no question.

Southern Peach Cobbler
Recipe: adapted a little from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody (blog)
Servings: 8
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or less, to suit your taste)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups peaches — peeled, sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar — packed
1/4 cup chopped nuts — pecans or walnuts
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place butter in an 8×8 pan and put into the oven until it’s completely melted. If it happens to get brown (not burned, mind you) that’s fine too. That takes about 4-5 minutes. Remove from oven while you gather the other ingredients.
3. In a medium sized bowl combine the 3 T. of sugar and the cinnamon. Stir until they’re thoroughly mixed. Then add: the one cup of sugar, flour, baking powder. Stir until combined, then add the milk. Stir until it’s thoroughly mixed with no streaks of flour showing. Spoon the batter on top of the melted better but do NOT stir it in. Just scoop in and make it as even as possible.
4. Place the sliced peaches on top as evenly as possible.
5. Combine the brown sugar and nuts and sprinkle that over the top.
6. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top turns a golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 363 Calories; 15g Fat (35.9% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 56g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 34mg Cholesterol; 199mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a PDF recipe, click HERE.

We’re on the home stretch with peaches these days. Now is the time to make or freeze any of those peach favorites before it’s too late. I still have some sliced peaches in the freezer from LAST summer that didn’t get made into peach ice cream, as I’d intended, until sometime soon.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Cherrie and I attended a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter. Tarla made mostly tapas, and certainly not traditional ones for sure. But the group always wants a touch of sweet at the end, so Tarla whipped up this very simple dessert. Very homey. Very comfort food. Very peachy. It’s more cake than it is fruit, and it doesn’t serve out into squares or shapes, so Tarla used a large scoop for it. She had forgotten the vanilla ice cream to serve with it, so we drizzled a bit of half and half on top. I’d recommend the ice cream. You can use any kind of stone fruit for this, but this one was peaches and raspberries. It was still warm, almost hot out of the oven. Delicious.

Peach-Raspberry Streusel Cake
Recipe: Tarla Fallgatter class
Serving Size : 10
STREUSEL:
1/3 cup all-purpose flour — minus one tablespoon
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter — cold, cut in small pieces
CAKE:
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter — softened
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
3 large eggs
3/4 pound peaches — ripe, but firm, halved, pitted, cut in 1/4 inch pieces (approx. 2 cups)
2 cups fresh raspberries
2 1/2 cups vanilla ice cream
1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 375. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan, or an oval pan of a similar size. (Make sure there is sufficient room in the dish for all the cake and fruit - you don’t want it to overflow in the oven.) Butter the pan.
2. STREUSEL: In a food processor combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add cold butter and pulse in until the butter pieces resemble small peas. Set aside.
3. CAKE: Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Beat butter and sugar in a food processor until creamy. Add vanilla and almond extracts. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour and pulse just to combine. Gently fold in HALF of the fruit and HALF the raspberries into the batter and spread batter into the prepared pan. Distribute the remaining fruit evenly on top.
4. Sprinkle streusel over the fruit and bake until the cake springs back in the center when lightly pressed, about 45-50 minutes. Let cake cool in its pan on a rack. Serve warm with ice cream.
NOTES : This can be made with any stone fruit and different berries. Whatever is available in season.
Per Serving: 450 Calories; 24g Fat (46.9% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 55g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 128mg Cholesterol; 230mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 4 1/2 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click HERE.