Peach Dumplings dessert a delicious reminder of upcoming garden season

The peach season is so near at hand, I couldn’t resist jumping the gun. Besides our “faithful four”—the four trees that are the regular peach producers in our garden—we have two new peach trees this year. They popped up from random seeds in the oddest places: one in a gravel walkway near our greenhouse and another near our back fence, far from our orchard area. Can’t wait to see what they do.

We have a few weeks to go before those green knobs that are showing up among the bushy leaves begin to yield yummy, cook-worthy fruit. But I saw a peach recipe I had to try, so I used a package of frozen ones and imagined what life will be like a few weeks hence when fresh peaches are piled high in our garden baskets.

Peach Dumplings was an easy recipe because it relied on packaged refrigerated piecrusts, rolled out and cut into 4-inch circles. Into each “bundle” went peach slices; the bundle edges were gathered around the peaches and pinched to seal. With the peach packets lined up in a 11-inch-by-7-inch glass baking dish, a syrup of sugar, melted butter, ground cinnamon, and water was poured over.

The recipe says you can substitute canned or fresh biscuits for the piecrust rounds. This was a great little dessert that assembled quickly and held a terrific promise of one of my favorite times of year—peach season.

Peach Dumplings

1 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated piecrusts

1 (20-ounce) package frozen sliced peaches, thawed and divided, or 4 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll piecrusts on a lightly floured surface. Roll each into a 10-inch circle. Cut 5 (4-inch) circles from each crust. Roll each circle into an approximately 5 1/2-inch circle. Coarsely chop 2 cups peach slices. Divide chopped peaches among dough. Place fruit in center of each circle (about 1/4 cup per circle). Pull dough edges over peaches and gather in center. Pinch to seal and form a bundle. Place in a lightly greased 11-inch-by-7-inch baking dish. Arrange remaining peaches around bundles. Stir together sugar, next 2 ingredients, an 1/2 cup water until blended. Pour over bundles and peaches. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown; cool 10 minutes. Makes 10 servings. Can be served with sugar-free whipped topping. (Source: Southern Living, February 2013)

Peach cake takes a delightful tumble—and sets world on its right side

Nothing sets the world more delightfully upright  than does a peach upside-down cake.

When we were in our Hawaiian Paradise a few weeks back (sigh—such a memory!), a mango upside-down cake that we were served caught my fancy and went on my cooking wish-list. Since right now we have more peaches than we do hairs on the head, I decided to spring for a peach version before I recreated the mango variety (which I fully intend to do down the road).

This recipe recommended making the cake in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, into which you pour the mix and bake in the oven. My skillet is at our place at the lake and not at the ready, so I used my largest cake pan to house the batter. Things worked just as well. The recipe also calls for the seeds from 1 vanilla bean. I know this would have been delicious, but no time to round up a vanilla bean. One Internet site said an emergency sub is 2 teaspoons vanilla extract for 1 vanilla bean—a good suggestion.

The resulting dessert ended up being part of Hubby’s Father’s Day fare; he was happy to see the fresh peaches he hauled in off peach tree #4 being put to good use. The cake tumbled out cleverly from the cake pan. We plunked some sugar-free whipped topping on it and had ourselves a peachy good time.

Peach Upside-Down Cake

Parchment paper

4 medium peaches (about 1 1/2 pounds) unpeeled and cut into 1/3-inch-thick wedges

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

1 cup cake flour (be sure to use cake flour and not self-rising)

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided (I used sugar substitute)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature and divided

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 vanilla bean (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)

2 large eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)

sweetened whipped cream (or sugar-free whipped topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (This helps with cleanup.) Toss peaches with lemon juice. Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Cook 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, 10 minutes or until sugar melts and turns a deep amber color. Remove from heat. Immediately add 1/4 cup butter. Stir vigorously. Spread caramelized sugar to coat bottom of skillet evenly; sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange peach wedges in concentric circles over sugar mixture, overlapping as needed. Split vanilla bean lengthwise; scrape out seeds into bowl of a heavy-duty electric stand mixer. Beat vanilla seeds and remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup butter at medium speed until all is smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time; beat until blended after each addition. Add sour cream. Beat until blended. Gradually add sifted flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended; stop to scrape bowl as needed. Spoon batter over peaches in skillet; spread to cover. Place skillet on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until cake is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center emerges clean. Cool in skillet on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Carefully pour out any excess liquid (if you have any excess) from skillet into measuring cup and reserve. Carefully invert cake onto a serving plate; drizzle with any reserved liquid. Cool slightly (about 10 minutes). Using a serrated knife, cut cake into wedges. Top with whipped topping, if desired. Serve immediately. Makes 8 to 12 servings. (Source: Southern Living June 2012)

The essence of summer: homemade Peach Cobbler

When I want to find the best of the best in terms of recipes, I have an inviolable source: the cookbook produced by my former compadre, Ann Criswell, the revered longtime food editor of the Houston Chronicle.

For several years I was privileged to work in an adjacent office cubby with Ann, so she was always available to answer my food questions and more than willing to share recipes. 

I have about three of hers that are absolute favorites; when peach cobblers are concerned, I head straight to her cookbook, The Food Chronicles, which features her most stellar recipes of 30 years in the business. She ran this one in her weekly food section in 1986.

This cobbler meets all the requirements: flaky, tender crust and sweet filling stuffed with chunky, delicious peaches—in this case, the produce of our trees, which just keep churnin’ ’em out.

Hill Country Peach Cobbler

2 - 2 1/2 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/3 cup cornstarch

8 cups sliced fresh or frozen peaches

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 cup melted butter

purchased crust or your favorite recipe for a 2-crust pie

In a large bowl combine sugar and cornstarch. Add peaches; toss to coat. Stir in extract and butter. Pour filling into a buttered 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish. (I divided mine into two square baking dishes.) Cut dough for crust into strips. Crisscross dough strips over filling. Brush pastry with melted butter; sprinkle with sugar. Bake in 400-dgree oven 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
(Source: Candy Wagner, author of Cooking Texas Style, with recipe appearing in the Houston Chronicle 8/13/1986).

Not your same old enchilada—try this fun, funky peach breakfast recipe

My cousin, Lynda, reported to me that they were the subject of lots of chatter in her circles—Peach Enchiladas, featured in Southern Living’s bonanza of peach recipes last month. This recipe with the funky title piqued my curiosity. Peach and Enchiladas aren’t two words that one often sees together. But concerning peaches, ’tis the season. I had to try it.

Turns out, a Peach Enchilada was more like, as one proponent described them, “one big fried pie”. Refrigerated crescent rolls, with each triangle rolled out, were stuffed with peach slices (note: the more slices you can stuff in, the better, even if a few initially pop out of their stuffing.) A big challenge is that while baking, the refrigerated crescent-roll dough puffs up big-time and totally dominates the peach stuffing. If you don’t have enough peaches encased in the dough, you’ll end up having all “enchilada” (pastry) and no filling. So be undaunted where wrapping up those peaches is involved and stre-e-e-e-tch that dough to cover many.

Once these roll-ups are positioned on a baking sheet, then you brush a melted butter-sugar-cinnamon mixture over their tops. This is followed by dipping your pastry brush into a diet citrus-flavored soft drink (tested with diet Mountain Dew), basting the rolls in the liquid, and then baking.

SL reported that this quick and easy recipe won first place at the 2004 South Carolina State Cook-Off. It was quick and easy, all right; the inventive number made us some breakfast treats as well as dessert for several days. Not the same old enchilada, for sure!

Peach Enchiladas

2 (8-ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls

2 pounds fresh, firm ripe peaches, peeled and chopped (4 large peaches)

1 1/2 cups sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 cup butter melted

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (12-ounce) can citrus-flavored soft drink

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll crescent rolls; separate into triangles. Place as many peach bits as you can possibly fit on the wide end of each triangle; roll up triangles around peaches. (Don’t skimp on the peaches here.) Start at wide end. Place point-sides down onto a lightly greased 13-by-9-inch pan or baking sheet. Stir together sugar, butter, and cinnamon; drizzle over rolls; pour soft drink over rolls. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 miutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Makes 16 servings.

Good dish of Peach Cobbler cures all ills, even the wipe-out feeling of returning from a holiday weekend

Another peach tree—number four in our garden—has surrendered its yield—a guarantee that in the near future more peach recipes are sure to find their way into this blog. Today’s is a tried-and-true love that every summer I yearn to put on the table—a very simple but wonderful Peach Cobbler. If you want to cut to the chase and get a peach dessert whipped up lightning-fast, here’s your ticket.

This recipe is courtesy www.pickyourown.com and is so easy, I could make it in my sleep (and just about did. Why is the first work day after returning from a holiday always such a wipe-out?) But a good steamy dish of peach cobbler cures all ills!

Peach Cobbler

3 pounds fresh ripe peaches, sliced (about 6 cups when peaches are sliced)

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut into tiny pieces

Topping

1 cup all-purpose four

1 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon baking power

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

4 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs slightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

Put into a large bowl fresh peaches, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, lemon juice, vanilla and almond extracts, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add 1/4 cup water. With a wooden spoon mix peach mixture gently and then transfer to an 8-inch-by-8-inch-by-2-inch baking dish. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To prepare topping, in a small bowl put 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons softened butter, and eggs. With a wooden spoon beat until topping is smooth. With back of spoon spread topping over peach filling. Try to space topping evenly. Place cobbler on center rack in preheated oven. Bake for 50 minutes or until peaches are tender and the crust is a light golden brown. Remove from oven to wire rack and let stand for about 30 minutes. Makes 6-8 servings.

You'll think you've really done something big when you bake these mini peach pies

One of the funnest things we ever do with our fresh peaches is to make Peach Mini Baked Pies. I love these tiny baked gems with their flaky pastry exterior and the delicious, juicy peach bites inside. A powdered-sugar glaze drizzled on top makes them truly seem as though they are tiny replicas of the larger version you’d get at a bakery. Best of all, they’re baked in the oven instead of fried in a pan. You can have them for dessert and jettison a lot of the guilt.

For this year's version I merged recipes from two different outlets—www.pickyourown.com and my Baylor alumni cookbook, Flavor Favorites!—as sources for this dish, almost an annual ritual when we bring in peaches from our garden (and we’re STILL bringing them in, with three peach trees left to ripen.)

The dough for the crust is formed from two cups of low-fat baking mix (I used Bisquick) with sugar, shortening, and milk blended in; then the dough is rolled out onto a floured pastry board and cut into 3-inch circles. (I used a cutter-crimper gadget that I once purchased at a Pampered Chef demonstration party.) The peach slices are laid onto half the circle; then the edges of the dough are folded over and sealed so that the pie semi-circles are formed. (My Pampered Chef crimper presses down to crimp the edges of the semi-circle together and seal them, or you can use your fingers to pinch them together and seal. Some people use the tines of a fork to further seal the edges and to make decorative indentations in the dough.)

Only one thing I’d do differently—lay more thinly sliced peaches onto the circle of dough before I sealed it up and crimped the edges. The recipe says to lay two fresh peach slices onto it; two seemed as though they would fill it up nicely, but when I baked it, the stuffing shrank and the exterior expanded. You had to search to find the peaches when you bit into the baked pie. I’d suggest doubling that amount and laying the equivalent of at least four thin slices down for the stuffing. In other words, get as many of the peach morsels as you possibly can in, even if you have to really STRETCH the edges to seal or even dice the peaches. Otherwise you may bite into nothingness and miss the whole point of the pies—to showcase those to-die-for peaches, the great treasures of summer.

Peach Mini Baked Pies

3-4 large fresh peaches, peeled and thinly sliced

2 cups fat-free baking mix (tested with low-fat Bisquick)

2 tablespoons sugar (or sugar substitute)

3 tablespoons shortening

2/3 cup skim milk

cinnamon

sugar (or sugar substitute)

enough powdered sugar to fill a 1-cup measure

skim milk or fat-free evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together 2 cups baking mix and 2 tablespoons sugar. With pastry cutter cut in 3 tablespoons shortening. Add 2/3 cup milk. Mix dough with fork. Turn dough onto a floured surface. Roll dough until it is about a 1/2-inch thickness. Brush dough with melted butter. Using round 3-inch cutter, cut dough into circles. Lay the equivalent of about 4 thin peach slices on top of each circle. Sprinkle peach slices with cinnamon and sugar (or sugar substitute). Fold tops of circles over to form semi-circles. Press or crimp edges together. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes. Makes about 16 mini pies. In small bowl mix sifted powdered sugar with enough milk to make a glaze that will drizzle from a spoon. Drizzle onto cooled mini pies. Allow glaze to become firm before you serve mini pies.

Plum-peach dish summarizes childhood summers; yields a winner of a dessert

If ever a dessert existed that--all in one dish--encapsulated the summers of my childhood, it's the spectacular Plum-Peach Crumble.

But previously I've always had to hit the grocery store produce aisle or borrow from someone else's fruit trees to complete the process of making it.

Not this year! I'm proud to report that every smattering of peaches and plums needed to hatch up this wonderful creation hailed from my own back yard.

Our plum tree, for the first time, yielded a bevy of baby plums--prolific, sweet, and juicy. Into the pie mix they went, along with a small sackful of peaches I'd been hoarding until the plums were ripe and ready.

For dessert last night we had the Moore Orchard-produced Peach-Plum Crumble. O, was it a spectacular treat!

The reason Plum-Peach Crumble encapsulates my childhood is very simple. In the yard my parents purchased to build their home on Garland's South 11th Street were two kinds of fruit trees--peaches and plums. Summers were spent with me alternating between these delicious fruit: after lunch one day I'd snare a fresh peach for dessert; another day I'd grab a plum.

My parents were fortunate to get a ready-made fruit orchard in their back yard and that they didn't have to spend years cultivating one. That had been done by their neighbor, Brother Hunt, a retired Baptist minister who tended his gardens situated in the vacant lot that was next to his home on South 11th (now part of Historic Downtown Garland).

My parents had spotted the empty lot as a potential location for the house they wanted to build near downtown. They wanted to locate in an area in which their only child could walk to all 12 grades of school. Brother Hunt's vacant lot was only one block from the junior high and high school and two blocks from the neighborhood elementary.

My mother approached Brother Hunt's daughter, who taught typing at the high school in which my mother had been school secretary. But Louise Hunt told my parents that her dad enjoyed his fruit orchard too much to part with the lot on which it was located.

My parents had been headed out to close the sale on another lot, some five blocks away—their distant second choice. But Louise Hunt's phone call caught them in time. Her dad was getting up in years, she said, and couldn't tend the garden as he once had, so he had reconsidered. He would sell them the 11th-Street lot which housed his prized peach and plum trees, as well as an expansive vegetable garden. My parents were ecstatic to get their first choice of lots and told Brother Hunt he could pick fruit off his former trees any time he liked.

When Brother Hunt sauntered through the hedge to visit his former garden, he enjoyed talking with the loquacious little girl who now lived on the lot. The older retired preacher and the pipsqueak young neighbor became best buddies. But I'm surprised he ever found any fruit left on his trees. I usually had beat him to the peaches and plums that he had given their start.

Some years back I happened onto this recipe for Plum-Peach Crumble (now contained in my new book, Way Back in the Country Garden) and couldn't believe my good fortune. I've baked it for several summers in a row. But this year--our prized fruit orchard sourced the entire concoction. Brother Hunt, long in Glory but whose memory still remains with that now-grownup pipsqueak young neighbor--his buddy--would be so pleased.

Plum-Peach Crumble

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar (we use sugar substitute)

1/2 teaspoon salt (we use salt substitute)

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg (we use egg substitute)

1/4 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/2 cup heavy cream (we substitute skim milk)

1 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 pound plums, peeled and chopped (about 1 1/4 cup chopped)

3/4 pound peaches, peeled and chopped (about 1 1/4 cup chopped)

fat-free whipped topping or fat-free vanilla yogurt

slivered almonds

Mix together brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in flour. Divide mixture in half. Set one-half aside. To other half add cinnamon, baking powder, and 1 egg. Blend well. Press into bottom of 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. When the crust bakes, whisk together remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, cream (milk), and almond extract. Remove crust from oven and spread chopped plum and peaches on top. Pour cream mixture over fruit. Sprinkle with reserved half of butter-blour mixture. Sprinkle with additional brown sugar if desired. Bake at 350 degrees until crumb topping is browned (about 20-25 minutes). Serve warm with whipped topping or fat-free vanilla yogurt and slivered almonds.

When crop is smaller than expected, selective use can still impress the taste buds

I'm having to be very picky; I didn't want to be.

Yes, this year's peach crop is a far sight better than last year's. And of course the sad year before—2008—because of the great 2007 deluge which killed our prolific peach trees, we had none.

But I got my hopes quite elevated late this spring when our first new tree budded and within days we began seeing those gorgeous orbs hanging from the branches (see my 5/31 blog, "Summer days turn perfectly peachy, but what to make with that first delightful crop?") I raced out and hauled in the first one for my breakfast cereal and then made "Miss Sallie's Pudding" with the first official yield. My mind began churning about all the peach recipes that were on my wish list--what would be next to prepare, and then the next, and then the next, and so on.

Now reality is just a little more, well, real. Second-in-Command Peach Tree, although trying its best, won't be abundant. Third-in-Command has some potential but looks less promising than #2.

The other two in the garden? Too new. Just won't be their year. To sum it up, hubby says we're still a year away from that truly bumper crop. "Next year in Jerusalem", or at least "next year in the peach orchard", will have to be our mantra.

So, grrr, grrr, grrr, with those facts in mind, what will my "cup-half-full" response be? To be an excellent steward of the peaches I've been given for the summer of 2010. To be highly strategic in my cooking plan. To experiment with a few new recipes I've been saving as well as to invest in some old favorites. And maybe, just maybe, this year's peach haul will stretch further than I anticipate.

This weekend I hit the experimentation category--a recipe for "Individual Peach Berry Crisps" from the pages of Prevention magazine. It combined two of my favorite fruit--peaches and blueberries--in a healthy but filling desert--a dessert that I'd promised myself to try but didn't in years past. It called for using individual ramekins (small quiche dishes) so every person could have his or her very own "Crisp."

No disappointments there! The desserts looked beautiful, the peaches were divine, and you can bet I savored every stewardly bite. My next well-thought-out peach dessert? The subject of another blog!

Individual Peach-Berry Crisps

1 cup peeled, chopped peaches

1/4 cup blueberries

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (I used sugar substitute)

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats

1 teaspoon butter, softened

2 teaspoons chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put peaches in microwave-safe, covered glass dish. Add 1 teaspoon water; cook covered on high for 4 minutes until peaches are beginning to soften. In medium bowl mix peaches, blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, lemon zest, salt, and cinnamon. Let stand 10 minutes. In small bowl combine graham-cracker crumbs, oats, butter, and pecans and stir until mixture comes together. Coat 2 (6-ounce) ramekins with cooking spray. Divide peach mixture evenly between dishes. Top each with half of the graham-cracker mixture. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until topping is golden and peaches are heated through. Serves 2. Recipe can be doubled.