peaches Archives - The Midnight Baker

Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 23:00:13 +0000

This peach upside down dessert cake can be made with fresh, frozen or canned peaches. It’s a year-round treat.

Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake–Perfect Dessert

Summer is peach season so lots of desserts feature them.

This simple peach upside down dessert cake is one of those recipes. Since it’s simple to make, you’ll make it often and not only in summer! The reason is that you don’t need fresh peaches to make this cake.

Whatever variety you use, the topping is simply delicious–sweet and a bit tart and oh so buttery. This is sure to become a family favorite.

Rich Cake

There’s nothing light and fluffy about this cake. It’s a dense and rich dessert-textured cake.

Because of this, it doesn’t rise much. So when you go to test it, don’t think something’s wrong because it’s kind of flat. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. But despite it’s texture, this rich cake will literally melt in your mouth.

The cake is also made with the old-fashioned creaming method. And remember when adding the wet and dry ingredients that you begin and end with the dry ingredients.

Any Kind Of Peaches

The really great feature of this peach upside down dessert cake is you’re not limited to what type of peaches to use.

Here, I used sliced canned peaches. You can also use fresh and frozen. That make this very convenient since you can enjoy this dessert in any season.

With canned peaches, you may have to slice thicker slices in half. The can I had were pretty inconsistent in size, but I don’t consider that a huge issue. Same applies to frozen peaches.

The Recipe

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box

Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake

Easy dessert

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cakes with peaches, peach desserts, peach upside down cake

Servings: 8

Calories: 416kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Cake:

1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs sour cream
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

Topping:

2 cups sliced peaches fresh, frozen or canned
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

reheat oven to 350F/180C.
Place melted butter in an uncreased 9-inch/23 cm round cake pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter and arrange peach slices evenly over the top.
Mix the flour baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.
Beat the 1/2 cup butter and the sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
Mix in the flour alternately with the milk, ending with the flour mixture.
Drop cake batter on top of the peaches and spread evenly over the top.
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake stand for 10 minutes then invert onto a serving plate. Best served warm.

Nutrition

The post Peach Upside Down Dessert Cake appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Caramel Crumb Peach Pie

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 23:00:49 +0000

A great pie to make when peaches are in season! Topped with yummy caramel flavored crumbs and a fool-proof pie crust!

Peach Pie–A Summer Treat

To me, peach pie is a little taste of summer. Peaches are abundant during the summer months and often are on sale.

This was one of my mom’s go-to pies whenever she got a good deal on fresh peaches. Her pie was always topped with crumbs; she never made this pie with a top crust.

I’ve improved a bit on my mother’s crumbs, which were delicious, by replacing the regular sugar with dark brown. That substitution gives the crumbs their wonderful caramel flavor, and of course you can always use some caramel sauce when you serve it to get more intense flavor.

Mom never peeled the peaches either. The filling always included the skins. It will give a slight bitter undertone, but it works. However, if you prefer to peel the peaches, go right ahead. Either way, it’s delicious.

And….I also have a fool-proof pie crust recipe!

Perfect Crumbs

For years I was a total klutz when it came to crumb toppings. Mine always came out looking like it was a broiled topping instead of nice little pebbly crumbs. Despite the fact that they looked ok before baking, they always seemed to melt into a solid mass.

Years ago I picked up a tip in a magazine. There was a recipe for a rhubarb coffee cake that gave a different method for making crumb toppings. The recipe for the cake was quite forgettable, but the crumb recipe was a real winner. The secret? You start with melted butter!

The melted butter makes them work every time. I’ve never made crumbs any other way since.

Fool-Proof Pie Crust

Not only was I a crumb klutz, I was even worse at doing pie crusts. So much so that I totally avoided making pies unless I used a frozen prepared crust or those refrigerated ones. I even tried those “pat-in-the-pan” recipes and you guessed it, that didn’t work. A neighbor gave me a recipe for that “no-fail” pie crust. Guess what–that failed too. It was depressing.

Well, I’m delighted to say that I’ve conquered that because I found a fool-proof pie crust recipe that works every time and the real secret is using a deep removable-bottom quiche/tart pan. I picked up this tip from the British goddess of baking–Mary Berry. The pie crust recipe is hers too and it doesn’t use shortening. It uses butter and that is the secret to a crust that not only tastes great, but doesn’t get sticky or floppy.

First you roll out the dough. Then you slip the removable bottom underneath the dough so it’s centered. Now you fold up the overhanging dough–like you would for a galette–and pop the bottom back in the pan. Now it’s just a simple affair to unfold the overhang and press it into the flutes. Voila–no excess handling so the crust won’t shrink and you’ve got the most perfect looking pie ever. This is awesome!!!

The Recipe

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box

Caramel Crumb Peach Pie

A delectable crumb topped fresh peach pie

Prep Time30

Cook Time45

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: fool proof pie crust recipe, no fail pie crust, peach pie recipe, pie crust how to

Servings: 12

Calories: 345kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Filling:

5 cups about 8 medium peaches
1 cup sugar
3 tbs cornstarch
1 cup water
pinch of salt

Crust:

8 oz flour
4 1/2 oz butter
1 large egg
1-2 tbs water

Crumbs:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cups flour

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the filling: Peel peaches if desired. Remove stone and slice to desired thickness (I do about 1/2-inch); set aside.
Mix sugar, salt and cornstarch together in a large saucepan. Gradually add the water, whisking so there's no lumps. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. While still stirring, reduce heat to low and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the peaches and mix well. Let this cool to room temperature
For the crust: Measure the flour and butter into a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and blend again until it forms a smooth dough ball. Roll on a lightly floured work surface/ Slip the removable bottom of a deep 8-10-inch tart/quiche pan (available in my Amazon store) in the center of the rolled dough. Fold overhanging dough towards the center of circle (like a galette). Place the pan bottom with the dough into the ring of the tart pan; unfold the overhang and press into the fluted sides. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
For the crumbs: Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the flour gradually, mixing in until you get a mixture that holds together when pressed. You may need more flour. If you do, add it a tablespoon at a time until you get a mixture where the crumb will hold it's shape.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fill pastry shell with the peach filling. Top with the crumbs. Place the tart pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 40-45 minutes or until crumbs are browned and filling bubbles up around the edges.

Notes

I use Clear Gel (cook type) in place of the cornstarch. It is available through my Amazon store.

When I bake, I weigh ingredients and don't use cup measures as weighing is more accurate. I also use metric measurements, but converted them here to US standard weights. Weigh--it produces superior results.

*Post contains affiliate links

Video

Nutrition

The post Caramel Crumb Peach Pie appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Peaches And Cream Pie Bars

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 23:00:25 +0000

These peaches and cream pie bars are perfect for when you can’t decide whether you want pie or cheesecake!

Pie Or Cheesecake

If you want pie, but you’re hankering for cheesecake too, these peaches and cream pie bars are just what the doctor ordered!

You get a little bit of both here with a great buttery-tasting crust. I might mention, they are easy to make too. No rolling because you pat the crust in the pan and then you just spread and drop for the top.

Canned Peach Pie Filling

This product is a great convenience, however, I find it a bit too sweet. You might want to make your own filling from fresh peaches especially in late spring and summer when they are abundantly available and at good prices.

Another great alternative to the canned filling is using canned sliced peaches packed in water to make a pie filling.

I admit that here I used the pie filling for convenience sake. With 20-20 hindsight I realize that I should have added a few spoonfuls of fresh lemon juice to it. I am sure that would have cut the sweetness somewhat so I mention this in the “Notes” section of the recipe. But I will say that I’m not a big fan of anything very sweet. That’s just my personal taste. So what I would recommend is you taste the canned filling first if you choose to use that. If it tastes OK to you then don’t use the lemon juice.

Ahhh Cheesecake

As I mentioned, you get the best of both worlds with these pie bars!

The cheesecake portion is easy to make–just whip up all the ingredients! I kept the sugar here relatively light because I like a bit of “bite” when it comes to anything with cream cheese. Again, what I would advise is to taste first–before you beat in the egg for safety sake. Feel free to add more confectioner’s sugar if you want a sweeter cheesecake taste!

The Recipe

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box

Peaches And Cream Pie Bars

These peaches and cream pie bars are perfect for when you can’t decide whether you want pie or cheesecake!

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Total Time50

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake, peaches, pies

Servings: 12

Calories: 373kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
2 21 oz cans each peach pie filling (see NOTES)
8 oz cream cheese softened
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
1 egg

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan (jellyroll pan) or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add melted/cooled butter and stir in with a fork. Reserve 3/4 cup of the mixture for crumb topping. Set aside.
Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Layer peach filling over crust.
Beat together the confectioners sugar, cream cheese and egg. Drop evenly across the filling. ]
Stir reserved topping mixture with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the peach filling.
Bake for 20-26 minutes or until crumbs are golden brown and cheese is set.
Cool completely and cut into bars.

Notes

If you find the canned pie filling too sweet, add a tablespoon or 2 of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Nutrition

The post Peaches And Cream Pie Bars appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Fresh Nectarine Cobbler

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 23:00:27 +0000

Fruit cobblers are a traditional summer dessert and nectarines take center stage in this one.

Nectarines–The Hairless Peach

I’ve always thought of nectarines as “hairless peaches.” I love the flavor of both fruits but always approached peaches with some trepidation because I had a slight hang-up about the fuzz. I always had to peel peaches before eating them. However, I never stopped loving nectarines and never had to peel them.

Nectarines were on sale a week ago, and I bought myself a big bag. I earmarked half of the fruit for eating whole and the rest of it for cooking.

Ripe Fruit, Hello Cobbler

I almost forgot these nectarines and they got rather ripe.

Therefore, a fruit cobbler sounded like the perfect way to use my almost-forgotten nectarines. The recipe I usually use is for a peach cobbler. Nectarines are similar to peaches, and I substituted what I had.

No Exotic Ingredients

Your pantry contains all the ingredients you need for this recipe, and in the off-season, you can use canned fruit rather than fresh. When using canned fruit, just drain off all the liquid in the can, then proceed as if it were fresh fruit.

I’ve made this in the winter with canned peaches and it’s funny, but you get a little bit of summer just when you really need it! This cobbler is nice served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or with cream just poured on the top.

The Recipe

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box

Fresh Nectarine Cobbler

Fruit cobblers are a traditional summer dessert and nectarines take center stage in this one.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: nectarine cobbler

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 551kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3 cups sliced ripe nectarines
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1 cup baking mix
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1/8 tsp nutmeg if desired

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Place nectarines in a medium bowl; add lemon juice and toss to coat
Mix the flour and 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl and add to the nectarines. Stir well.
In a separate bowl, mix the baking mix, milk, nutmeg if using and sugar. Stir well to combine; add the melted butter and stir.
Pour baking mix mixture into a 8 x 8-inch square pan.
Top with the nectarine mixture.
Bake 50-60 minutes or until top is nicely browned
Best served warm

Notes

Instructions for canned fruit is in the post

Nutrition

The post Fresh Nectarine Cobbler appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Blushing Peach Cobbler

Judith Hannemann — Thu, 09 Jun 2016 23:00:45 +0000

Easy and delicious cobbler made with fresh summer peaches and refrigerated crescent rolls. It “blushes” because you don’t peel the peaches!

Fresh peaches were on sale at one of my stores this past week, and I couldn’t resist since they were the first of the season here!

I dickered whether they were for cooking or eating–and it was a difficult choice. I chose to cook them in this great dessert.

The original recipe comes from my friend Holly whose blog is Spend With Pennies (Cook Crave Inspire). Holly has this great cobbler she makes with canned peaches and crescent roll dough. Something like this is right up my alley because it’s quick, easy and delicious.

I adapted her recipe using fresh peaches, making a pseudo pie filling that will cook right along with the cobbler. I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon with peaches; I prefer allspice. But you can use the cinnamon if you wish. Another thing is I didn’t peel the peaches. This gave a nice rosy glow to the cobbler. My mom never peeled peaches or apples when she made pies with these fruits, and I carry on her tradition. She always said that it added a bit more fiber.

I also “deconstructed” Holly’s recipe–I just place the rolls on top of the filling.

The crescent rolls cook up nice and sweet and buttery. I drizzle them with butter and top them with sanding sugar. OK, I know most folks don’t have sanding sugar on the shelf, so you can just use regular sugar. The thing about sanding sugar is it doesn’t dissolve very easily which makes it a great decoration. But it’s only large-crystal sugar.

This is so good served with ice cream!

Plates and cups from the Osteria Tuscany Collection by Tapinassi. Available through Allora.

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box

Blushing Peach Cobbler

Easy and delicious cobbler made with fresh summer peaches and refrigerated crescent rolls. It “blushes” because you don’t peel the peaches!

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: peach cobbler

Servings: 8

Calories: 160kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 tube extra-large crescent rolls 8 rolls in the tube
3-4 cups fresh peaches sliced but unpeeled (about 6-7 large peaches)
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp allspice or cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbsP sanding sugar -OR- regular sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. You will need a 11 x 7-inch baking dish. You can also use a 9-inch square pan.
Place sliced peaches, lemon juice, 1/2 cup sugar, flour and allspice/cinnamon in a large bowl; Toss with your hands so everything is well mixed.
Place peach mixture in the baking dish.
Roll up the crescent rolls and place evenly over peach mixture.
Drizzle the crescents with the melted butter and sprinkle each roll with the sugar.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until crescents are nicely browned and peach mixture is bubbly.

Nutrition

The post Blushing Peach Cobbler appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Apricot Chicken

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 23:00:00 +0000

Apricot Chicken

This sweet and sticky chicken is packed with the flavor of tangy apricots.

A few weeks ago, I bought a bunch of fresh apricots because they were on sale at my store. I ate some then promptly forgot about what I had left.

Tangy

Since they were pretty ripe when I re-discovered them, it was a now-or-never thing to use them.

One thing I always have plenty of in my freezer is chicken. I thought it might work if I re-worked my sticky chicken glaze using apricots. That was a great save because this tasted marvelous.

Yummo chicken

I didn’t include the ripe apricots in the sauce–I baked them in the pan with the chicken. Instead, I used apricot preserves.

The apricots are not pictured because since they were a tad overripe, they got a bit mushy, but eaten with the chicken, it was a fabulously tangy. This sauce would work for wings too.

Good for wings too

As apricots are close in flavor to peaches, just substitute peach preserves and fresh peaches for the apricots. Peaches seem to be on sale at low prices right now, so the substitution is good plus it’s economical.

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box

Apricot Chicken

This sweet and sticky chicken is packed with the flavor of tangy apricots.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 40

Course: Chicken

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken recipe

Servings: 4

Calories: 953kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken thighs and/or drumsticks
1 lb fresh apricots halved and pitted*

SAUCE

1/2 cup ketchup
1 cup apricot preserves*
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp white wine
1 clove garlic minced

Instructions

*Peach preserves and peaches may be substituted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar and preserves are dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Place chicken parts skin side down in an oven-proof 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Pour sauce over chicken, lifting chicken parts so sauce can get under them.
Bake for 45 minutes. Turn skin side up and bake for 35 minutes.
Add apricot halves and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

Nutrition

Follow The Midnight Baker’s board The Midnight Baker on Pinterest.

The post Apricot Chicken appeared first on The Midnight Baker.