Thursday, July 15, 2010

Apple, peach, or plum cake cockaigne (p. 691)

I have ignored the randomly selected list for quite a while. I'm guessing it's mostly because there is nothing on it I really want to make. Of course, that's the whole point of the list, so I really should look at it more often. Apple, peach, or plum cake cockaigne (p. 691) was on the list, "Pies and Pastries" is an under-represented chapter, and peaches are in season in Colorado.

I sifted together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, and then added cold butter and worked it in with my pastry blender:


I added an egg, some vanilla, and a little milk, and mixed the concoction:



I patted the dough into a greased pan. This was not an easy task--the dough was very sticky. It tasted good when I licked it off my fingers (before washing my hands, of course! Wash your hands if you lick them!).




I think peaches may be the fruit I hate the most (to which I'm not allergic, which cuts down the list sharply)--I really don't like peeling them. It takes forever. And peeling four cups of peaches takes a particularly long time. I arranged the peaches in a pretty pinwheel pattern:



I mixed brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little melted butter in a bowl:



And sprinkled it on the top of the cake:



I thought it was attractive. It definitely made the house smell amazing.



This cake got a split decision. I thought it was bland and that the dough was strangely mushy. Josh thought it was tasty and even better when we got some vanilla ice cream to go with it. I think the cake would be better with apples (more texture) or plums (more flavor) than the peaches I used. I would love to hear what other people thought of this recipe--let me know if you've made it.

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6 comments:

  1. I made this with apples last fall (and blogged about it). It was delicious!!

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  2. I have made this with Palisade grown peaches and Boulder grown Damson Plums. It was a success each time, I tweaked the dough due to altitude and it wasn't mushy, hmmmm?

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  3. Hmmm. Well, these were Colorado peaches too (although I don't love peaches so I'm unwilling to hunt down expensive ones). It was def. not the altitude that caused the problem. Maybe mushy isn't the right word--but I didn't like the texture and I thought it was bland. Different strokes!

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  4. its a gorgeous recipe because it is so simple and low in fat and processed sugar, and turns out amazing when you do it right. My ingredients were COLD so I had to bake a bit longer. Flour your hands when patting it into the pan and it will work better. I later made the cake portion alone, and topped when cool with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Other times I have added a few graham crackers to the flour in my food processor...

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  5. You need to use less fruit and let it cook a bit longer. Also you CAN use less sugar on top. The dough should rise up around the fruit pieces. Try it with plum halves, evenly spaced.

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  6. I made this before with canned peaches and it came out awesome!! I had also made it with fresh peaches and tossed the peaches with the sugar/cinnamon mixture then arranged them on the cake and poured a little melted butter over them, this came out delicious.

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