Peach season inspires fresh ideas for desserts

By Susan McClanahan

It is fresh peach season in Southeast Missouri, and that means cobblers, pies, jam and a myriad of other wonderful recipes all calling for peaches as a key ingredient. For me, there is nothing like fresh peaches just sliced and eaten right from the orchard.

We have enjoyed a few great desserts with our friends Bill and Betsy Pickins, but given the choice, Bill almost always will choose something in the peach theme. Whenever I see peach recipes on Facebook I try to send them to Betsy so she has plenty of options.

I went looking for peach dessert recipes for Bill and found several I wanted to pass along to you as well. Although a few of these call for canned peaches, you can certainly make the recipe with fresh ones, and save those canned peaches for the middle of winter when fresh are not available.

Sour Cream Peach Pecan Pie

Fresh peaches, good Southern pecans and real vanilla make this pie a special summertime treat.

Pastry for single-crust pie (9 inches):

• 4 cups sliced, peeled peaches
• 2 tablespoons peach preserves
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry; trim and flute edge. In a large bowl, combine peaches and preserves. Transfer to pastry shell. In a small bowl, whisk the sugar, sour cream, egg yolks, flour and vanilla. Pour over peaches.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the flour, sugars, pecans and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly; sprinkle over pie.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and topping is golden brown. Cover edge with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent overbrowning if necessary. Cool completely on a wire rack for 3 hours before serving. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 8 servings.

Tennessee Peach Pudding

Prepared with fresh peaches, this dessert is out of this world. You will want to go back for seconds, no doubt.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 3 cups sliced peeled fresh or frozen peaches

Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Half-and-half cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and, if desired, cinnamon. Stir in milk just until combined; fold in peaches. Spread into a greased 8-inch square baking dish.

For topping, combine water, sugars, butter and nutmeg in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugars are dissolved. Pour over peach mixture. Bake until filling is bubbly and a toothpick inserted in topping comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm or cold with cream. Yield: 8 servings.

Peach Crumble Dessert

Old-fashioned, delicious and easy to make describes this yummy dessert. It's wonderful served with ice cream.

• 6 cups sliced peeled ripe peaches
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• Vanilla ice cream, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place peaches in a greased shallow 2 1/2-quart baking dish. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, lemon juice, peel and cinnamon; sprinkle over the peaches.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Stir in egg until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the peaches. Pour butter evenly over topping. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream if desired. Yield: 10-12 servings.

Fresh Peach Pie

A delightful summertime pie, this dessert is overflowing with fresh peach flavor. Each sweet slice is packed with old-fashioned appeal. The streusel topping makes this pie a little different than the ordinary and adds homemade flair.

• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9 inches)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
• 6 cups sliced peeled fresh peaches

Brush egg white over pastry shell; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour and sugars; cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle two-thirds into pastry; top with peaches. Sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

Bake at 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until filling is bubbly and peaches are tender. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Southern-Style Cobbler

• 4 cups sliced peeled fresh or frozen peaches, thawed
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• Vanilla ice cream, optional

In a large bowl, gently toss peaches, 1/2 cup sugar and extract; set aside. Pour butter into a 2-quart baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining sugar; stir in milk until smooth. Pour evenly over butter (do not stir). Top with peach mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Serve with ice cream if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

Country Peach Cobbler

This recipe can be made year round by using either fresh or canned peaches, but it is much better with the fresh. See recipes note at the bottom of this recipe to use fresh peaches.

• 1 can (29 ounces) sliced peaches, well drained
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and cold
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8x8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Drain the can of peaches. Pour drained peaches into bottom of baking dish (spreading them out evenly). Sprinkle peaches with a little cinnamon or cinnamon sugar mixture.

For the topping, in a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add in the cubed butter. Begin to "cut" it into the flour mixture. You can use a pastry cutter, or use your fingers. Just work it in with the flour until it becomes small pebbles and has been worked in with the flour/sugar mixture. Pour in heavy cream. Combine until all the flour mixture has become moist. It will be very thick.

Using a spoon, begin dropping the topping all over the peaches. Place it on in clumps, doing your best to cover the peaches. Don't worry about smoothing it out.

Sprinkle the top with sugar or a cinnamon/sugar mixture. (The cinnamon will make the topping appear darker as it cooks.) Bake for about 40 minutes. The top will be golden brown, and you can stick a toothpick in the top to make sure the topping has completely baked through (toothpick should come out clean).

Note: To make this with fresh peaches, you'll need about 6 peaches, sliced.

Combine sliced peaches with 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour since fresh peaches will produce a lot of juice. Then continue with above steps.

To make cinnamon sugar, combine 2 tablespoons granulated sugar with 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Peach Cobbler Cake

• 1 box yellow cake mix divided use
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 2 eggs
• 2 cans (21 ounces each) peach pie filling
• 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Measure out 2 cups of the dry cake mix; set aside the leftover cake mix. You'll use that later for the crumble topping.

In a mixing bowl combine the 2 cups of cake mix, along with the flour and yeast. Stir until combined. Pour in warm water and stir well. Add eggs and stir. Batter will be pretty stiff and lumpy.

Spread the mixture into your prepared baking dish. This will take you a minute to do as it is stretchy because of the yeast. Spread both cans of pie filling on top of cake batter. Try to spread it out as evenly as possible.

In a bowl, combine the rest of the cake mix (that you set aside earlier) with the butter. I cubed the butter to help blend it in easier. You can use a pastry cutter to combine it together or a fork or even your hands. It should be clumpy. Sprinkle this topping mixture over the pie filling. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 to 55 minutes. Topping should appear golden brown.

Allow the cake to cool for about 10 or 15 minutes. In a bowl, combine powdered sugar and milk. Start with a smaller amount of milk and then add more until it gets to the desired consistency. Drizzle icing all over the top of cake. Slice up and serve.

Have a great week and, until next time, happy cooking.