Food is More … and Peach Kuchen Recipe

Peach Kuchen Recipe is made with fresh or canned peaches; the perfect summer dessert served warm with whipped cream or Vanilla ice cream!

“Food is more than the sum of its nutrients and a diet is more than the sum of its foods … Food is about pleasure, about community, about family and spirituality, about our relationship to the natural world, and about expressing our identity.” -Michael Pollan

I love Michael Pollan’s thoughts on food. It’s so true … food is so much more than what we put into our mouths. It’s very social–each bite can take us to our past, create new experiences for the present. It can bind us together for what is to come.

Food is love, and it makes us who we are, in many ways.

A Sunday afternoon.

Which brings me to this recipe today, a childhood favorite on a Sunday afternoon. Especially in the winter months, with little fresh fruit available, my mom would make this recipe with her own canned peaches. Every bite was comfort. How could it not be, with white flour and sugar? LOL.

When I made a pan of kuchen (the German word for cake) this past week, and took it over to my dad’s to enjoy with his wife Ginny, we reminisced about the Sunday afternoon treats that mom would make years ago.

How to can peaches?

For this cake I opened a jar of newly canned peaches, which, by the way, if you’re new to canning, head over to Harry & David’s blog for a step-by-step post on how to can peaches! It’s easy! I’ll walk you through the process and show you the tools, ingredients, and “how to” process, with the end result: Beautiful jars filled with locally grown halved peaches!

You have a choice with canned peaches to add a lot of sugar, little sugar, or no sugar. I’ve tried the “no sugar” in the past, and they don’t seem as flavorful. This time I used “little sugar” and they turned out great. They had a bit of tartness to them in the cake, which I thought made it even better. I want to try this cake with canned pears, and maybe a brown sugar topping … Mm-m-m-m … maybe I’ll be canning pears this fall as well.

Can on a campstove.

What I’ve learned about canning is that everyone has their own tricks. I feel that canning is way more efficient when it’s done outside on a camp stove. Very little mess, maximum heat and efficiency, keeps your kitchen clean!

In fact, I’ve thought about keeping my camp stove set up on the back patio and hosting a giant chili feed this fall. I can just see 2 big pots of chili simmering and people gathering.

Peach Kuchen Recipe.

Back to the cake. The original recipe calls for 2 large cans of purple plums, for which I substituted the peaches.

I also did not add the final “drizzle” and nuts because we were running out the door to my dad’s, and I didn’t want to add more calories.

You may want to try that. But for now, take one bite, and I promise you will not be able to stop.

Tart and sweet. Perfection!

What’s one of your childhood Sunday favorites? What fruit to you like to can?

Peach Kuchen Recipe

Yield: 8

Total Time: 40 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1egg
• 1 cup milk (you can use evaporated)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 quart canned peaches, sliced (drained – keep the juice)
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp. butter, melted

 

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, add the melted butter, egg, milk, sugar, and vanilla and almond extracts. Mix well. Then add the flour and baking powder; stir.
2. Spoon the cake batter onto a greased cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. The dough will be thin and thick. Spread smoothly to the edges.
3. Place the sliced peaches evenly on the dough with the cut side down.
4. Spoon some of the juice on the peaches.
5. To make the streusel topping, mix 2/3 cup of flour, sugar, and 6 Tbsp. of butter.
6. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the cake.
7. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. You’ll know its done when it’s bubbly and slightly browned along the sides. Don’t over bake!
8. When the cake is slightly cooled, pour a drizzle (powdered sugar mixed with a tiny bit of milk) over the cake and sprinkle with chopped nuts (optional).

All images and text ©Sandy Coughlin for Reluctant Entertainer.

Visit with me over at Harry & David’s blog today where I’m sharing how to can fresh peaches!

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