Peach Praline Pie

Peaches are still in abundance in the market and this wonderful Amish recipe makes excellent use of them. The brown sugar - pecan topping is lightly spiced with nutmeg and is sprinkled on the bottom of the crust, as well as over the pie, for a truly wonderful ending to any meal. The recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, "New Recipes from Quilt Country" by Marcia Adams.

Blessings...

Recipe:

Pastry for a 1-crust 9-inch pie

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca

4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches, or 5 cups partially thawed and still crisp frozen peaches.

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Praline Topping

1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar, packed (I really like the dark brown sugar)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg (or ground)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9" pie pan with the pastry and set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the granulated sugar and tapioca. Add the peaches, lemon juice, extract, and lemon zest and let the mixture stand for 10 minutes.

3. Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, pecans, nutmeg, and salt.

With a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until the mixture becomes crumbly. Sprinkle one-third of the topping into the pastry shell and cover with the peach mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining topping.

4. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the juices in the middle of the pie begin to bubble and the peaches are tender when tested with a fork. Cover the crust after 20 minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool completely on a rack before cutting.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings
536 calories each for 6 servings
3 gms. fiber
402 calories each for 8 servings
2 gms. fiber

Continental Peaches

This recipe for fresh peaches is a wonderful accompaniment to meats and brunch dishes. I was a little leery about the idea of baked peaches the first time I made the recipe, but my fears vanished with the first bite, and my husband's rave reviews. The original recipe called for rum extract, which was nasty tasting since it's a strong artificial flavoring, so I substituted the real thing with much better results. Since the alcohol cooks away the flavor of the peaches and brown sugar shines through. Blessings...

Recipe:

3 large ripe peaches, peeled and halved
1 tbsp. rum
1/2 cup sour cream (see note)
3 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. sliced almonds (honey roasted or toffee are wonderful)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Arrange peaches, cut side up, in a 9-inch pie plate or baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with rum. Spoon sour cream onto peaches. Sprinkle with sugar and almonds.
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until sugar caramelizes and almonds turn golden brown. Serve hot.

Yield: 6 servings
Note: The original recipe from the cookbook, San Francisco A La Carte, calls for 1 cup of sour cream, which I thought was way too much. You might like much more sour cream than we did.

Summer Peach Crisp

Fresh peaches are in the grocery stores and farmers markets in abundance right now, and this very easy recipe makes great use of their  summertime-best flavor. We love the dessert topped with ice cream but, of course, you don't have to add all those extra calories, if you don't want to. I clipped this recipe out of the food section of my hometown newspaper, The Modesto Bee, many years ago. Blessings...

Recipe:

4 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches
1-1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup quick-cooking oatmeal, not instant
3 tbsp. brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans
vanilla ice cream, opt.

1. Mix peaches with lemon juice, sugar and nutmeg. Spread over bottom of 9" pie plate.
2. Combine flour, oatmeal, and brown sugar in a bowl.
3. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans and spread over peaches.
4. Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until peaches are tender. You can also micro-cook the dessert for 5 to 8 minutes on high. I have never cooked it this way, so I don't know how well the dessert would do.

Yield: 4 servings
Note: I have also added 1 cup of fresh blueberries with the peaches to help stretch the yield a bit.
279 calories per serving without the blueberries
5 gms. fiber
300 calories per serving with the addition of the blueberries
6 gms. fiber
Note: When peaches are beautifully ripe and full-flavored they will cook down and create a pool of juice. The recipe was not written with the addition of cornstarch or flour to thicken the juices, so depending on how ripe the peaches are that are used, the dessert may be very juicy. I drain off any extra juice that we don't want.

Peach Cheesecake Squares

This recipe is a wonderful way to use fresh peaches that are still in abundance in the markets. Peaches are combined with nutmeg and cream cheese to make a dessert that is not actually a cheesecake but sure comes in as a close second, with a lot less work. The dessert is rich, simple to put together, and will last in the refrigerator for up to a week. At least it did in our house with only two of us, but if your family enjoys it as much as we did, it may not last long at all. Blessings...

Recipe:

4 cups sliced ripe peaches, about 4 large peaches
4 tsps. sugar
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, cold
1 pkg. (8 oz.) low-fat cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Peel peaches and slice thinly into a large bowl. Combine the 4 tsps. sugar and nutmeg and toss it with the peaches. Set aside to juice.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour and powdered sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly and rather dry. Reserve 2 cups of the mixture for the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9 x 13 pan. Bake the crust in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes.
3. While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in the condensed milk until smooth. Add the egg and the vanilla. Mix well.
4. After the crust has baked the 15 minutes, remove from the oven and carefully spoon the peaches over the crust in an even layer. Drizzle with any peach juice that has collected.
5. Pour the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crust smoothing it out with a spatula. Sprinkle with the reserved crust mixture and return to the oven for another 30 - 35 minutes or until the peaches are tender when pierced with a fork and the crumb topping is a golden brown. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Yield: 12 servings

Peaches 'N Pudding Crisp

This recipe for peach crisp is so good and very simple to make. It only takes about 15 minutes to put together because canned peaches are used rather than fresh, so precious time is saved by not having to peel fresh peaches, but the flavor is still wonderful. The topping is unusual in that it has a package of cook-and-serve pudding added in addition to the usual flour and oatmeal. Whether I serve it to guests, or just for my husband and I, I always warm it up a little in the microwave and top it with a little vanilla ice cream. Blessings...

Recipe:

1 29-oz or 2 16-oz cans good quality sliced canned peaches, reserve 1/4 cup syrup
1 tablespoon pudding mix

Combine the peaches, syrup and 1 tbsp. pudding mix in an 8" x 8" baking dish.

Topping:

2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 small package vanilla cook and serve pudding, reserve 1 tbsp. for peach mixture.
1/2 cup butter, melted

Combine the topping ingredients using an electric mixer until well blended and crumbly. Sprinkle topping over peaches. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and peach mixture is bubbly.

Yield: 6 servings
Tip: Canned peaches in juice can be used in place of the heavy syrup without needing to add more sugar to the dish.

Easy Cranberry-Peach Crisp

One day last week, when I wondered into my pantry, a can of cranberry sauce caught my eye. Since it is August, and miserably hot, I was not thinking of a holiday meal, but rather, "how old is that can of cranberries?" I picked up the can and read the "use by" date to find out that it would be past its prime this month. Since I had fresh peaches in the refrigerator this dessert recipe came to my mind; so I made it for dinner. It's easy, fast and tastes great with a little vanilla ice cream on top, or not.

This recipe uses half the can of cranberry, so tomorrow I'll share a wonderfully easy jello salad that will finish off the can. My family loves cranberries so I use them year around in our meals, especially in cool and refreshing salads. Blessings...

Recipe:

1-1/2 cups peeled, sliced fresh peaches
8 ounces (1 cup) whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon apple pie spice
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Arrange sliced peaches in a buttered 1-quart casserole dish or 9" pie plate. Stir cranberry
sauce with a fork to break the mixture up and spoon over the peaches.
2. Combine brown sugar, flour, oats and apple pie spice in a small bowl. Spoon over fruit.
3. Drizzle the melted butter over the topping.
4. Bake, uncovered, in a 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the peaches are fork
tender and the topping is nicely browned.

Yield: 4 servings
273 calories per serving without ice cream