Peachy Keen Breakfast Snack Cake & July's Apron Winner

Peaches are a big crop in the South--I'm sure you've heard of Georgia peaches, but I have to say the ones from the Carolina's fair just as well.  I've been busy this summer making jam (that's Peach and a Peach~Cherry combo) behind this luscious Peachy snack cake.

The peach is native to northwest China, where it was first domesticated, and is the largest producer of peaches.  From there it was brought to Persia and then, transplanted in Europe. Interestingly, it is classified along with the cherry, plum and almond; that's why I chose to make the Peach~Cherry jam and to add roasted almonds for a crunchy streusel on top of this treat!

Peachy Keen Breakfast Snack Cake
Roasted Almond Streusel:
3/4 cup whole almonds (I used ones with the skin on), roasted in the oven for 6-7 minutes at 350F-degrees, then chopped
2 T firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cardamon
2 T butter, melted
 
Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted (remove 2T of the butter for the streusel!)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (about 3 medium) diced peaches, peeled

I use a "tomato peeler" that you can find at Sur La Table to peel the peaches!

1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375F-degrees.  I used "cakelet" papers I found at The Container Store, but you can also make these into muffins.

In a small bowl, make the streusel; mix the chopped almonds, brown sugar, spices together, then, add 2 tablespoons of melted butter from the pan you used to melt the 1/2 cup of butter.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and oil together.  Add the brown sugar and stir together to combine.  Add the eggs and extracts and mix thoroughly.  Measure the oatmeal and all the dry ingredients and sour cream into the bowl and stir just to combine.  Lastly, add the diced peaches.

 Stir again to combine.

I filled 8 cakelets with the batter, spread it with an off-set spatula, then, sprinkled with the crunchy streusel.

Place the cakelets in the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350F-degrees.  Bake them for 22-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out cleanly when tested in the center.  If you are doing muffins, line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and don't lower temperature.  Bake 20-25 minutes until a wooden skewer comes out cleanly when tested in the center.  

I decided to add a simple glaze on top of my cakes:
1 1/2 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar
1 T light Karo Syrup
2 T very warm water

Mix all the ingredients together and use a spoon to dribble the glaze over the cakelets.

Serve warm from the oven...it's like eating peach pie for breakfast and who wouldn't like that?  Enjoy!

Now, the winner of July's apron is FindingPam!

Congratulations!  Email me your address and I'll get this lovely sent to you ASAP:-D  

Peaches...and Kittens!

I admit it...I've become my mother!  This week, with just a few weeks from our last big move, I was hit with kittens dropped in the yard of our rental home--three little kittens, but, no mittens:-D  My first reaction was to call every "no-kill" shelter to drop these little guys off.  Lucky for these little kittens, no one answered or they had a recording that they were full.  The next step was to take them to our Vet and have them checked out.  They're clean of fleas, no worms, and actually have had their first distemper immunization.  However, they remain in the one of the bathrooms, away from our 10 year old Ragdoll, Rosie, who looks at me with those big blue eyes as if saying, "what the heck is this!"

Why I say I've become my mother is because as kids, we brought home every animal under the sun and she never said no.  There were numerous cats, dogs, a pair of flying squirrels, a chipmunk, fish, baby Mockingbirds that had fallen out of their nest, guinea pig and hamsters. Realistically, I know going from one cat to now four is crazy, but when your grandchildren say with excitement..."Mimi, you have to keep them!"  Well, there's my mother in me saying, "okay."

Hubby with Harper (the buff one), ZuZu (the tortoise shell) and Clara (the "Russian Blue" gray)

To relieve the stress, I bought a bushel of peaches and made 14 jars of peach jam and this morning made Brown Butter Waffles with a Peach compote.  Our new home is going to be filled with grandchildren and apparently a lot of pets...which is what a home should be:-D

Brown Butter Waffles with Peach Compote

Waffles:

2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour

1 T granulated sugar

2 T finely-ground cornmeal

2 large eggs

4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and browned

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups buttermilk (you can make your own by adding 1 T apple cider vinegar to milk and let stand until curdled)

In a large bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together, then add the eggs and buttermilk and stir thoroughly.  Finally, fold in the slightly cooled brown butter.

Heat a waffle iron up and brush with some vegetable oil for the first time; after that, you should have to add any more oil.

Bake the waffles until golden brown.  Dab a pat of butter, add a little bit of warm maple syrup and a spoonful of peach compote for a delicious Sunday breakfast.

Peach Compote:

4 to 5 ripe peaches, peeled and sliced

In a small sauce pan, add the sliced peaches.  Next, mix 1/3 cup of granulated sugar with 1tsp. cornstarch.  Add to the peaches and stir  gently.  Place over low heat, covered and cook until bubbly.  Remove the lid and keep on low heat until ready to serve with your waffles.  These peaches would also be good on ice cream!

This move is definitely going to be interesting.  Our bamboo floors have still not gone in, so we may be living in the basement on the cork floors with our new furry friends! Enjoy!