Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen

Kuchen is the German word for cake, though it is used to describe an assortment of desserts and pastries. This recipe for Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen is indeed cake-like, but truly has more in common with bread. With coffee or tea this lemony kuchen makes a perfect summer breakfast; with fresh whipped cream it is a lovely light, and health-conscious, dessert.

Ingredients:

– 2 1/2 c. flour

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– Zest from one whole lemon

– 3/4 tsp. fast-action dried yeast

– 1 egg, beaten

– 2/3 c. warm water

– 2 Tbsp. poppyseed, prepared dessert filling (available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores)

Topping:

– 1 lb. fresh peaches – about three large fruits (though really you could use any stone fruit in this recipe and it would be fantastic)

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 2 Tbsp. raw or demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Put the flour in a large bowl. Rub 2 Tbsp. butter in with fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir in the salt, sugar, zest, and yeast.

3. Add the beaten egg, prepared poppyseed, and enough water to make a soft dough.

4. Knead well on a clean and lightly floured surface for at least five minutes — dough should be smooth and elastic.

5. Put the dough back in to the bowl and cover with a piece of oil cling-film. Let rise at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size. It is very important that you place the bowl somewhere warm or the dough will not rise.

6. Once risen, tip dough out onto a floured surface and knead well again. Press dough into a buttered spring-form pan or a loose-bottomed flan tin. I used a 9” pan, but if you have a larger one (like 11”) I think it may better suit this kuchen to be a little thinner.

7. Halve, stone, and thickly slice the peaches. Arrange them over the top of your dough.

8. Leave uncovered to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size

9. Preheat oven to 400F

10. Brush the fruit with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar

11. Bake in oven at 400F for 15 minutes

12. Remove from oven, cover with foil, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 35-40 minutes.

13. After finished baking, removing from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Using a knife or thin spatula loosen the edges and remove kuchen from tin.

14. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle extra sugar over top, if desired.

15. Serve warm or cold, cut into slices. This is especially good warm with some sweet cream butter slathered over it…but then again, what isn’t?

 

Adapted from The Bread Book by Sara Lewis

Stone Fruit Pie with Lattice Top

On Sundays I always like to bake something for us to enjoy throughout the week. Today at the market I found the loveliest plums, apricots, and cherries. Normally so expensive, when these fruits are in season I try to use them as often as possible. Today they looked so good I bought plenty so that we will be able to snack on them throughout the week and so that I could also make a wonderful stone fruit pie.

I love making pies, and make them often, especially in the summer. However, someone — I won’t say who — is trying to watch their cholesterol so today I tried making a vegan version of this pie and substituted half of the white flour in the pie crust with whole wheat flour. Substituting the butter in the pie crust proved not to be as much of an issue as I had feared it might. The wheat flour on the other hand was. I usually prefer wheat — I think it has a more robust flavor. I guess that’s just the thing though: you don’t want your pastries to be “robust” — you want them to be light, and flaky, and decadent. Don’t get me wrong — the crust was still quite good, but it wasn’t nearly as indulgent and delicious as a white flour crust… This pie filling is to-die-for though — just the right balance of sweet and tart — but you can use this basic recipe for a pie with any summer fruit (berries, peaches, etc.) My philosophy with fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables is to do as little to them as possible: simpler is always better with quality ingredients!

Stone Fruit Pie

Ingredients:

– 1 Pie Crust (See my preceding blog entry — “Perfect Pie Crust”)
– 2 cups pitted quartered cherries
– 2 cups pitted sliced plums
– 2 cups pitted sliced apricots (fresh, not dried)
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 3 Tbsp. cornstarch (this is what will bind the sugars from your fruits so that your pie isn’t runny and your crust doesn’t get soggy)
– 1 egg (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Make pie dough

3. While dough is chilling, remove pits from fruits and slice. Put fruit pieces in a large bowl

4. Add sugar and cornstarch to fruit and mix well

5. Let fruit sit

6. Roll out one half of your pie crust and fit into a 9” pie pan

7. Make the lattice top for your pie (See preceding blog “How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust” for detailed instructions)

8. Your fruit should now look a bit syrupy — in other words, it should look like pie filling 🙂

9. Pour filling into pie crust

10. Place lattice on top of pie

11. Tear excess ends from lattice

12. Fold overhanging pieces of bottom crust over lattice ends

13. If you’d like to use an egg wash (I did not since I was making vegan pie today) simply beat an egg with a little bit of milk or water and coat lattice using a pastry brush. This will add a little bit of shine to your crust but is purely aesthetic and does not affect the taste.

14. Bake in oven at 400F for 50 minutes. Check after 35-40 minutes — if crust looks too dark cover with aluminum foil and continue baking

15. Remove from oven

16. Let cool for at least 20 minutes.

17. Slice, top with ice cream of whipped cream if you desire, and enjoy

And about 30 seconds later….