Good Friends, Good Presents, and Peach Cake Cockaigne

Good day, friends!

Some of you know that we are currently on an adventure at grad school for the Spouse Unit. We have been here for six weeks and I have been feeling homesick lately. It didn't help that we were all sick this week and cooped up in the house. However, Heavenly Father is aware of us and our needs. He knew I needed to receive an awesome package in the mail from the one and only Mandible West. Thank you for lifting my spirits, girl! We love him. We've decided to name him Manuel and decorate him for holidays.

"It's a major award!"

Another way to combat homesickness is dessert. Peaches were on sale, so I decided to make a little somethin' somethin' in honor of good ol' BC.

I call it peach cobbler, even though it's not a true cobbler. The correct term is "The Joy of Cooking's 75th Anniversary Peach Cake Cockaigne." This cookbook is one of my favorites! But let's talk Peach Cake Cockaigne. It involves all of the components of a cobbler but in reverse order. The cake cradles the sliced peaches and it's sprinkled with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and love. Drool.

I'm going to provide you with the exact instructions for how I made this dessert, so pay close attention or you won't do it it correctly. Ready?

Get your husband's fancy camera out to take pictures of the process. Fuss with it for about five to ten minutes because you don't really know how to use it.

Take a picture of your ingredients.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lil' Spits starts fussing. Go pay attention to your baby.

Grab your peaches and rinse them off. Score them once all the way around with a paring knife.

Take pictures of the score marks.

Get your pot of water boiling.

Tina wants a snack, so you go get her some ham. ("Tina! Come get some ham!")

Go grab your llama salt and pepper shakers and put them on your stove so you can show them off.

Throw your peaches in the boiling water and take a picture, making sure that your llamas are conspicuous.

 

After a minute or two, dump the peaches in a colander and let them cool a little bit.

Slip the skins off. Easy peasy.

Nakey peaches.

Lil' Spits is has been crying during this whole narration, so you run and throw her in the crib and pray that she will take a nap so you can finish making this recipe. Bribe her with toys.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Take a picture. Cut in 3 Tablespoons of butter and grab one of your kitchen besties, the pastry blender. Hey, what up, girl!? 

Forks work well, too. Or a food processor if you're extra fancy and want extra dishes.

You notice that Tina has now climbed up the stool, onto the desk and is sitting on your laptop. Get her off and turn on Frozen. Again.

Using your pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is evenly dispersed.

Combine an egg, some vanilla, and enough milk to equal one-half cup. Stir it up with a fork (I used evaporated milk because we were out of regular).

Combine egg mixture with flour mixture and mix with a fork until just combined. Grease a 9x9 pan with some butter and a piece of wax paper (the wrapper your butter comes in works great if you haven't discarded it yet, since it already has butter on it).

Spread out your dough in the pan, and take another picture. Gotta get those llamas in it.

Check on Lil' Spits. Play peek-a-boo for a few minutes because she's cute and happy to see you. Feed Tina the Snack Monster another snack.

Hack your peaches to bits because they're not as ripe as you thought they'd be. Spread on top of dough.

Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a bowl.

Grab your pastry blender bestie again and go to work. When the topping is all crumbly and combined, sprinkle it on top of the peaches.

Your oven should be nice and preheated since it's been on for, like, 2 hours by now. Stick your pan of goodness in the oven and bake it for 25 minutes.

Set the timer on your microwave that only beeps once when it goes off. Forget about your dessert.

Pull it out and look at the hot mess. Oops. I overbaked it a little bit (PSA: don't be a sinner like me. Use a real timer and don't overbake this).

Since you decided to make dessert instead of dinner, eat grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with carrot sticks and ranch while your children whine because they're exhausted.

Drive 4 miles roundtrip to the grocery store because you HAVE to have vanilla ice cream with "ze Peach Cake Cockaigne."

Dish it up. Take another picture. And another. And five more until you get the right one.

Ta-da.

Scarf it while Tina refuses to eat your culinary masterpiece. She only wants the ice cream, so let her eat yours.

And it's that easy! If you have kids, it'll only take you about... 3 days to make this. If you don't or you are a superparent: An hour, tops.


Peach Cake Cockaigne
The Joy of Cooking 75th Anniversary

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Sift together:
1 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. white sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in:
3 Tbsp. cold butter

In a measuring cup, whisk together with a fork:
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
enough milk to bring mixture to 1/2 c. 

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and mix with fork until just combined.
Spread dough into the bottom of a greased pan.

Layer 4 c. sliced peaches on top of dough (about 4 peaches)

Combine and sprinkle over fruit:
1 c. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. cold butter

Bake for 25 minutes (do not overbake). Serve with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream. Or a glass of milk if you like to eat it for breakfast like I do.


Have you ever received an awesome present in the mail? What's your favorite way to eat peaches?  Tell me in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! Hasta la pasta, ya'll!