A Perfect Showcase For Late Summer Peaches And Plums

Stone Fruit Kuchen taken from The City Cook A Perfect Showcase for Late Summer Peaches and Plums Karin Giger is a favorite city cook who lives in New Orleans. When she sent us this recipe she wrote, “This is the Giger family’s peach or plum kuchen recipe. I’ve made this for myself on my birthday for the past 40 years (My mother made it for me before then!). One of the good things about a summer birthday is fresh fruit and fresh corn. My platonic birthday dinner is locally-caught-that-day speckled trout, lightly fried, sliced creole tomatoes, local white corn, and peach kuchen.” Lucky Karin to have a birthday in July. I have made this recipe using New York-grown apricots, local peaches, and tiny purple Italian plums. A generous quart of apricots was perfect for this recipe. Makes 12 servings. Ingredients 2 cups all purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) at room temperature so that it is slightly soft 12 peach, 14 plum, or 24 apricot halves, pitted (the fruit should be quite ripe; peel the peaches but you can leave the skin on the plums or apricots) 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 egg yolks 1 cup heavy cream 1.       Preheat oven to 400° F. 2.       Make a shortbread by sifting together the flour, baking powder, salt, and 2 tablespoons of the 3.       sugar into a bowl, work in softened butter with two knives until you have the consistency of cornmeal (if you work quickly you can also do this with your fingers). 4.       Pat the shortbread mixture into an 8×12″ Pyrex or oven-proof ceramic pan to cover the bottom and halfway up the sides. 5.       Placed the halved fruit, cut side up, uniformly across the shortbread. 6.       In a small bowl combine the cinnamon with the remaining sugar and scatter the mixture over the fruit. 7.       Bake for 15 minutes. 8.       While the fruit/shortbread mixture is baking make a custard by whisking together the egg yolks with the cream. 9.       After 15 minutes of baking, pour the custard mixture over the fruit/shortbread. 10.   Lower the oven temperature to 350° F and bake for an additional 30 to 40 minutes. 11.   Remove from the oven when the fruit is bubbling, the shortbread crust has browned a little, and the custard has become firm and slightly golden brown. Cool slightly and serve warm, with or without a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It is also a wonderful morning-after breakfast with a big glass of milk.

© 2012 The City Cook, Inc., All Rights Reserved.