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Sunday, Jul. 06, 2008

Recipes: Fruit desserts

Mary Tyler of Winchester sells peaches at Lexington Farmers Market, and when asked, she can share recipes for peach desserts ”off the top of my head.“

Here are her recipes for peach cobbler, peach topping for ice cream, fruit topping for cake, and peach pie.

Peach cobbler

1 stick butter, melted

6 to 8 peaches, sliced

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar or Splenda

1 cup self-rising flour

1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour melted butter in a 9-inch casserole dish. Place peach slices on top of butter. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, sugar, flour and extract. Mix well, and pour over peaches. Bake for 45 minutes or until browned.

Peach topping for ice cream

5 medium peaches, cut in quarters

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

Combine first three ingredients in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. Cool slightly and add almond extract. Serve over ice cream.

Fruit topping for pound cake

Sliced peaches

Watermelon chunks

Cantaloupe chunks

8 ounces sour cream

8 ounces Cool Whip, thawed

In a large bowl, combine fruit. Mix in sour cream and Cool Whip. Serve immediately over pound cake or angel food cake.

Peach pie

9-inch pie shell, baked

8 ounces cream cheese, optional

4 large peaches, sliced

1 cup sugar or Splenda

1 cup water

4 tablespoons cornstarch

4 teaspoons peach gelatin

When pie shell has cooled, spread softened cream cheese over crust. Place sliced peaches into pie shell. Set aside.

In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and cornstarch. Cook until thickened. Add peach gelatin. Stir, and pour mixture over peaches. Let stand until mixtures thickens.

Note: This recipe is great with strawberries and strawberry gelatin.

Judy Baumann of Lexington said her family has always grown rhubarb, and this ”is one of my family's favorite summer fruit recipes. This rhubarb crunch is good by itself; even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.“

Rhubarb crunch

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup oatmeal (not instant)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

4 cups rhubarb, sliced into ½ -inch thick pieces

½ to 1 cup water (see notes)

½ to 1 cup sugar (see notes)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla

With a fork or in a food processor, mix together flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and melted butter until just crumbly. Press half of this mixture into the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch glass baking dish or pie plate. (The acid in the rhubarb seems to corrode the metal if you use an aluminum baking dish.) Put rhubarb atop oatmeal mixture.

In a saucepan, over medium heat, cook water, sugar and cornstarch until mixture is clear and starts to thicken, stirring it almost constantly. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and immediately pour over rhubarb. Sprinkle the top with remaining oatmeal mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Makes 6 servings.

Notes: Recipe can be doubled for a 9- by 13-inch pan. The amount of water and sugar depend on the tartness of rhubarb. Newer rhubarb varieties are sweeter and require less sugar than do the older ones.

Mildred Belcher of Harrodsburg uses a basic recipe for a quickie pie and chooses any fresh fruit that's available.

Quickie pie

1 stick butter, melted

1 cup milk

1 cup self-rising flour

1 cup sugar

1 quart fresh fruit

Place melted butter in a casserole dish or pie plate. In a mixing bowl, combine milk, flour and sugar. Pour on top of butter. Place fruit on top. Sprinkle extra sugar on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Linda Baker of Lexington shares a recipe for deep-dish blackberry cobbler that belonged to her grandmother.

Deep-dish blackberry cobbler

4 cups fresh (or 32 ounces frozen, thawed) blackberries

1½ cups sugar, divided

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, halved and cubed

1 to 3 tablespoons milk

Pastry for a double crust pie

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine blackberries, 1 cup sugar, flour, lemon juice and salt. Toss gently. Prepare pastry; roll half to fit the bottom and sides of a 2-quart baking dish. Spoon half the berries into the pie crust and dot with half the butter.

Divide the remaining pastry in half. Roll out one half large enough to just cover the top of the berries. Make a few slits in the pastry and cover with the remaining ­berries. Dot with remaining butter. Roll out ­remaining pastry to fit the top; make slits and seal edges. Brush top of cobbler with milk, and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake for 45 minutes. Sprinkle more sugar on top if needed. Cool 15 to 20 minutes before ­serving with whipped cream or ice cream. Makes about 6 servings.

Betty Smith of Monticello makes a blackberry cake when blackberries are in season.

Blackberry cake

18.5-ounce box white cake mix with pudding

3-ounce package black raspberry flavored gelatin

1 cup vegetable oil

½ cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries

1 cup flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

Icing:

½ cup butter or margarine, softened

1 pound confectioners' sugar

4 to 5 tablespoons milk (see note)

½ cup fresh or frozen blackberries, crushed

½ cup flaked coconut

½ cup chopped pecans

In a mixing bowl, combine cake mix, gelatin, oil and milk; mix until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in blackberries, coconut and pecans. Pour into three greased 9-inch round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake tests done; cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks.

For icing, cream butter in a mixing bowl. Add sugar and milk; beat until desired consistency is reached. Stir in blackberries, coconut and pecans. Frost tops of two layers; stack on serving plate with plain layer on top. Frost top and sides of cake. Makes 12 to 16 servings.

Note: Don't use too much milk in the ­icing. Juice from berries will be enough.

Emma Patterson of Lexington shares this recipe. When using fresh berries, she mixes the berries and sugar ahead of time.

Strawberry crunch

1 pint strawberries

Sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup nuts

½ cup margarine

2 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ pint whipping cream

In a bowl, combine strawberries with enough sugar to sweeten. Set aside. Combine flour, brown sugar, nuts and margarine in a mixing bowl. Pour into a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir often during baking. It will become crunchy. Cool.

In a mixing bowl, whip egg whites, then add sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Fold in strawberries. Whip the cream, then fold into strawberry mixture.

Place 2⁄3 of crumb mixture in a 9- by 13-inch pan. Cover with strawberry mixture. Spread remaining crumbs over top. Freeze overnight. Cut and serve without thawing.