FRESH FRUIT COFFECAKE

This recipe is adapted from the first dish I ever made with Blueberries. We were living in Connecticut and bought some local berries and I pulled out my only cookbook at the time and I found this wonderful recipe that I decided to try out and being generous I ended up making half a dozen and sending them to work with my husband.  My grandfather called this a Kuchen (German for cake). Twenty years later along with a few alterations and its still a favorite…

Have all ingredients at room temp. Put rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x2 round pan.

Whisk together thoroughly:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
In large bowl, beat on medium to high speed until light and fluffy (3 to 4 minutes)

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar

Beat in 1 at a time until just blended:
2 large eggs

Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated. If batter is too thick (should be like brownie batter) then thin with about ¼ cup of milk. Scrape batter into the pan and spread evenly.

Combine:
1 Tablespoon of sugar and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over
2 cups fruit (if using Peaches, sprinkle with Fruit Fresh or lemon juice)

Sprinkle this mixture over the top of the cake and bake until top is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center (avoiding fruit) comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

VANILLA PEACH JAM

Chappell Farm Peaches

From the roadside stand in Kline, SC

To Camella's kitchen

Snelling, SC

3 pounds of fresh peaches

Juice of1 lemon

1 teaspoon Vanilla

1 tsp Fruit Fresh

1 box Sure Jell

5 ½ cups Vanilla Sugar*

½ teaspoon butter

*Prepare vanilla sugar at least 3 days in advance (best if allowed to sit 1 week) or purchase store bought

Vanilla Sugar:

Bury 1 vanilla bean pod (scraped or not) in an airtight container with 4 pounds of sugar

Remove pod before using sugar

Measure exact amount of sugar into a separate bowl

Before beginning jam, place canning pot (with rack) half way with water and bring to a boil

Also have another small pot of water simmering in case you need it to cover jars

Peel, pit and dice peaches
Place into a 6 to 8 quart saucepan

Add Fruit Fresh

Stir in lemon juice

Stir 1 box SURE-JELL into fruit

Add ½ teaspoon butter

(to reduce foaming)

Add vanilla

Bring mixture to full rolling boil

Stir in sugar quickly

Return to full rolling boil

Boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly

Remove from heat

Skim off any foam

Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch tops

Wipe jar rims and threads

Cover with two-piece lids

Screw bands tightly

Place jars on elevated canner rack

Lower rack into canner

Water must cover jars by 1 to 2 inches

Add boiling water if needed

Cover; bring to gentle boil
Process 10 minutes

SUMMER PEACH TEA PUNCH

4 cups water
3 family-sized tea bags
2 cups loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1 (33.8-oz) bottle peach nectar
1 (6oz) can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup Simple Sugar Syrup (see recipe below)
1 (1-liter) bottle ginger ale, chilled
1 (1-liter) bottle club soda, chilled

Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add tea bags and 2 cups mint leaves. Boil 1 minute; remove from heat. Cover and steep 10 minutes.

Remove and discard tea bags and mint. Pour into a 1 gallon container; add peach nectar, lemonade concentrate, and Simple Sugar Syrup. cover and chill 8 hours or overnight.

Simple Sugar Syrup: Makes 2 1/2 Cups

Bring 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and mixture is clear. Cool to room temperature.

Pour chilled tea mixture into a punch bowl. Stir in ginger ale and club soda just before serving. Garnish, if desired.