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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Please, pretty peach

Is there anything called Costcoholics Anonymous? No? There should be. I'd so be there everyday. And I certainly know a few others who'd sit right next to me.
What is it about warehouse stores that gets to the Indian in you? You know, the one that's constantly looking for sales, deals, a few cents "savings" and FREE SAMPLES. Oh lets not forget the free samples.
I've heard of Indians on deputation going to Costco for "lunch"... I suppose when you have to live on a tight budget, you could eat 3 nuts, a shmear of dip, a cake crumb, a piece of cheese so tiny you could accidently inhale on the way to your mouth and a sip of zero-calorie, zero-cholesterol, zero trans fat you-just-have-to-buy-this-if-you-want-to-look-cool bottled water and call it lunch.
Does a family of three really need 24 apples, 17 Scotch-brite scrubbing pads, 43 toilet rolls, 4 pounds of grapes, 2 gallons of milk, 3 dozen eggs and half a side of a cow?
Not unless you are part of some scientific experiment. Do we all come back loaded though? Of course!
So last week I came back with 12 huge peaches. The first two days, after dinner I heard "Oh peaches!!". As the days wore on, it changed to "Oh peaaa...cheese". The big and small people were circumventing the fruit tray for the cheese tray.
You know how your cheeks start to sink in to your face as you get older?? Well...nobody told me that if you keep peaches around for more than a week, it's like looking into a mirror. And who needs that reminder?
I had to do something with them. So I came up with this tea cake with peach puree.
The cakes are perfumed with subtle peach flavor. Pistachios add a beautiful crunch and the demerara sugar takes it just over the top.

Note: I made individual 4" cakes but you could just use a 8" cake pan.

Peach and pistachio tea cake
flour- 1 cup
baking soda-1/2 tsp
baking powder-1/2 tsp
cinnamon- 1/2 tsp
ginger - 1/4 tsp
unsalted butter -1/4 cup
sugar-3/4 cup
Egg-1
peach puree - 1 cup
Pistachios- 1/4 cup
Demerara sugar- 2 tblsp
salt- a pinch

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Whisk the flour and next three ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar very well. Add the egg and mix till incorporated. On low speed, add about half a cup of the flour mixture, then the peach puree, and then the rest of the flour mixture. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and mix just until well combined. Add the ginger. Pour into the prepared molds. Top with the pistachios and sugar and bake for about 35 minutes or till done.

When the cake is done let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn it out onto a rack to finish cooling. When cool cut into wedges and serve topped with whipped cream, peaches or peach preserve.

1 comment:

Deepa said...

Finally!!!! Found your food blog!! wooo hooo!!!