Rebecca Sonniksen

Remember when we kept recipes on notecards organized in a file box? No googling “coleslaw dressings, or “how to make the best ever brownies.” We thumbed through cookbooks from our Mothers, Aunts, and Grandmothers or shuffled through water stained smudged note cards with recipes handwritten or typed, or cut and pasted from a newspaper.

And when the fragrant smell of your mother’s favorite yeast rolls or Aunt Kathryn’s meatballs wafted out of the kitchen you might remember Thanksgiving dinner when we all got surprised by the early snowfall, or laughing during family dinner at Uncle Bob’s corney jokes. Sharing and baking family/friends recipes is a way to connect us to those we love.

I have a decorated filebox where I keep my favorites which I hope might be enjoyed in the future. With that in mind I would like to share one of my favorites from my mother. One I’ve never seen anywhere else. Simple, elegant, and versatile.

The recipe calls for peaches, but I’ve made it with apples and pears. And at the end, when you pour the cup of hot water over the topping DO NOT STIR.

France’s Peach Pudding Cake

Turn the oven to 325

In an 8 inch square pan, slice 2 cups of fresh peaches (apples or pears.)

Sprinkle with lemon juice. Season with nutmeg or cinnamon.

Mix the batter

¾ C sugar
4 T butter
½ salt
1 t baking powder
1 C flour
½ C milk
Spread the batter on top of the fruit .

Make the topping

¾ C sugar
1 T cornstarch
Sprinkle topping over top of batter

Pour 1 C boiling water over top.
Do not stir.

Bake 325 for 50 minutes or until slightly crunchy on top.

^ Top