Summertime, and the Living is Peachy...

Alright, technically it isn't quite summer, but we've had enough hot days at Quince Cottage to make it feel like summer. Strolling past the luscious fruits and veggies at the Raleigh Farmers' Market, it's impossible not to be inspired to make ALL THE YUMMY THINGS.

State Farmers Market Raleigh © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

In a couple of weeks we're having company,which creates the perfect excuse to test-drive some recipes. There's nothing worse than seeing something that looks mouthwateringly delicious on Pinterest, making it, then having the result be worthy of one of those Pinterest Fails on Tumblr. Here's a recipe we thought looked tasty from cookingclassy(dot)com. We're glad we made it first, because the spice level was pretty overwhelming. Like eating pot pourri. It was hard to even taste those peaches I spent so much time peeling, pitting, and slicing... We also thought it could benefit from a bit of brown sugar.

So, we reformulated with fantastic results. Now we can share it with you! Now, of course, if you love heavy autumnal spices, by all means take a look at the original recipe.

Peach Bar Ingredients © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Except we decided to eliminate nutmeg in our second attempt and were glad we did. 
Ron noticed afterward that I'd forgotten to include the egg, so here you go.

Egg © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We always had brown eggs in New England-down here in North Carolina they're considered kind of exotic I guess (judging by price and availability).

Ingredients
4 1/2 C peaches (about 10 peaches, firm but ripe, peeled, pitted, diced)
1 3/4 C white sugar, divided
3 1/2 TBS cornstarch
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
2 TBS orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C salted butter, cold and divided into cubes
1 large egg
1/4 C sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan
2. In small bowl, whisk together 3/4 white sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and ginger
3. In large bowl, toss peaches with orange juice and zest. Sprinkle sugar mixture over peaches and toss to coat. Set aside.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with fork or pastry blender until it forms coarse crumbs.
5. In another small bowl whisk together egg, sour cream, and vanilla. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir to combine. Add remaining 1 C white sugar and brown sugar, stir to combine.
6. Spread and press half of crumb mixture into bottom of pan. Toss peach mixture once more and pour over crumb layer, spread to cover evenly. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top in an even layer.
7. Bake 45-50 minutes (until golden).
8. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or allow to cool and cut into bars. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And now, what y'all have been waiting for...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here, have a bite!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now, there's absolutely no reason why you couldn't make this recipe using other seasonal fruits. At Quince Cottage we love recipes that are simple, tasty, and customizable. We might try this with berries, apples, or pineapple. And if you don't have time to make a fruit filling, canned pie filling would definitely work.

Come back and see us again - we'll be sharing Porch Project #2!