Cobbling together a fine Peach Kuchen

I didn’t think it had a chance, but the kuchen came out all right anyway. I was visiting in my kitchen with my friend Kristina King and we were making supper together. I really wanted to do something with some of our own canned peaches from last August. I remembered a kuchen recipe a friend gave me a long time ago, but I couldn’t find it anywhere, so I looked up in the Tassajara Cookbook , (not many under 45 year old will remember that one) and found a recipe, but that wasn’t quite as I remembered it, either. So I decided to wing it.

First off, Kristina has to be careful about wheat, but not to worry, because I have spelt flour. Second, I thought I remembered using yogurt for the custard, but the Tassajara recipe didn’t call for that.

I thought, oh, what the heck, and I went ahead with the Tassajara crust recipe using spelt flour but you could use whole wheat or all-purpose or a combination. When you use spelt, you have to pack it tightly into the measuring cup, which I did after Kristina reminded me. Then instead of the cup of sour or heavy cream called for, I substituted low-fat yogurt, but you could use just about any yogurt, I bet. Vanilla would be good. The recipe calls for two eggs, though I got lucky and one of the eggs was a double yolker.

The instructions (which I know you are supposed to read through carefully before you begin to assemble the ingredients, but I don’t always remember to do) said to press the crust firmly into a baking pan and bake it for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Guess who forgot that step? So I decided to bake the whole thing for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then dropped the temperature to 350. After consulting with Kristina, who said, “I bet it will bake in 30 minutes” instead of the 40 specified, I set the timer for 30 minutes. You know, it was fine. It tasted very good.

So here is my so-called recipe for kuchen. Clearly it takes a lot of abuse. No peaches?? It would be good with blueberries or thinly sliced apples.

Send queries or answers to Sandy Oliver, 1061 Main Road, Islesboro 04848. E-mail: tastebuds@prexar.com. For recipes, tell us where they came from. List ingredients, specify number of servings and do not abbreviate measurements. Include name, address and daytime phone number.

Peach Kuchen

Serves 4 to 6.

2 cups of flour

1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

1 stick of butter

1 medium can of sliced peaches (I used a pint)

1 cup of yogurt

2 eggs beaten

1 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400. Mix the flour and baking powder together and cut the butter into it. (I used a food processor.) Press into a 10-inch pie plate or a 10-inch square baking pan, making sure to bring the edge up an inch or so. Distribute the peaches over the crust. Beat together the yogurt, eggs, sugar and cinnamon, and pour it over the peaches. Bake the kuchen for 10 minutes at 400, then reduce the temperature to 350 and bake an additional 30. It is done when the custard has set.