Monday, June 24, 2013

Just Peachy!

For quite a while, I've been promising to tell you a little bit about my new series. The Paws & Claws Mysteries take place on fictional Wagtail Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Believe it or not, Wagtail is a real word. What do you guess it might mean?

a) a happy dog
b) a dog tail with particularly long feathery fur
c) a genus of bird
d) a type of fish

I'll tell you the answer below!

But back to Wagtail. It was once a thriving resort where people went to take the waters. Now that we don't do that anymore, the town has had to reinvent itself, and Wagtail has gone to the dogs -- and cats. Literally. It has become the premier vacation spot for people who want to travel with their animals. Cats and dogs are welcome in the restaurants and inns. There are special menus for them (and yes, there will be recipes for dogs and people in the books). Wagtail offers just about everything cats and dogs could want on vacation. Special trails, birdwatching, massages, grooming, acupuncture, and of course, pet psychics to tell their human moms and dads how Fluffy and Fido feel. There's even a daily Yappy Hour (for the people).

Holly Miller's grandmother owns the Sugar Maple Inn on Wagtail Mountain. I won't give away all the details, but can you imagine living in a place where someone else does the cooking and cleaning every day? Holly is adopted by Twinkletoes, a calico kitten, and Trixie, a Jack Russell Terrier, who help her sniff out murderers. The first book, MURDER, SHE BARKED will be out December 3rd.

I had Holly and her grandmother on the brain when I finally saw fresh peaches for sale at the market. This is the just the sort of thing they would serve at the inn for afternoon tea, except with a dollop of whipped cream!

The recipe reminded me of my mother's Danish Apple Cake. Similar dough and similar cinnamon sugar topping, but made with peaches. It was published in the Houston Chronicle. Nanny Fraioli's family obviously takes great pride in her cake. The similarities between the two cakes are so striking that I can imagine housewives all over Europe baking similar cakes for their families as the harvest came in. They must have used whatever fruit happened to be plentiful at the time. Naturally, I had to try it.

It tastes a lot like the Danish Apple Cake. Neither of the cakes are as sweet or sugary as American cakes, but they don't need to be because they're showcasing the fruit. It's great to know this version can be made with peaches! I used butter instead of margarine, and when I make it again, I'll use a food processor to make the dough. It's quite sticky, so I sprinkled a little bit of flour on my hands to assist in spreading it out. I used parchment paper in the bottom of a rimmed 11 x 16 baking sheet. Purists may prefer to grease the pan with butter instead. I used 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon on top. The ingredients, with the exception of butter instead of margarine are Nanny Fraioli's, but the instructions are what I did. It will take 7 to 8 peaches.

Nanny Fraioli's Peach Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Dash of salt
4 1/2 tablespoons margarine (not spread), melted (plus more to dot on cake)
1 egg
Milk
Fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
Cinnamon
Sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Line an 11 x 16 rimmed baking pan with parchment paper (or grease with butter).

Melt 4 1/2 tablespoons butter and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Crack the egg into a liquid measuring cup, and fill with milk to the 3/4 mark. Combine the butter, flour mixture and milk/egg and mix together. It will be sticky. Press into the prepared pan with your fingers. Don't worry if it's not perfect. You can add just a bit of flour to reduce the stickiness, but too much will make it tough.


Peel the peaches and slice. Lay them in the pan, overlapping them slightly.



Dot the peaches with 1 tablespoon of butter, cut into 16 tiny pieces. Mix the cinnamon with the sugar and sprinkle over the peaches.


Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the bottom begins to turn golden brown.






So what's a Wagtail?
Which answer did you choose?
It's C, a genus of slender birds with long tails that they wag up and down.
Who knew? I didn't!

20 comments:

  1. Saw some great peaches at the market this week. I may try this one. The book looks terrific. Will be on the lookout for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Carol! I hope you'll enjoy the peach cake!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  2. Oh this recipe looks amazing Krista, though our peaches are a ways off. And the new series sounds delightful too! Cannot wait for December!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Roberta. I didn't expect to see peaches quite so soon. They seem like an August fruit to me. I guess they're ripe in GA and SC.

      ~Krista

      Delete
  3. I love your pictures of the "field of peaches" that seems to go on forever. Don't know when we'll see peaches here, although local corn is already appearing on our farmers markets. This global warming stuff is really messing with our schedules!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had fun taking those pictures, Sheila! And more fun eating the cake! I don't think we would have peaches if we didn't have a big chain store that brings in out of season produce.

      ~Krista

      Delete
  4. It's not peach season here in WNY yet-but I sure want to try this recipe when it is! As to wagtail-I guessed right-but it was a guess! Can't wait for this series.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey! You're smart. I had no idea. I looked it up on whim and was surprised that it was a word.

      ~Krista

      Delete
  5. Love the cover and love the recipe. I'm so excited about this new series. Can't wait to see what mischief all the pets can get into. And their owners, too, of course.

    Hugs,

    Daryl / Avery

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Avery. Mischief? You must be thinking of another series! LOL!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  6. That looks really good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you would enjoy it, Helena Georgette!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  7. I'll take the cat over the dog. Paws without claws:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no! A die-hard cat lover, huh? I can't help it. I love them both!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  8. I've got this in my online shopping cart but haven't actually ordered it yet. I pinned the recipe and can hardly wait to try it out.

    I didn't think a wagtail was a dog but couldn't decide between bird or fish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought some people might think it was a fish. It sounds like a fishy thing. I hope you'll like Wagtail as much as I do.

      ~Krista

      Delete
  9. Sign me up for Yappy Hour, Krista! Congrats on the new series. That cover gives a wonderful peek at Wagtail, and I'm looking forward to reading the launch book. In the meantime, that peach cake looks absolutely delicious. I'm with you on cakes that are a little less sweet. (We have a Filipino bakery near us that does sponge cake rolls with cream filling, not too sweet, and just perfect with coffee or tea.) Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe and have a great week!

    ~ Cleo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You and your cats would love Yappy Hour, Cleo! The inn even has special cat rooms with trees to climb on screened porches.

      Funny, I thought about doing this kind of cake with a sponge bottom, but I decided the peaches might release too much juice and it would be a soggy mess. I love sponge cakes!

      ~Krista

      Delete
  10. I'm excited about this new series. Can't wait to read it.

    Kimberlee
    www.girllostinabook.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I sent this in to the Houston Chronicle and won the favorite recipe contest one week. This is my grandmother's recipe. Our family did make it in the rimmed jelly roll pan as you suggested. The Chronicle changed it to a pizza pan. My family still makes this. As a matter of fact, see my Irish mother making it here: http://fraioli.webs.com/peach.htm

    ReplyDelete