Tassajara Peach Kuchen

"A spectacular dessert adapted from my old Tassajara Cookbook from the 1970s. If you bake in a pie plate, make sure to use a DEEP one. In the summer, I love to take this along when a pie is requested; the custardy top makes it look extra-special and it's delicious, too. Supposedly, you can substitute 2 packages frozen peaches for the fresh peaches, but I've never done this."
 
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photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
photo by Sackville
photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
Ready In:
1hr 10mins
Ingredients:
10
Serves:
10-12
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ingredients

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directions

  • Cut the butter into the dry ingredients (flour through salt) with a fork or pastry cutter until it looks like coarse meal.
  • Press firmly into a baking pan (I use a 10-inch deep-dish pie dish).
  • Arrange the peaches on the surface to cover.
  • Sprinkle the fruit with a mixture of the cinnamon and brown sugar.
  • Bake 15 minutes at 400°.
  • Pour the egg yolks beaten with the cream over the top.
  • Lower heat to 375° and bake 40 minutes longer.

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Reviews

  1. GREAT RECIPE, GREAT MEMORIES I stayed at Tassajara for 2 days and returned in the early 90's for 5 days. The food was so enjoyable and the Peach Kuchen is just plain yummy. I use fresh peaches and blueberries when I make it and I tweak the crust. My crust is a cross between this recipe and the Cheesecake Cookie recipe. I use 1/3 cup brown sugar and add 1/2 cup blanched, chopped almonds. Staying at Tassajara is such a joy, but the most memorable part of my trip was when I returned to the SF Zen Center. I worked in the Greens restaurant kitchen one evening. When I was done, I was invited to have dinner. My dinner companion was Edward Espe Brown. What a fabulous evening.
     
  2. I used to make this recipe for the Monks many years ago. 1980-1990. I was given a Tassajara Bread Book for Christmas one year! It is one of the most delicious desserts in the world! Of course I had thick just drawn cream from the dairy and I'd raised the eggs myself. I used canned peaches and they aren't too shabby. Just dry them off a bit before you use them after all they are just "poached peaches". Apricots and pears are genius in this recipe too! Though you need mor apricots! Plums would be nice but you might want to poach them as they can be quite tart.
     
  3. This is the best ever; his butter kuchen is also terrific.
     
  4. I had hoped this would be more of a baked custard with peaches swimming in it rather than than peach pie with a thin layer of custard floating on the top. (I see now that is exactly what it is described to be.) Nonetheless, it was tasty. The only alterations I made were in using an 8.5" pie plate, 1 package of frozen peaches and using another poster's advice, I coated the peaches in corn starch. This is the first pie crust I have made and it didn't come out too badly! I only had an 8.5" pie plate, so it was a bit thick and turned a bit dark, but tasted great - like a shortbread cookie. My only complaint was that the custard was only about 1/4" thick. I can't imagine how thin it would be with a 10" pie plate.
     
  5. I make this recipe using Italian plums or blueberries (either fresh or frozen) and in a 7x11 inch baking pan. It always brings favourable comments when served.
     
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[SINCE I HAVE WELL OVER 200 COOKBOOKS, I SUGGEST THAT ANYONE EXPLORING MY COLLECTION CLICK ON 'AUTHOR'S ORDER' AT THE TOP OF THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN BEFORE PROCEEDING. I'VE ARRANGED THEM SO THAT COOKBOOK SERIES OR SIMPLY COOKBOOKS ON RELATED TOPICS APPEAR TOGETHER, WHICH SHOULD MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND THE ONES THAT INTEREST YOU.] In 2004, I moved home to New England after many years living in the South. Often I go walking in the morning with my sister, who lives near me on the Maine coast--we truly live in a beautiful place. I share a love of ACC basketball with my brother in upstate New York. Nowadays, I rely heavily on Kitty Rosati's Heal Your Heart book (lots of low-sodium recipes) and Donald Gazzaniga's No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook. Other cookbooks I frequently use are Weil & Daley's The Healthy Kitchen and Cooking Light's Five-Star Recipes cookbook. From January 2005 to September 2008, I hosted the recipe tagging game <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?p=2192193">ONE-TWO-THREE HIT WONDERS</a>, taking four months off in late 2007, during which the tireless, compassionate and totally wonderful Game Forum Hosts <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/88099"> ~Nimz~</a>, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/67656"> justcallmetoni</a>, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/157425">Lauralie41</a> and <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/428885">Andi of Longmeadow Farm</a> with incredible kindness of took over my workload. I loved hosting the game and the players there were and are the best, but competing obligations required me to give it up and it's now ably presided over by HokiesLady. In 2008 my dear sister finally joined Recipezaar. Her chef name is Sagadahoc (the county in Maine she lives in). My popular Recipe #89132 is actually her recipe--check it out sometime, it's great! She eventually realized how useful having several cookbooks can be, so I gave her a premium membership as her birthday present in March 2008. Some of my favorite sources of recipes are the public cookbooks of other Zaar chefs. I have over 100 bookmarked to refer to occasionally, but some of my favorites are from the following: In January-February 2007, the Chefs of 1-2-3 Hit Wonders hosted a Cook-a-Thon for veteran Zaar member Sharon123 while she was undergoing chemotherapy at Duke University. The entire group of recipes tagged, cooked and reviewed for the Cook-a-Thon are contained in: <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=123948">Sharon123's Cook-a-Thon Cookbook</a></li> <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/58104">~Rita~</a>: Thanks to her stunning photographs, she has one of the most beautiful cookbook lists at Zaar. Her cookbooks focus on a variety of inspired topics, many of them health-related, and the introductions often provide an encyclopedic disquisition on the topic at hand. Some stand-outs: <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/27685">Edible Flowers</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33443">Honey Honey You`ve got me wanting you!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33123">Recipes I named after zaar chefs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33325">Menopause</a></li> If you've been around Zaar any length of time, you probably know that <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/4470">Bergy</a> writes wonderfully detailed and helpful recipe reviews and has also contributed a wealth of wonderful recipes of her own. 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UPDATE: <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/80353">evelyn/athens</a>, host of the Greek Cooking Forum and Greek food expert extraordinaire has a cookbook of her own Greek fecipes that could be the only reference you'll ever need for Greek cuisine: <li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/76021">Greek Cookery</a></li> I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat meatless meals a fair amount of the time. 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