Bistro Newsletter

After my Valetine’s post last week, I had a few of you show me your wedding day photos… how cool to see and hear your stories! I saw black and white pictures from the 50’s and 60’s and a “timeless” pic from the 80’s. My favorite newsletters are the ones that start a good conversation and bring back memories for both you and me. Lots of wedding talk reminded me how much I loved my wedding cake. My sisters’ were kind enough to bake my favorite cake of all time. If you’re inspired, here is the recipe. You can substitute the peaches for any fruit, Blackberries would be nice this time of year. I’ll miss the Bistro this Saturday night, as Michael and I will be paddling down the Pine River for our annual Michigan winter paddle. Wish me some sunshine, it’s going to be cooold!

Cheers,
Sharon

From Lee Bailey’s Country Cooking Cookbook
Southern Peach Cake

• 2 cups ap flour
• 5 tbsp. + 1 Tsp. cornstarch
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 6 tbsp. margarin, softened
• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1-1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar
• 3/4 cups milk
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 9 large egg whites, stiffly beatened
• For Cream Filling:
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• For Peach Filling:
• 5 to 6 large peach
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tbsp. sugar

1. Make cream filling first. Mix cream, sugar and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.
2. preheat oven to 350 F. Generously grease 3 x 8 inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with wax paper, then grease paper and flour (or use parchment paper-do not grease paper). Set aside.
3. Sift flour with cornstarch, baking power and salt and set aside.
4. Cream butter, margarine and sugar until fluffy. Add dry flour mix in four parts, alternating with milk, to butter mixture, ending with the flour mixture. Mix well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
5. Place beaten egg whites (I used meringue powder!) on top of batter mixture and gently fold in. Pour batter evenly into cake pans and bake twenty to 25 minutes.
6. Let cakes cool completely on racks.
7. Too assemble cake, skin peaches and remove pits using boiling and ice cold water, (saving skins and pits for peach pit ice cream), and divide peach halves in thin slices.
8. Toss peach slices with lemon juice and sugar. Let macerate at least 30 minutes.
9. Whipped chilled cream and sugar filling until stiff, then mix in the vanilla.
10. Take peach juice from macerating peaches anmd pour it over the bottom layer of the cake and allow it to soak in. Cover the bottom cake layer with 1/3 of the sliced peaches.
11. Spread the whipped cream filling over the sliced peaches then place the second cake layer on top. Use toothpicks as necessary to hold cake layers together. Continue assembling cake by adding the remaining sliced peaches, covering with whipped cream and the last cake layer.
12. Cover the last cake layer with the last of the peaches and whipped cream. Refrigerate the cake for at least two hours before serving.