Blueberry-Peach Dump Cake

Did you think I died?  There's been a lot going on in life and it's only going to get more crazy from here but I'm back on the saddle... I think.  :)

I needed a quick dessert the other night and based on the ingredients I had I decided to go with a dump cake.  If I'm being honest it was less about the ingredients I had and more about being lazy and doing NO research on a dessert.  Dump cake has been around forever and I don't know where the recipe actually originated.  The Pioneer Woman did a post about dump cake so i'll link it back to her.

The best thing about Dump Cake is that it's super easy and you can use whatever you want.  I used blueberry and peaches because that's what I had.  I think blueberry with lemon cake mix would be delicious too.  Go crazy.

Blueberry-Peach Dump Cake:
(Pioneer Woman and the internets)

1 box yellow cake mix
1 can sliced peaches in juice
1 pint blueberries
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a baking dish mix the fruit together with the vanilla.  Top with the cake mix and dot with the stick of butter.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the fruit juices have started to bubble up around the crust.

Seriously.... that's the entire recipe.  It's delicious.  Next time you have to make something for desert in an hour pull this out of the recipe box.  It's easy and no one will know that it's cake mix from a box.

Peach Cobbler

I've been canning all weekend.  I have 1 quart + 19.5 pints of peach jam sitting on my counter.  Even after all of those jars of jam I still have 5 peaches in my fruit bowl.  To be frank, I'm tired of making jam so in order to use those last few peaches I decided to make a cobbler.  It's a classic dessert and easy to make.

There is something comforting about a cobbler.  It was my grandma's go to dessert when I was a kid and we always looked forward to it.

Peach Cobbler:
(basic cobbler recipe, measurements from Food Network- cause Grandma never measured anything)

Cobbler filling:

4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon flour

Cobbler crust:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon brown sugar, for topping
   

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently and spread evenly again. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and stir to form a soft dough.

Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of brown sugar and return to oven. Bake about 20 minutes, until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown.

Peach Jam

Peaches have been on mega sale recently and since all of my hobbies come right out of Little House on the Prairie I decided that the good deal meant that I needed to can these babies.  I made so much jam.  It was totally worth it, this might be my favorite batch of jam to date.

I got this recipe off of a wonderful blog called Food in Jars.  I've been reading Marisa's blog for years, way before Mr. T hooked me up with a sweet canning set, and I can't wait to really get into it and make more of the deliciousness that she has on there.

Note to the world... read the recipe all the way before you start cooking.  This calls for liquid pectin.  I missed that memo.  Learn from my mistakes.

Peach Jam:
(Food In Jars)

10 cups of peaches, peeled and chopped
6 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 lemons, zested and juiced
2 packets (1 box) liquid pectin

Fill your canning pot with water and begin to bring it to temperature. Wash your jars and rings in warm soapy water and set aside. Put your lids in a small pot of water and heat (but do not boil) in order to soften the sealing compound.

Add peaches and sugar to a large, non-reactive pot. Stir so that the peaches begin to release their juice and mingle with the sugar. Bring to a boil and add cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest and juice and let jam continue to cook for about fifteen minutes. If the fruit hasn’t broken down much after that time is up, use a potato masher or immersion blender (taking care not to burn yourself with hot jam) to break down the chunks. Add pectin and bring to a rolling boil for a full five minutes.

Turn off the heat under the jam and fill jars. Wipe rims and apply lids. Screw on the bands and lower into the water. Process in the hot water bath 10 minutes. When time is up, remove from water and cool on the counter. When the jars are cooled, check the seal by pressing on the top of the jar. If there’s no movement, the jar has sealed. Store up to one year in a cool, dark place.