Peaches! Get Your Peaches!: Grandpa Al's Freestone Peach Bake

No melons! No strawberries! Freestone peaches!

It's the peach call, y'all. Most of us remember it. 

When Grandpa Al was little, he went to the farmer's market on the weekends to buy a bushel of peaches. He resold them for $.25 a basket. It can be assumed that he'd told the family the story many times before because Rudy and Cliff chimed in to chant his famous sales pitch!

Grandpa Al, Rudy, and Cliff singing the peach chant during "Clair's Sister." (S2E9)

I was at the grocery the other day and I couldn't resist purchasing peaches. Since I began Huxtablogging, I've wanted to do something with this amazing fruit. I made a peach bake; it's not quite a cobbler—I've already made one of those. (Check it out here!) This is easy to make because you can adjust to your skill level. It's also veeeeeeeerrrrrry tasty! (I can't stop munching on it.)

GRANDPA AL'S FREESTONE PEACH BAKE, 6-8 servings

Although the recipe calls for fresh peaches, I'm sure you could use a canned peach filling. If you do, don't worry about the first seven ingredients. 

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

4 cups of sliced, fresh peaches (I used 3 medium, whole peaches.) 

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp cornstarch (or you could use all-purpose flour) 

1 stick unsalted butter cut into about 20 slices

1/2 box of yellow cake mix

Peach Preparation:

1. Peel your peaches. (I munched on the peelings while I baked!)

2. Cut your peaches in half. Be careful of the seed in the middle.

 
3. Clean the gritty middle part. Rinse the fruit to remove any excess material.

4. Slice halves. I came up with 12-14 slices per peach half.

5. In a bowl, mix sliced peaches, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, and cornstarch (or flour). Combine well.

Peach Bake Preparation:

1. Layer prepared peaches in your dish. (I got fancy with mine, but it's not necessary.)

Disclaimer: I was only one-third of the way done layering
my peaches. I had many more to add to my dish! :-)

2. Evenly pour half of the cake mix atop the peach mixture. You may have to use more to fill in spaces and gaps. It should look something like this.

3. Distribute and butter slices on top of the cake mix.

4. Let the dish bake for about an hour in a preheated oven. You'll know it's finished when the edges have browned and the top is golden and crispy!

5. Enjoy warm...possibly with ice cream! 

 If you try Grandpa Al's Freestone Peach Bake, let me know how it turned out!