sweet miscellany

Juicy summer peaches are simmered in a spiced maple syrup before being added to a gluten free and vegan pancake batter. Drizzle the remaining spiced maple syrup over this stack of pancakes for a decadent summer breakfast!

When I was still working at the farmers market I found such an immense and satisfying joy out of the various fruits that would finally come into season. I would keep in contact with the farmers, asking for updates almost as if I was awaiting the arrival of a very good friend. When the day would finally come, my eyes would go wide and I would power walk as fast as possible to scoop some up before the customers would arrive and eventually clean them out. If I had enough time between setting things up, I would greedily gobble down the fruit, juices running down my face. What a perfect, messy, bliss.

One of my favorites to follow along in their ripening journey were peaches. The farm that grew them had been doing so for about as long as I had been alive. They grew several different varieties with fanciful names like Fireprince and Dixiland. Each variety had a specific ripening window so that they could provide peaches from late April/early May all the way through August. My favorites to work with were the late summer smaller freestone varieties because the had a more intense peachy flavor and were perfectly juicy.

I haven’t been able to find peaches local to Houston that I like as much as those McPeak peaches from Pittsburg, Texas. I’ve been missing them dearly and contemplating whether or not the 3.5 hour drive up there to acquire some would be worth it. As luck would have it, a couple of weeks ago I was picking up some avocados at whole foods and spied a very familiar looking peach and a very familiar name on the tag. It was my beloved McPeak peaches, all the way from East Texas! I bought several, carrying them around like delicate babies. The first one I bit into was just as good as I remembered. I stretched them out as long as I could, simply eating them raw and unadulterated. The last two I saved for these beautiful pancakes, cooking them in a spiced maple syrup. As I slowly ate these, I relished in the fact that something as simple as a peach could bring so much joy.

These pancakes are perfect for lazy mornings. They take a little more labor than a typical pancake, but believe me they are well worth the effort. If you don’t have peaches, you can sub in any sliced stone fruit that is in season where you are. Or, use apples or pears and cook them just a bit longer in the syrup.

Spiced Maple Peach Pancake Stack

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Author: Courtney West
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 pancakes 1x
Diet: Vegan

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Description

Ingredients

Units Scale

for the spiced maple peaches:

1 tbsp coconut oil
4 tbsp pure maple syrup
1 large peach, sliced
2 cinnamon sticks
1 star anise
7–8 green cardamom pods
5–6 allspice berries

for the pancakes:

70g oat flour
20g buckwheat flour
30g arrowroot flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp psyllium husk (or xanthan gum)
130g nut milk, plus more as needed to thin the batter (I used cashew milk)
30g unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp of the spiced syrup from the peaches
coconut oil for cooking the pancakes

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Instructions

With a mortar and pestle or with the butt of your kitchen knife, gently bruise the cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom, and allspice to encourage them to release their oils. Add the spices, the coconut oil, and the syrup to a pan set over medium heat. Once the mixture just starts to bubble, turn the heat down to low, keeping it at a very low simmer. Add the peaches and cook them in the syrup until they are just tender, about 7 minutes or so. When the peaches are ready, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool for at least 15-20 minutes.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and grease it with coconut oil. While the skillet it heating up, whisk together the dry ingredients. Once they are incorporated, add the remaining wet ingredients and whisk until you get a smooth batter. If it seems to thick, add a bit more nut milk. Pour a quarter of the batter into your heated skillet, then place 3-5 peach slices on top of the batter, gently pressing them in a bit. Cook the pancake for 2-3 minutes on the first side, then flip and cook 2-3 more minutes. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more nut milk if it gets too thick. Serve the pancakes with the spiced maple syrup and any leftover peaches.

Makes a stack of 4 medium pancakes. Store any leftover syrup in an airtight container and gently re-heat to use (coffee, tea, oatmeal, etc.).

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Category: breakfast

A large part of my self care lately has involved doing more of what brings me joy. It can be something as simple as brewing a little teapot full of my favorite chai, taking a few breaths of fresh air after a long and soaking rain, or going for a walk. Today, despite the weather forecast, I waited for a break in the rain to go for a walk. There’s a bayou and storm water treatment wetland area within a a very short walking distance from my house. I knew it would be rather soggy so I put on my rubber boots and trudged along. I didn’t pass another soul, just me and the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. The air was cool and shockingly pleasant thanks to the rain and clouds we’ve had this week. It’s a welcome change to the humid hell that is August in Houston.

As I walked along, splashing my way through mud, water, and eventually tall grasses and weeds, I began to remember how much joy these walks bring. I spent a lot of time outside during my time as an archaeologist and today, I realized just how much I missed it. That familiar scent of wet, sandy soil and decomposing leaf matter. High stepping over logs, fallen trees, and greenbriers. The frequent run-ins with all manner of fauna. Despite the fact that digging holes wasn’t that exciting most of the time, I was able to enjoy nature.

Just as I was caught up in these thoughts, ruminating on joy and nature, I noticed a duck attempting to quickly cross in front of me to get to the pond. And when I looked closer, her fluffy gaggle of ducklings became clear. Mama duck was going about her day, just trying to get the kids to the pond safely. In that moment, I made a promise with myself to go on walks as often as possible.

Aside from walks, the figs I’ve been getting at the farmers market have been bringing me immense joy. I tend to prefer eating them raw because they’re just that damn good but I’ve been itching to use them in some scones. When I was over at Lauren’s a couple of weeks ago photographing and learning about making shrubs, she also made me some rosemary lemon infused sugar to take home. It didn’t take long to figure out how I wanted to use the beautifully scented sugar. As you can see, it made it’s way into these lovely scones.

These scones are a little different from my base recipe that I used to use at the farmers market because I’ve tried to cut down on the number of flours used. These babies only have 2 different flours making them a little more user friendly, especially if you aren’t a fan of fussy baking recipes. The only trade off is that the texture of these is best the day they are made, and even better warm out of the oven. They don’t have much of a shelf life, but once you taste one I wager they won’t stick around your house too long. The texture of the figs turns nice and jammy in the oven, their intense sweetness perfectly complemented by the hearty buckwheat flour and herbaceous rosemary lemon sugar. If you don’t want to wait to make these until you have some rosemary lemon sugar ready to go, you can use coconut sugar in its place.

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