Vanity Cakes and Peach Cobbler

We did a bit of baking yesterday. I've been promising the girls for awhile that we would make Vanity Cakes. In the Country Party chapter of On the Banks of Plum Creek, Ma makes Vanity Cakes, which get their name because they are puffed up with air in the middle. The ingredients are simple (just an egg, salt, flour and powdered sugar), but I've been putting off making them because they must be deep fried and I don't fry anything.

Yesterday I finally followed through on my promise. I pulled out my Little House Cookbook. When I was a kid, I used to check this cookbook out of the library. I remember making mashed potatoes from a recipe in the book. As a young adult, I purchased the cookbook just in case I had daughters with whom I would read the Little House books. Now I cook from it with my daughters.

In the picture above, you'll see one of our Vanity Cakes on the cookbook. I must be honest. They were not a hit. Meg said I over-cooked them and I probably did. I'm also just not sure they are the kind of things kids would love today. We are just not used to eating fried food, so they seem heavy.

Next on our cooking agenda was peach cobbler. On Saturday we picked peaches at Great Country Farms in Bluemont, Virginia. We weren't supposed to pick peaches. We went to the orchard because they were having a Butterfly and Blackberry event. We were able to learn about monarch butterflies, but by our late morning arrival, the blackberry fields had already been picked over and closed. Happily my little adventurers decided they preferred to pick peaches anyway. Both Meg and Clare did a fantastic job of picking excellent peaches. I was impressed.



On a side note, we really enjoyed Great Country Farms and will likely return. The play area is extraordinary. There are amazing play structures with goats and chickens close by. There are huge slides and fun cycles to ride. The girls played so hard and had a fantastic time. I've been looking for a new orchard because after our last visit to Homestead Farms in Montgomery County, Maryland, I received TWO tickets via speed cameras. Considering I was going a very reasonable speed on a very major road, I think it is safe to call these speed camera spots speeding traps that target out-of-towners. Okay Montgomery County, you've just lost our business. My family used to venture to Montgomery County rather frequently but we will not be visiting your orchards, parks or restaurants anymore. We'll be spending our money elsewhere.



I'm done venting. With so many unexpected peaches, I decided to make peach cobbler. It was a challenge because (1) Baby Anne screamed through the entire process, and (2) I decided to make it gluten-free and dairy-free so I could enjoy it. I'm still on a strict nursing diet. I used a gluten-free pancake mix and almond milk, which were good. I also used butter-flavored Crisco and I should have used less than I did. Still, the cobbler was enjoyable.



All in all the baking was fun, but I think we'll take a break from baking for awhile.