Fast and easy to make, this not-too-sweet tart is sure to become a family favourite. You can substitute almost any soft fruit for the peaches if you prefer – stone fruits and berries work particularly well.
And yes, it is made using a packet cake mix! I usually get the cheapest 79-cent home brand one.
Ingredients
- 1 x 340g packet vanilla or butter cake mix
- 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
- 120gm butter
- 250ml carton sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp caster sugar
- Tinned peaches (or other soft fruit)
- Cinnamon to dust
Method
Combine the cake mix, coconut and butter in a food processor and mix until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can rub the butter in by hand if you prefer.
Press into a lined slice tin or a flan tin with a removable base if you have one. Cover the base and the sides of the tin.
Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes. The mix will puff up a bit – don’t worry about that, just press it back down with the back of a spoon or a spatula. You can also blind bake it if you have baking paper and beans or rice, I’ve tried both ways and it doesn’t seem to make too much difference.
After the base has turned pale gold, remove from the oven and let cool slightly. It’s important that the base has started to turn golden otherwise the filling will seep though too much.
Open your carton of sour cream and crack the egg right into it. You can use a bowl if you’re a big fan of washing up, but you can mix it just fine in the carton if you’re lazy like me.
Whisk the egg and the sour cream together and add in the caster sugar. Let sit for a couple of minutes while you arrange the peaches on the base.
Depending on how deep your tin is you may want to cut the peach slices in half again to make them thinner. Arrange them as prettily as you want or just lob them in over the cooled base.
Pour the wet mix over the top of the peaches, sprinkle liberally with cinnamon and pop the kuchen back in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the filling is set and slightly golden on top.
If you’re using a tin with a removable base, you may want to sit it on a baking sheet to stop any liquid dripping onto the bottom of your oven (I speak from experience here – is there anything more disappointing than having to spend an hour cleaning the bottom of the oven after you’ve finished baking??).
Let cool in the tin, then slice as desired. Can be served with ice cream or cream or all by itself.
Kuchen stores well in the fridge and is great for lunchboxes. You can also freeze individual serves pretty successfully and it’s actually kind of nice frozen as well – like a custardy ice cream slice.