Growing up, I was exposed to very little “German” food, with sauerkraut probably the only that fit that description. So when I married into a family that had maintained their German traditions and recipes, I began to learn about things like “tortes” and “kuchens”–and even bratwurst which at that time were not widely known or available.

Whenever there was a family gathering (and there were many), all the good cooks would bring their rich desserts to share. While many were more Midwestern America cakes and pies, there were also, especially in summer, a wide variety of kuchens for us to share.

And oh, those kuchens! From rhubarb in early spring on through all the berries of summer and then apples as colder weather approached, there were always kuchens. They didn’t require rolling out pastry for pies even though they generally had crusts that were very similar. They were usually made in 9 X 13 pans, so each one served many more than a pie. And the fruits were bright and beautiful in any dessert array.

I had not really thought of kuchens for many years, but this year’s bounty of peaches and the need to take a dessert to a weekend potluck inspired me to pull out my old recipe card file. There I found a handful of recipes that I could use as a base for the peach kuchen that became my potluck contribution.