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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Peach Cobbler Redux


I wanted fresh peaches, and instead of doing something normal like going to the farmer's market, the DH and I took a two-hour drive on Saturday to pick some at a peach farm upstate.  My goal wasn't to eat them out of hand, though I did that too, but to try a couple of peach cobbler recipes in my collection.

While this is not the peach cobbler of my dreams, it's pretty good (and looks better in real than in the photo).  It is not the traditional peach cobbler, made with biscuit dough (like the one I made here), but rather has a soft cake-like topping.

The time suck of most peach recipes is peeling the fruit.  This is *supposed* to be easily accomplished by placing the peaches in boiling water for a few minutes and then slipping their jackets off.  This technique only worked for some of them; most were peeled the old-fashioned way, using a paring knife, tedious work indeed.


Mix up the batter and pour half into the pan, in which you've already melted  "one cube" of butter by placing the pan in the preheated oven.


Place the sliced peaches atop the batter. You're supposed to mix the peaches with sugar and lemon juice first, but I was on the phone while baking (not recommended) and consequently misread the recipe.  I simply sprinkled the sugar and lemon juice atop the peaches, and it was fine.  I also used a combination of white and yellow peaches.


Spoon the remaining batter on top.


Bake and voila!


Cool before cutting.


 Some production notes:  I used about one tablespoon of butter and an 8-inch square pan. And even though the recipe reads as if there will be three layers -- cake, fruit and cake -- the batter rises to the top, leaving the fruit on the bottom. Not a bad thing at all, just a bit unexpected.



In addition to picking regular peaches, we also picked donut peaches which were delicious and seem to grow right on the branches.  But I used only regular peaches in the recipes.


7 comments:

  1. Susan, If you are going to eat peaches or bake with peaches, you must get a serrated vegetable peeler. It does a great job peeling peaches, as well as other things. I am partial to cobblers made with pie crust, but this looks good.

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  2. Looks great! I've never seen a cobbler turn out cake-fruit-cake. I would think that the fruit, being heavier and more dense, would always sink to the bottom?

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  3. This is a traditional "southern" style cobbler. But to make it easier, melt butter in pan first, add batter, then top with peaches (or other fruit), don't stir, then sprinkle with a little sugar and bake. Viola - cobbler! The batter will always rise to the top and make the crust, and is more like a soft dumpling in consistency. Most cooks in the south make cobbler using this method, because it is easy and to die for! I lived in Massachusetts a good part of my growing up years, but my parents were born and bred in Florida, so I can and do love to do it both ways. The traditional cobbler I had while up north was more like pie or biscuit dough types. Both are good, I love cobbler anyway I can get it.

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  4. Susan,
    I made this yesterday. . .and it is delicious! I did not have difficulty with removing the skins on my peaches-1 1/2minutes in boiling did it.
    Thank you for all your hard work and the sharing. . .

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  5. Great recipe! Also as one of the other 'posters' noted, if peaches boil for 1-1.5 minutes and then placed immediately into an ice bath, the skins will come off more easily.

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  6. When I went to my farmers market today and saw the beautiful O'Henry peaches. . . All I could think about was this peach cobbler. So just took it out of the oven and it looks beautiful. I used a little amaretto in the peaches instead of vanilla. Can't wait to bite into it.

    KJ

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  7. When I went to the farmer's market this morning and say the O'Henry peaches,(one of my favs)all I could think about was this Cobbler recipe. I just took it out of the oven and it looks beautiful. Did add some amaretto to the peaches. Can't wait to dive in.

    Thanks for another easy yummy recipe!

    KJ

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