What better way to celebrate the 4th than with some delicious peach cobbler?
I found this deliciously awesome and easy recipe on one of my favorite baking blogs,
Joy the Baker. I modified Joy's
Nectarine and Cream cobbler to include East Texas peaches, handpicked in Pittsburg, Hubby's mother's hometown. Remember our trip
last year? We headed East to Efurd's Orchard (a true local favorite) and hand-selected as many peaches as we could carry.
Today's were peaches from that crop. With careful preservation, the peaches saved perfectly after almost exactly one year, and here they are this afternoon to help us ring in Independence Day in 2010.
The cobbler is simple, yet divine.
The recipe's method is easy, and is based on a kind of layering technique that does lots of work for you (score!) in the oven.
Life as a Wife's adaptation of Joy's Easy Nectarine and Cream Cobbler, adapted from The Pastry Queen's cobbler... it's a mouthful, but a really good mouthful
Ingredients
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 C granulated sugar
1 C all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of cloves
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 C milk (low fat milk will work fine)
3 C sliced peaches (frozen are okay, but fresh is
always best if you have it on hand)
1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a medium saute pan set over medium high heat until it bubbles and turns a nut brown color. Watch the butter closely, as it can go from browned to burnt in just a few seconds. The butter will have all sorts of browned bits in it. Joy says that’s good!
Pour the butter into an 8" or 9" square or rectangle baking dish - I used my 9x13 baker and multiplied all ingredients by 1.25 to make up for the slightly larger dish.
In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder and spices. Add milk and stir.
Pour the mixture on top of the melted butter and
don't stir. I used a ladle so I wouldn't be tempted to redistribute the batter. NOTE: Please ignore the obscene amount of butter I used.... that was perhaps the only ingredient that didn't need to be increased for my pan :) However, I'm not saying it didn't taste delicious... just maybe don't tell your guests.
Without mixing, arrange the fruit evenly over the top of the batter.
Sprinkle with brown sugar.
Bake the cobbler for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. The batter will migrate from the bottom of the pan to cover the fruit. Serve warm with slightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
