Posts Tagged ‘Late Summer Recipes’

End of Season Peach Cobbler

Monday, September 10th, 2012

Peach season is winding down in our corner of Massachusetts. I’ll miss it, but apples are on their way!

I have made this cobbler a couple of times in the past few weeks with juicy local peaches. Once I used peaches alone (the photo at the top of this post, courtesy of my friend Lisa Johnson); once, half blueberries and half peaches (the photo at the bottom).

The dessert is simple to make. It’s even simpler if you make the fruit base the night before and throw things together to bake while you’re eating your main course.

If you love ginger with your peaches, substitute a little of it for the cinnamon. Or just add ginger along with the cinnamon. I love ginger but not necessarily in peaches so I left it out.

The Cobbler

Ingredients:

for the fruit base:

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 cups chopped peaches (or half peaches and half blueberries or raspberries)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, diced

for the cobbler crust:

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

for the topping:

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter a 1-1/2 quart casserole dish.

Begin by making the base. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a smallish nonreactive pot. Stir in the fruit and lemon juice.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil, stirring gently, for 1 minute. Remove the fruit from the heat and stir in the cinnamon.

Spread the fruit n the prepared pan. Dot the top with butter.

To make the crust whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter, but don’t overdo the process. You should still have tiny pieces of butter in the mixture.

Whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla. Add them to the dry ingredients, and mix just until moist. Drop the resulting mixture onto the peaches, and spread it around to cover the fruit. Sprinkle brown sugar over all in little clumps.

Bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Serves 8.

Upside Down and a Little Sad

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Peaches are about to go by in our little corner of the world. Hager Brothers in Shelburne, Massachusetts, ran out last week, and Clarkdale in Deerfield has just announced that this will be its last week! 

I’m hoping Apex in Shelburne can hold out a little longer, but the Smiths did seem to have more apples than peaches when I stopped by the other day. I haven’t checked this week at Pine Hill Orchard in Colrain, but last time I was there apples were taking over shelf space from their softer cousins. Sigh….
 
Of course, this should be expected. It IS September. And we DID first see peaches in July, a premature treat. But I’m a bit downcast nonetheless. I could keep eating them all year. And of course cooking with them.
 
Today I’m making a batch of peach jam so we’ll have a taste of peaches in months to come. 

Meanwhile, here’s a very peachy recipe. I took this upside-down cake to a party a few days ago, and it was a huge hit. Make the recipe if you can still find peaches. Or tuck it away until next year. 

Mother Jan arranges the peaches.

 
 
Just Peachy Upside-Down Cake
 
Ingredients:
 
for the topping:
 
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) sweet butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
the juice of 1/2 lemon
2 cups peach slices
 
for the cake:
 
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1-3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
 
Instructions:
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
 
First make the topping (which goes on the bottom!).
 
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until the combination melts and bubbles—3 to 4 minutes.
 
Transfer the brown-sugar mixture into a 9-inch-square cake pan. Spread it through the bottom of the pan. Arrange the peach slices on top as artistically as you can. (My mother did ours, and like me she’s a better cook than an artist.)
 
For the cake cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the baking powder and salt. Stir in the flour alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the vanilla, and pour the batter over the rhubarb mixture.
 
Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted into the center (but not too far down; don’t hit the peaches!) comes out clean, about 40 minutes. If the cake is brown but not done before this happens, decrease the oven temperature and continue baking.
 
Allow the cake to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife, and invert the cake onto a serving plate held over the skillet. Turn upside-down. Remove pan.
 
Serve alone or with whipped cream. Serves 9. 

As with my recent rhubarb cake I should think you could absolutely bake this pan in a 10-inch iron skillet (heating the butter, brown sugar, and lemon juice in it first, and then piling on the other ingredients). I couldn’t find my skillet, however—I think it must be in storage in another state!–so I used a square pan and can only report on those results.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider taking out an email subscription to my blog. Just click on the link below!

Subscribe to In Our Grandmothers’ Kitchens by Email.