Hey everyone! I’m relatively new to cooking with peaches, so I don’t have a lot to add for today’s post. So, instead, I let my partner just do his thing. Don’t worry, no matter what nonsense he writes, I can verify that the recipe is great. Check it out!
They say that you only get one perfect peach each summer.
Peaches are good, right? Sometimes you have a peach that’s a little bland, not very flavorful, maybe a little hard. Underripe, or overripe, or just not quite what you want out of a fruit. Maybe the skin is too thick, or the pit is annoying to work around. It’s not the perfect peach.
You might have even thought you had the perfect peach. Delicious. Sweet. Juicy. Just an impeccable combination of peach flavor and crisp summer joy. A friend of mine once wrote about the experience.
That peach? That one perfect peach? That’s not the peach you use in a recipe. That’s the peach you eat, basking in the sun, enjoying the breeze across your skin, smelling the fresh summer air. That peach is the peach you savor.
For a recipe, like this one? You use good peaches. You might even use great peaches. Freestone peaches — that is, peaches where the pit comes right out — are the best, since they’re easiest to cut and prepare. You peel them, you slice them, you toss the pit away.
If you want to easily peel peaches, the easiest way is to immerse them in boiling water for 30 seconds or so, then shock them in a bath of ice water. You don’t cook the peach this way, but you loose then skin enough that you can pull the peel right off.
For this recipe, we didn’t do that, because our peaches were on the old side, soft and over-ripened. That’s fine. You can use sub-prime peaches for this recipe; the other ingredients turn it into something delicious nevertheless. You can also use canned peaches if you like; just drain them first, so your cobbler isn’t too moist.
Will this peach cobbler make you think of summer days, feel the hint of the sun on your skin, or remind you of adventures you had in your childhood? No. But it will go great with ice cream. It may also make you remember the last time you had a delicious peach cobbler.
This peach cobbler becomes a mixture of three elements when baked. The peaches themselves are first. They’re soft, not firm, cooked and sweet. They add moisture, but the juices thicken into a richness that enriches the whole dessert. Second is the cake. A batter that lives a life of its own. It’s not orderly, it’s not confined; it expands at its whims as it cooks. Some bites are more peach-flavored cake, others are more fruit. Third is the spiced sugar. Spices mix with fruit juices and added sugar. In some places it infuses the cake. In others, it caramelizes into a chewy or crunchy burst of spiced flavor.
The perfect bite of the perfect peach cobbler contains all three. It won’t rival the perfect peach, but it will rival the perfect cobbler.
Summer’s Perfect Peach Cobbler
Equipment
- Baking Dish
- Sauce Pan
Ingredients
- 5 Peaches
- ¾ Cup White Sugar
- ½ Tsp Salt Divided in halves.
- 6 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Tsp Baking Powder
- ¾ Cup Milk
- ½ Tbsp Cinnamon
Instructions
- Peel and slice your peaches into wedges.
- Add peaches, half of the salt, and the white sugar to a sauce pan.
- Cook peaches on medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved and the peaches release some juice.
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Cut butter into chunks and spread throughout the baking dish. I use a 9×13.
- Place the baking dish in the oven to warm up and melt the butter. Remove from the oven once the butter is melted. For a richer dessert, allow the butter to brown slightly.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and remaining salt.
- Add in the milk and stir until combined. Don't over-mix here.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish over top of the butter. Smooth it out, but don't worry about mixing the butter in.
- Spoon the peaches over top of the batter. Again, no need to ensure it's all mixed together. You want some marbling to occur.
- Sprinkle cinnamon over top of the cobbler. You can also add in some nutmeg, clove, or allspice if you want a more autumnal spice mixture.
- Bake for 38-40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving. Best when served warm with a scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream.