Southern Peach Cobbler Recipe
PEACHES - THE JUICY TASTE OF SUMMER
by Tanya Wardell, Fort Worth
Summer is in full swing here in the South. Translation: temperatures holding steady at just above scorching, air thick with the cacophony of cicadas screeching and air conditioners whirring, waves of heat rolling off of empty concrete sidewalks, riverbeds sucked dry and cracking under the sun’s unforgiving broil. Yes, summer is here. But even with the heat, the bugs, the fierce sunshine, nothing defines this sweltering season quite like the arrival of my favorite summer treat: the peach.
A delightfully juicy, tender fruit perfectly balanced on the ledge between sweet and tart, the peach symbolizes the epitome of summer refreshment. Peaches somehow always manage to stay cool and crisp even in the harsh sun, and when you take that first succulent bite, juice dripping down your chin and the soft flesh practically melting on your tongue, it’s easy to forget that the temperature is 105 degrees and rising. To me there is hardly another fruit that can match the splendor of a fresh peach on a hot day, hardly another treat so tantalizing and reminiscent of everything that is summer.
There are a multitude of ways you can eat peaches. You can eat them raw, grilled with pork chops or chicken, blended into a nutritious breakfast smoothie, sliced into a big pitcher of tea or lemonade, stirred together with jalepeño peppers and tomatoes into a spicy salsa, or baked in what I call the mother of all Southern peach recipes…the classic, unbeatably decadent, heavenly rich peach cobbler. The recipe I’ve included here is a tried and true formula from one of my Mom’s old cookbooks, and I hope that before peach season ends in September you have the opportunity to visit your local farmer’s market, pick up a whole mess a’ fresh peaches, bake up this dish, and relish, with every bite, the pure joy of summer.
PEACH COBBLER
Prep: 45-50 min Bake: 20 min
Oven: 400°
Serves: 6
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cane sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
4-6 cups sliced peaches
1/3-2/3 cup cane sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1.
For topping, in a medium bowl stir together flour, 2 tablespoons sugar,
baking powder, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles
coarse crumbs. Set aside.
2.
For filling, in a saucepan combine 1/3 to 2/3 cup cane sugar, 1
tablespoon corn starch. Add 1/4 cup water, and stir in 4-6 cups sliced
peaches. Cook and stir until mixture is thick and bubbly. Keep mixture
hot.
3.
In a small bowl stir together egg and milk. Add to flour topping
mixture, stirring until just moist. Transfer filling to a 2-quart baking
dish. Using a spoon, immediately drop topping into small mounds atop
filling.
4.
Bake cobbler at 400° for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted
in topping comes out clean. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.