BELLOWS FALLS — Our local peaches are beautiful and abundant, and it's time for a special dessert: peach cobbler.
It's best to use a mix of sweet ripe fruit and a few that are still just a tad hard. The fruit that is slightly underripe has more pectin, which will help in the setting of the juices. You can also add a few raspberries - only a few - if you have them on hand to add another element of flavor and color.
I use all-purpose flour in this recipe, but you can also use the same amount of corn starch. This looks like a lot of ingredients, but it goes together really quickly in one bowl, then one pan, and with messy fingers.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a buttered 8{1/2} in. x 13 in. baking dish, mix:
¶9 cups or so of peeled and sliced local yellow peaches
¶{3/4} cup sugar
¶{1/4} cup flour
¶{1/2} tsp. cinnamon
¶{1/2} tsp. ginger
¶A few grates of nutmeg
¶2 tsp. vanilla
¶1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
Choose ripe peaches at their peak of sweetness. Taste them! You will want the best fruit you can find.
Peel the peaches, then cut them into slices. Place them in the baking dish and add sugar, flour, spices, vanilla, and lemon zest. Toss until evenly coated and give a hefty squeeze of lemon juice over everything.
Bake the mixture for 10 minutes or so to precook the peaches. This step starts the thickening action of the flour and the pectin on the sauce. Remove from oven and if you are adding raspberries, toss them in now. Dot with a couple of tablespoons of butter.
The topping is a simple, loose-dropped biscuit dough that will be clumped on top of the precooked fruit. You can put it together easily while the fruit cooks.
In a large bowl, whisk:
¶2 cups flour
¶1 Tbsp. double acting baking powder, non-aluminum
¶{1/4} cup light brown sugar
¶{1/2} tsp. cinnamon
¶A pinch of salt
Once blended, add:
¶1 stick cold butter, cut into small cubes
Blend with a pastry blender or your fingers (my preference). You will want this dough to still have lumpy texture, about the size of peas.
A little at a time, add:
¶1 cup half and half, or milk
Gently toss with a wooden spoon, or lightly with your fingers, just until combined. You might not need all the liquid depending on the humidity and the flour you use. The topping should be looser than a traditional biscuit dough, but not too wet.
Drop by dollops onto the top of the peaches, which should poke out in spots. If you have it on hand, sprinkle with
¶Turbinado sugar
Place the baking dish on a baking sheet (spillover insurance - trust me, you will need it) and place on the middle rack of the oven. Turn the heat down immediately to 375, and bake for about 40 minutes. You want the cobbler to be beautifully browned, and the fruit cooked and bubbling through the crust.
Let set for at least 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche, which adds a little tang.