Sunday Dessert: Blackberry Peach Cobbler

I have mixed feelings about Sundays. I’m not scheduled to work weekends, and sometimes that pans out, but much too often, I end up working, for a variety of reasons that never fail to make me grumpy. If I do have the full day off, however, I love to spend it making delicious food. If time and energy allow, that includes dessert as often as possible.

Extra time doesn’t have to mean extra complication, though. This blackberry peach cobbler is relatively simple, somewhat rustic even. The topping involves easy quick-bread techniques and no complicated pastry procedures. I don’t even bother peeling the peaches. (You could if you are fussy.) The fat blackberries and sweet peaches melded together in a dark, jewel-toned, extra-juicy filling that soaked just enough into the slightly tangy buttermilk biscuit topping. Altogether it’s sweet enough to be unmistakably dessert, but the natural tartness of fresh fruit kept it flavorful and satisfying.

Just about any bake-able fruit would be at home under this soft biscuit lid, so I strongly encourage you to use the cobbler vehicle to feature what you like. Peaches and blackberries have strong tradition behind them, and would be just great individually, but other berries, other stone fruits, and rhubarb, alone or in combinations, would also be delicious.

I adapted Grandmama’s Buttermilk Biscuits to make the drop biscuit topping for my cobbler. It’s half a recipe with enough extra buttermilk to make it spoon-able rather than cut-able, and that’s it. I didn’t add any sugar to the topping, and it wasn’t needed. You could brush the top with egg wash or cream and sprinkle it with coarse sugar, though, and that might be pretty fabulous. There’s enough biscuit topping in this recipe to completely cover the fruit when it bakes, so if you like your cobbler more, well, cobbled, you may not want to use all of the dough. (Drop any extra on a baking pan, bake it off, and just eat it!)

  

I can’t remember that I ever made a fruit cobbler before I put this one together. I usually make fruit crisps instead. Unless I have the streusel for a crisp already in the freezer, however, I don’t see any reason why not to switch up to cobbler when sweet seasonal fruit is looking for an appropriate home. 

If there’s something sweet and comforting to help savor a waning Sunday, maybe Monday morning won’t hit so hard. Especially if there’s some leftover dessert to eat for breakfast. I won’t tell if you don’t.

Blackberry Peach Cobbler

Based on recipes in The Joy of Cooking

All 2-quart baking dishes aren’t the same! Make sure you use one that’s wide enough to spread lots of biscuit dough over the top, but deep enough to hold all of your cobbler without bubbling over.

Filling

4 cups blackberries

2 cups chopped peaches

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Biscuit topping

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon fine salt

2 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ cup cold butter (1/2 stick)

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Prepare a 2-quart baking dish by spraying it with cooking spray or greasing it with butter or oil.

2. In a large bowl, combine the blackberries and peaches. Add the sugar and cornstarch and toss together to combine well. Pour the filling into the prepared baking dish.

3. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk or sift together to combine well. Cut the butter into small pieces. Add the butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or with a fork or your hands until the butter is in small, well-coated pieces. Stir in the buttermilk until the flour mixture is just moistened.

4. Drop the biscuit batter onto the fruit mixture in large spoonfuls. I you want a more cobbled appearance to your baked dessert, you can hold back some of the biscuit mixture. As written here, it will cover the dish as it bakes.

5. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan if desired. This will help insure against drips on the bottom of the oven. Bake at 375 F for 45-50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and baked through, and the fruit mixture is bubbling and thickened. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Other recipe like this one: Fruit Crisp on Demand, Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Graham Cracker Topping, Cherry Plum Crisp, Grandmama’s Buttermilk Biscuits

One year ago: 5 Fabulous Potato Salads

Peach Pecan Muffins

 

Well, I’ve been away a while again. This time I had technical difficulties, a figurative computer kaboom that set me back a few days. Everything seems to be functional now, so here we go…

I made some muffins. I end up making muffins a lot when I want to make something new and exciting, and don’t have as much time as I thought I would. These were especially delicious, but not for the reason I thought they would be.

You see, a good peach is hard to find. Those of you who live in places where they are grown and can be had at their peak better darn well appreciate how good you have it. I do not live in such a place, and even when peaches are in season, it’s hard to get good ones here. They may look beautiful in the produce department or in a bowl on the table, but cutting into them and tasting them reveals the sad, sad truth. They are dull, bland, boring, uninspiring, often mushy in texture and decidedly un-peachy overall.

And so, while I imagined that the fragrance of ripe peaches would dominate these fruity muffins, it was really the brown sugar streusel topping that stole the show. (That being said, the peaches were still good here, and this recipe is a good place to use up mediocre peaches!) The topping is sweet and flavorful, slightly caramely from the brown sugar, rich from the butter, and gently spiced by the ginger. It’s crunchy when the muffins are fresh, but still wonderfully delicious if it softens upon sitting for a while.

The pecans were also terrifically delicious in these muffins (much as they were in these muffins), and when peaches are out of their alleged season, I’ll probably make these with pecans alone. Of course dates, figs, raisins, or craisins might be good substitutes for the peaches and good companions for the pecans, too. Since I like a bit of ginger with peaches, I used it here, but other warm spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom or even allspice or Pumpkin Pie Spice would be good if different fruits or just nuts are used.

 

The original source (Moosewood Restaurant New Classics) of this recipe treats it as a variation on a base recipe, one of many possible improvisations, and I love that kind of thing. You can bet I’m going to go back to this one for delicious and satisfying combinations all year round.

Peach Pecan Muffins with Brown Sugar Topping

Based on a recipe in Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

For the topping:

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

For the muffins:

½ cup chopped pecans

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 large egg, beaten

¾ cup light brown sugar

½ cup + 2 tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cup finely chopped peaches

1.  To make the topping, combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl. Work the butter into the dry ingredients with a fork or with your fingers until it is well-distributed and the whole mixture is crumbly and will hold together if squeezed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (This can be done up to a few days ahead.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by spraying each cup with cooking spray or smearing them with butter or oil.

3. In a small skillet, warm the pecans over medium-low heat. Stir or toss frequently and continue heating until a few spots on the pecans are toasted brown and the pecans are fragrant. Set aside to cool.

4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Set aside to cool.

5. In a medium-size bowl, combine the 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon ground ginger. Set aside.

6. In another medium-size bowl, beat the melted butter into the egg with a whisk. Whisk in the ¾ cup brown sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Stir gently until most of the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the peaches and pecans.

7. Scoop the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle the topping mixture evenly over each cup of batter, squeezing it to form clumps. Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool about 15 minutes in the muffin tin. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack or enjoy warm. Leftovers can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days, or frozen.

Makes 12 muffins.

Other recipes like this one: Apple Cinnamon Muffins, Poppy Seed and Plum Muffins with Almond

One year ago: some Summer Recipe Love

Just Peachy

I’ve been thinking about shortcakes since way back when strawberries were in season. While I never got around to making any, I had hoped to try a recipe for shortcakes studded with crystallized ginger (dried and sugar-coated ginger root). Then, more recently, I saw good fresh peaches from all over the country in the store where I get most of the produce that doesn’t come from the CSA*. I knew that they grew peaches in the Southeast, especially in Georgia (no one can visit Georgia without being reminded of this) and South Carolina, but the California, Colorado, Idaho, and even Michigan peaches were a bit of a surprise.

Not wanting to stand staring like a confused cook for too long, I quickly opted for the Michigan peaches. They were smaller, but had nice color and feel, smelled good (like peaches!), had a better price, and came from less far away. It turned out that they tasted good, too!


I’m not sure where I got the idea that peaches and ginger are a good match. It could be that I’ve read it and heard it so much in cookbooks, magazines and on television shows that it has just become something I now file under “Knowledge, Common” in my mind. Or perhaps it was the ginger-peach scented candle I had once upon a time from Pier 1 Imports. If my dessert tasted as good as that candle smelled, I’d be in business!

This recipe could probably do with some more testing, but, hey, this is a blog. I’m going to post it anyway. The shortcake batter was a bit wetter than I would like, so, next time I make this, I think I’ll start with ½ cup of half and half and add more as needed. I also made the shortcake biscuits too thin (I cut the dough into 8 portions; I recommend making 6 instead). They were still really good, but I would have liked them to be easier to split in half.

This dessert uses ginger root in three different forms: ground (ie, from a jar), fresh, and crystallized. The biscuits get a double dose with the ground ginger mixed in with the flour, and sweet, spicy bits of crystallized ginger waiting like pockets of buried treasure in the dough. I cooked minced fresh ginger with the peaches, so they were lightly infused with its unique but somewhat citrusy flavor.

I think the biscuits would be good on their own as a snack or as part of a complete breakfast (they freeze well), especially if gilded with a swipe of butter, perhaps flavored with lemon zest or more ginger. Taking the time to egg wash the tops and sprinkle them with coarse sugar (turbinado) gives them a sweet, crunchy crust. The peaches could be served on their own as well. They end up with a light syrup that soaks into the biscuits, but would probably also be nice over ice cream or yogurt and granola.

Triple Ginger Peach Shortcakes
Whole wheat pastry flour increases the WFQ** of this dessert (and uses up some of the five-pound bag I bought). You can replace it with more all-purpose flour if it is more convenient

For the Shortcake Biscuits

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
½ to ¾ cup half and half
1 egg, beaten with a little half and half or water
Turbinado sugar (such as Sugar in the Raw brand)

1.Preheat the oven to 400 F. In a large bowl stir the flours, baking powder, and ground ginger together with a whisk until well combined. Stir in the crystallized ginger.

2. Add the butter and cut it into the mixture with a pastry blender, knife or your hands until it looks crumbly.

3. Add the half and half and stir until just moistened with no remaining dry flour. You may wish to start with ½ cup and add up to ¼ cup more if needed.

4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Work it gently into a ball, then pat it out into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Cut dough into 6 equal squares. (You could also cut the dough into circles with a biscuit cutter if desired).

5. Place the biscuits onto a greased or lined pan (I use a silicone baking mat). Brush the biscuits with the egg wash and sprinkle each with turbinado sugar. Bake at 400 F for 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

For the Peaches

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
6 ripe but firm peaches, sliced

1. Place the ginger, butter and sugar in a large skillet over medium low heat. Cook and stir until the butter and sugar have melted together. Cook 2-3 minutes more.

2. Add the peaches and cook 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To Serve

Slice the shortcake biscuits in half horizontally with a serrated knife. Spoon peach mixture onto the bottom half of each shortcake and top with the top half. Top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired (you know you want to!)

Makes 6 servings.

* CSA = Community Supported Agriculture. The one to which we subscribe is here.

**WFQ = Whole Food Quotient