My boyfriend is in looove with Georgia peaches and I honestly didn't know why until his sister brought home a few the other day. Let me compare for you: the peaches we get in Michigan have a stringy texture with a watery flavor tinged with sweetness, but more of a fake sweetness. And so, we've created the idea of what a peach tastes like through the variety of artificial peach flavors we sample in things like ice cream and those weird gummy peach ring things.
A Georgia peach, however, is unlike any of this. It's texture was the first thing I noticed because it was almost creamy. It was less juicy than I imagined it would be - the flavor was just so concentrated. It was also heavy - hence the dense flavor as well. I'd urge you to compare one to what you normally consume and taste the difference. I myself still haven't decided which is "better" - just that there is definitely a difference between varieties. But Georgia peaches are a dream to cook with - see the following recipe.
Happily, I have been able to turn Weston on the idea of pie - but with these special peaches, I wanted to make something a little more special, so I made a cobbler-esque dish. I really like this recipe - I've been using it for the past 6 or 7 years and I have no idea where I found it - somewhere on the Internet for sure. But I've tweaked it so many times, it would be impossible to find it again at this point. So, thank you random website for your recipe base.
For the peach (or any stone-fruit) filling:
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
6 to 7 Georgia peaches
2 Tbs lemon juice
Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan . Then add the peaches and lemon juice and cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Turn off the heat and let stand covered.
For the cake:
3 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup cold butter, chopped
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
Mix the flour, sugar, and powders and cut in the butter until it looks like this:
Then combine the rest of the ingredients and pour them into the flour mixture, mixing only to combine.
Layer 1/2 of the batter in a greased 9 x 13 inch pan.
Cover with the fruit mixture.
Dollop over the reserved batter.
Dollop over the reserved batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 or 50 minutes, until the top is a golden brown
Tips from the Chef
You can use any fruit with this recipe and that's what makes it one of my fav's - sometimes I'll even just make the fruit part and put it in a pie crust because I love gooey pie fillings. Seriously, try it :)
I really like this recipe because of it's idea to layer the fruit over the cake and then dollop over bits of reserved dough. Seeing that fruit peek through makes for a very pleasing, homey-chic look. I like this without any sides like whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, but that's up to you and what your preferences are.
Enjoy!
That looks SOOO good Sheila! That cobbler honestly made my mouth water. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteLayla!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you liked it :)