Magic Peach Cobbler

This very homey and easy dessert has more biscuit than fruit and not much juice. In fact it’s almost more like a mix between biscuit, custard and warm cake. Some of the batter stays “uncooked” and contributes to the pleasing custardy texture. You’ve probably seen recipes like this on the Internet. It’s the one where the biscuit batter starts out on the bottom and then rises to the top. I made 4or 5 versions of it until I found one that worked – in most of them the center didn’t cook, leaving a soupy, doughy interior that wasn’t very pleasant. And if you try to make it with more fruit and more juice, it doesn’t cook well at all. The best recipe was from Paula Deen, but I found hers too sweet and too fatty for my taste (although the Southerners who ate it, loved it). My variation on her recipe is what you’ll find here. It’s still firm and cakey, but it has a little less sugar and butter.

Serves 8

4-6 peaches, to make 4 cups of sliced peaches (see instructions below)
1-1/2 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
Fruitfresh®, or 2 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/2 cups self-rising flour (or use bleached flour + 3/4 teaspoons salt and 2 teaspoons baking powder)
1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven.

To peel the peaches, heat water in a pot to simmering. Have a bowl of ice water next to the stove, and a large bowl to put the sliced peaches in. Add the Fruitfresh or lemon juice into the ice water. Slide a few of the whole peaches into the simmering water and cook for 30 seconds.

Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peaches to the ice water. While you peel these, add the next batch of peaches to the simmering water. They’ll be done by the time you finish peeling the peaches.

It’s easier and safer to cut the peaches into slices while the skin is still attached (witness my bandaged finger!). Afterwards, you’ll easily be able to slide the skin off of the slices. Once the peaches are sliced and skinned, slide them back into the ice water.

Empty out the simmering water, place the drained peaches into the pot along with 1 cup sugar, and the water. Stir, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and microwave, covered for 1 minute.
Mix the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the flour. Make a well in the center, and add the buttermilk, gradually drawing the flour mixture into the buttermilk as you mix it. It will be slightly lumpy. Pour the batter over the melted butter. Do not stir. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the peaches on top of the batter. Pour the syrup over the peaches.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the cobbler is nicely browned and if you poke it a bit, you don’t see any uncooked batter rising up from below.

Let the cobber cool for 45 minutes, and then serve (ice cream is nice!). If making ahead, reheat the cobbler at 300 degrees F. for 15-25 minutes, or until just warm.

This peach cobbler will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat it before eating.

Summer Fruit Pandowdy

It’s peach season in North Carolina, where I live, and nothing is better than a sweet/tart Carolina peach. I’m trying to lose some weight now after packing it on during our engagement party, but I can’t resist the fabulous fruit that’s now in season. When company comes, I like to use that bounty in a pastry of some kind, but most pastry is very caloric and detrimental to a diet. So, I trotted out my book, Light Jewish Holiday Desserts to see what I could make that wouldn’t be disastrous. This pandowdy looks higher in fat than it actually is, because about 1/4 of the dough is “waste”. It’s in the recipe so that you don’t have to sweat getting it to roll and fit the pan, making for a more relaxing baking session. It does have a fair number of calories (about 200) but a good serving size has only 5 grams of fat and is 4 Weight Watchers® points. Eaten with a scoop of Breyer’s™ fat-free ice cream, it’s almost 300 calories and 5 points – not your everyday dessert, but it won’t break your diet either, and it’s worth every single calorie and point!! If you prefer a more finished look than the homey look of a pandowdy, don’t push the dough down into the juices.

Reduced Fat Pecan Pastry
2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (74 grams) sifted cake flour
2/3 cup (86 grams) all-purpose flour, measured by fluffing, scooping and levelling
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup pecans, toasted for 3 minutes until aromatic and cooled
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
2 tablespoons shortening, cold
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons egg or egg substitute, cold

Filling
10 medium peaches, ripe but firm
Fruitfresh™ or 2 lemons
1 medium apple, preferably Rome or a summer apple
1 pint (2 cups) blueberries, washed
1 pound strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
1 large mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3/4 - 1-1/4 cups sugar (to taste)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375° F, with a rack in the middle of the oven. Have ready a 9x13-inch Pyrex baking pan. Fill a medium pot with 3-inches of water and set it on the stove to come to a boil. Next to the stove, set a large bowl of ice water. Add 1 tablespoon of Fruit Fresh™ or lemon juice to the water. This will keep the peaches from turning brown, but won't add that much acidy to the fruit.

For the pastry:
Combine the flours, salt, sugar and the nuts in a food processor, and pulse-process until the nuts are finely ground. Cut the butter and shortening into 1/2-inch chunks and place on top of the flour. Pulse-process until the fats look like lentils or rice, about 10 three-second pulses. (Alternatively, you can cut the fats into the flour with a pastry blender).

Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

In another bowl, mix together the vanilla, vinegar and egg substitute. Pour half into the flour mixture, and mix with a fork until completely moistened.

Add the remaining egg mixture, as needed, pressing the dough with your hands, until it forms a dry, but cohesive ball.

Shape into a flattened ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, place 2 peaches in the simmering water for 30 seconds.

Remove them and put them in the ice water.

Set 2 more peaches in the simmering water and while they are heating, make a slit at the bottom of the peach to release the skin, and then use a paring knife to take the skin off of the peach. Dip the pealed peach into the ice/citrus water and then set it aside. Repeat until all of the peaches have been peeled.

Slice the peaches into 1/2-inch slices and then cut them in half widthwise. Place in the bowl of ice/citrus water and then drain completely and dump the peaches into a large bowl. Peel, core and dice the apple into 1/4-inch chunks. Mix it into the peaches. Add in the blueberries, strawberries and mango. Stir in sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch. Turn the mixture into the Pyrex dish.

Cut open all except one long end of a jumbo ziptop bag.

Set the Pyrex dish on the bag, and mark the size of the pan on the outside of the plastic. Flour the inside of the bag. Place the dough inside, and roll it almost as big as the bag, flipping the dough over, several times during the rolling process, lifting the plastic and generously sprinkling the dough with flour.

Cut the dough to about the same size as the pan (there will be quite a bit of excess), and then cut this into 12 rectangles. Set the dough rectangles on top of the fruit (the whole top will be covered with dough - photo below is just to show fruit).

Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Set a cookie sheet under the oven rack you’ll use for baking. Set the pandowdy in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Push the rectangles down into the juices using a pancake turner (spatula).

Bake for another 20-25 minutes, or until the crust re-surfaces, and is crisp. Cool for 30 to 45 minutes before eating. Can be made a couple of hours ahead of time (before serving, re-heat in a 350 degree oven to warm the fruit and crisp up the topping).