blueberry-peach cobbler

I love to make things that taste like something intangible.
This blueberry-peach cobbler is one of those things for me: it just tastes like summer. Everything about it. I know summer is drawing to a close, but peaches are still ripening back home in Washington and… well. Posting a summertime recipe from home is *just* the cure for early-semester blues. So whether it’s a chilly fall day or the last of an Indian summer where you are… break out the peaches, because you’re in for a real treat!

BLUEBERRY- PEACH COBBLER
(full recipe – minus pictures – below)
adapted from the Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food cookbook

For starters, you’re going to need stuff like measuring spoons. Okay, okay finnnne… I did only include this picture because I liked it. It really has nothing to do with the recipe. On with the show!

Preheat your oven to 375.

Peel, pit, and slice 9 cups of peaches – make sure they’re at their ripest, for full flavor. They need to be chunky but not huge.
(9 cups of peaches  = about 11 peaches, before pitting and skinning) – this is one of those recipes that can be tweaked a litttttle… if you don’t have the full 9 cups, don’t sweat it. Just throw in a few more blueberries.

Throw in 2 cups of blueberries. (you can use frozen blueberries… but thaw them out in warm water first)

Toss gently with 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar and 2 tablespoons cornstarch.

Spread into a greased 9×13 glass baking dish, and slide into the oven for 15 minutes.

While the fruit bakes, sift together:

2 cups unbleached flour 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 cup sugar

In a measuring cup, mix 1/2 cup heavy cream 

with 1/4 cup milk.

In a separate bowl, whisk 1 egg with the cream mixture.

Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and beat until fluffy. Not until dead. Just fluffy.

Cut 6 tablespoons of cold butter into the flour mixture.

Now, I have a strange way of “cutting” butter into flour. Watch and learn.

I chop the butter into smallish pieces, then dump them all into the bowl. With my hands, I mix and squish and mix and… stuff… and eventually the butter is integrated into the flour. This is NOT foolproof, nor is it the recommended way of cutting butter! But it’s the way I do it…. soooooo… it works. Most times.

It’ll be crumbly and yummy and ready to mix in the liquid.

Mix carefully until just moistened – don’t you dare overbeat it. It’ll be elastic and chewey. Ick.

At this point, pull the fruit out of the oven – you’ll know it’s done when it’s bubbly and slightly squishy.

Carefully, drop the batter by spoonfuls onto the fruit, making sure not to mix it at all. Just drop it and leave it. Sprinkle the top gently with 1/3 cup white sugar.

Slide it back into the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes. I’ll tell you how to test if it’s done in a minute.

In the meantime, clean up your mess… I probably didn’t need to put that in there, but… yeah. Your Mom will appreciate it.

Let your cobbler bake until the topping is a nice, golden brown.

To check to see if it is finished, insert a toothpick into the biscuit topping. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If the toothpick has residue on it, but the topping is golden, place foil on top and bake for additional five-minute increments – that way the top won’t burn.

MAKE SURE you serve it warm… and with vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate leftovers… if there are any!

And enjoy one last taste of summer!!
xoxo,
Hannah

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BLUEBERRY-PEACH COBBLER

adapted from “Peach Cobbler” in the Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food cookbook by Hannah (farmgirlinflipflops.com)

Peal, pit, and slice 9 cups of fresh peaches (if you need to use home-canned peaches, go ahead: just reduce the brown sugar to 2 tablespoons, to make up for the sugar syrup they’re packed in). Add 2 cups blueberries (thaw first if frozen).

Toss with 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar. Bake fruit mixture in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan at 375 for 15 minutes.

In the meantime, sift together 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk: 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 egg. Beat until fluffy/foamy. Set aside.

Cut 6 tablespoons butter into the flour mixture until crumbly. Add the cream mixture and mix until *just* moistened. (careful here – it needs to stay fluffy and light, so don’t over mix!)

Once the fruit is heated through and bubbling, retrieve it from the oven and put the biscuit topping on the cobbler in spoonfuls. Slide back into the oven (still at 375) and bake 25-35 minutes – or until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbling. (toothpick inserted into center will come out clean)

Serve warm with a huuuuuge scoop of vanilla ice cream. 😉