Perfect fresh peach cobbler

After the fiasco(s) with the clafoutis desserts, I knew exactly what I wasn't making for dessert with the remainder of the peaches coming off our tree.

I considered a peach pie, but then I hearkened back to a raspberry cobbler I used to make with a sugar cookie topping. It's a great topping for fruits with a hint of bitterness, like apricots or peaches (or red raspberries). I got the recipe back then from the fabulous The New Best Recipe. But that book is in storage in Greece right now so I had to make my own recipe. And it turned out nicely, if I say so myself.

If you're wondering why some of my peaches are dark purple, it's because an unusual peach variety grows next door. From the outside it's awful, but when you cut into it, it's the color of a black cherry. The more peachy colored fruits you see are from the peaches on our backyard tree. This is going to be a massive hit for dessert tonight, and one I'll certainly do again. Maybe soon.

Fresh Peach Cobbler with sugar cookie topping

For filling:

1-1.5 pounds peaches
1/2 cup sugar
1 TB flour

For topping:

1 1/4 C All purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TB milk


First, bring a pot of water to a boil and gently put the peaches in. Wait 30 seconds and remove to a bowl. Peel and slice the peaches into a bowl. Add 1/2 cup sugar and gently toss to coat. Let sit for at least 30 minutes while you make the topping.

For the topping, in a bowl, mix the dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt). Put all the other topping ingredients into the bowl of a mini food processor and blend until well blended. Alternately, cream the butter, add the sugar and mix until fluffy, then add the yolk, vanilla and milk and mix well.

Add the flour to the butter mixture (or vice-versa, it's not like they have to be perfect for this purpose) and mix until well incorporated. I used a wooden spoon and it was fine.

Turn on the oven to 350 F. While oven is preheating, remove the peach slices to a colander over a pot, draining all the juice they've given off into the pot. When they're mostly drained, remove the colander from the pot. Heat the pot of juice over high heat. Let it boil until the liquid becomes thick and is reduced. This step reduces the chance of there being too much juice and reduces the need for too much flour in the filling.

When the syrup has reduced, remove from the heat. Add the sliced peaches back in and sprinkle with the tablespoon of flour, then stir gently to mix.

Place filling in an 8x8 ceramic dish, using a rubber spatula to get all that juicy goodness out of the pan. Now, drop the cookie dough by tablespoonful over the top until it is evenly distributed. No need to smash it down or smooth it - it' will be perfect.

Place it in the oven until the juices are bubbling clear and the top is golden brown.

Because peaches vary quite a lot in sweetness, I recommend serving this with either unsweetened or sweetened whipped cream. I found it just a bit too sweet without any cream, but with the unsweetened cream, it was absolutely perfect as a sweet and well balanced dessert. Top the cream with nutmeg.

Windfall plum cobbler recipe

There's a decorative plum in the public square near our house which produces tiny, tedious, black plums. They're maximum 1 inch diameter. What's the best dessert to make with fresh plums? Plum cobbler, maybe. The plebian dessert eater in the house voiced his hearty appreciation, so it's not just me who thinks this is one of the best plum desserts ever.

In the fall, I spent many hours toting many pounds of black walnuts from a disused tree oddly located a mile away. Black walnuts are native to North America, so to find such a treasure trove here in backwoods France delighted me. This morning, I spent a good hour shelling 1 single cup of black walnuts. They make you prove your love, those rock hard shells which hold one of the most overlooked dessert ingredients and flavorful nuts available to man. If you've not eaten a black walnut, or only ever had it in ice cream (admittedly delicious), I can't recommend highly enough that you revisit that wonderful nut. And you don't have to spend a morning shelling them. They have machines for that. You can get them for around $1 per ounce, which is well explained if you know what sort of work goes into getting black walnuts from tree to table. Source below.

I've literally just eaten this cobbler, and all I can say is, WOW! The flavor pairing of black walnuts and plums was absolute genius (if I say so myself). Since black walnuts are so underused, this dessert will stump a lot of people. They'll say, 'it's wonderful, but what is the flavor?' So, without further ado:

Recipe for Fresh plum cobbler with black walnut topping. Naturally, you could use regular walnuts if you (gasp!) don't like (?) black walnuts. But you'd miss out on the very special flavor pairing. Black walnut sources: Black Walnuts, 8 oz.$7.90 Or Black Walnut Flavouring$2.25. Useful for making cakes or sauces.

Serves 4:
Topping:
1/2 cup black walnut pieces
2 ounces (1/2 stick) butter, cold
1/2 cup sugar, minus one tablespoon
1/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch salt

Filling:
2 cups plums, pitted and halved/quartered (they cook down well, so it's not a big deal) This will be around a pound, but it's pretty forgiving.
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon flour

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 F

In a mini food processor, pulse nuts and sugar together until there are no remaining big pieces of nuts. (Smell it - that's the beautiful black walnut fragrance!). Add the flour, cut the cold butter into 1/2 inch pieces and put in with the rest. Pulse until the butter is mostly broken up, but don't over mix. Set aside.

In a bowl, put all filling ingredients and mix well. Spoon into 4 ramekins or one small gratin pan or similar. This amount won't be enough for even an 8x8 dish. Place the topping on each - don't pat it down, it will take care of that. *Important* Use a baking sheet under the ramekins or pan. The boiling over properties of juicy plums are incredible. Bake until the filling is bubbling well and the topping is golden brown, around 20-30 minutes.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. I prefer the second, because I don't love things that are too sweet.