O Luscious Fruit
I found this recipe in an article about novelist Dori Sanders. The following month a subscriber raved about the Easy Peach Cobbler so I naturally had to try. I followed the recipe exactly with a few little tweaks. (I had never cooked with real live peaches before so the first steps of the recipe-which called for peeling the fuzzy skin off-were a bit daunting).
The scent of peaches and spices filled the whole house while I was making this.
Dig out your 13″ X 9″ baking dish.
Preheat the ovento 375F. Boil water in a large pot and prepare a bowl of ice-water,
Put 1 stick of unsalted butter in dish and melt in the warming-up oven. (Watch closely, don’t let it brown!)
Cut an “X” in bottom of 5 to 6 medium firm-ripe peaches (abt. 1 & 1/4 lb.)
Plunge them in boiling water for 10 seconds. Scoop out with a slotted spoon into a bowl of ice water.
Peel off skin with a sharp knife, beginning from scored bottoms. Halve peaches, then pit and slice into 1/4 inch slices.
Transfer to a heavy saucepan, and add 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice and 2/3 cup of sugar. Boil for 4 minutes, stirring now and then; remove from heat.
Whisk together 1 cup of all purpose flour, 1 cup of sugar, 1 tbsp. baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Whisk in 1 cup of whole milk (not lowfat or skim) just until combined.
Pour batter over the dish with melted butter without stirring.
Sprinkle 1/4 tsp cardamom, a dash of cinnamon and a couple of grates of whole nutmeg over the peaches.
Pour peaches over batter, again without stirring.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Let cool in pan until warm about 25 minutes, before serving.
Tips:
-After the peaches boil for exactly 4 minutes (more than that & you’ll end up with peach mush) a lot of juice cooks out of the fruit; I decided to use only a third of that. I think that made the cakey topping have more “body”.
-The original recipe calls for cinnamon and nutmeg. I decided to use cardamom and just a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg.
-Don’t worry about how it looks before putting in the oven. It looks luscious when it comes out.
This is the dish that I imagine Ada would have made for Inman if he had returned to “Cold Mountain.”
The kids want an encore for the Thanksgiving dessert.
October 12th, 2004 at 4:25 pm
drstel, thanks for that tip! I will try to look at the Asian store in Portland when I visit there. Meanwhile, toto? You can send me some by mail? Oh thanks! Will mail to you my addy. And I will wait for those banana blossoms before I cook the pata. Walang urungan ha?.
celia, is that brown sugar? Or maybe the honey in Sassy’s recipe is actually just a sub for sugar? Maybe mollases can be a sub too?
Thanks for your tips and help.
October 12th, 2004 at 4:28 pm
Oops…sorry for that earlier post, I was browsing both your post and the kusina ng asawa post re pata tim…(blush!)
I wanted to ask you if I can use the canned peaches (alang natira sa harvest ng in-laws ko from their single peach tree) for this oh-so-luscious treat? How should I change the recipe then?
Hehe…sarap magpasiklab sa mga in-laws. Knowing how they love peaches and baked sweet goods, I am so sure they will love this one.
October 12th, 2004 at 5:12 pm
Manang totoo, para ngang convenience store ang lapit ng aming Asian store. (cheap also). It wasn’t always like that,when I first moved here to be with my darleng, we had to drive all the way to the Big City pero malapit pa rin (20 mins. at the time). There was a pilipino store pero gouging ang presyo. When I was 18, worse! we had to drive 5 hours to NYC! that was misery, not even ginger or fresh fish/shrimp anywhere. I found luya in the freezer of my Lola, how sad was that. I guess my world has changed a lot…
I know how it feels to want to impress the inlaws…(used to that too pero napagod ako…that’s a whole other blog.) For the peaches, just don’t cook them but add some spices and maybe a squeeze of lemon juice. Not sure tho if they might cook into mush. don’t think you can cut down the cooking time bec. of the topping. Yung crema de fruta ni celiaK, that would surely impress anyone!