This Peach Cobbler recipe comes to you from a Southern lady I know who is everything you imagine a Southern lass to be: a big personality, big laugh, big heart, and a very (very!) big appetite for life and food.
You’ll love how the syrup is made using peach juices, rather than just a plain sugar syrup. Peach flavour to the max.
Ingredients1.5kg / 3lb (8) yellow peaches (ripe and juicy!), peeled, stone removed, cut into eight wedges (Note 1)
1/4 cup caster / superfine sugar
1 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon juice (plus more as desired)
1/8 tsp salt
Cobbler topping1 1/4 cups flour , plain/all purpose
1/3 cup caster / superfine sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (bi-carb) (or extra 1 1/2 tsp baking powder)
1/4 tsp salt
85g / 6 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup plain yoghurt (or sour cream), full fat
Topping
1 tsp demerara sugar (Note 3)
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
Serving
Ice cream or whipped cream
Method
- Macerate peaches: Put peaches and sugar in a large bowl and toss together. Leave for 40 minutes to macerate, to let the peaches leach juice and sweat.
- Preheat oven: Partway through the maceration, preheat oven to 210°C/410°F (200°C fan).
- Drain peaches: Drain in a colander, saving the juices.
- Syrup: Measure out 1/4 cup (65ml) juice and put in a large bowl. Add cornflour, salt and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice to the peach juice. Mix well.
- Mix with peaches: Pour peaches into the syrup, toss to coat. Taste – it should be a bit tart, slightly sweet, but not overly sweet. Add more lemon or sugar to adjust to your taste (fresh peaches always vary in sweetness!).
- Parbake peaches: Pour the peaches and juice into a medium glass or ceramic baking pan. Mine is a 28 x 18cm / 11 x 7 oval dish (Note 2). Bake 12 minutes, then remove.
Cobbler topping:
- Rub in butter: Meanwhile, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Add butter and rub it in with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs (Alternatively, food processor via 10 x 1-sec pulses).
- Gently fold through yogurt: Add yogurt and gently mix through with rubber spatula until a dough is formed. Stop mixing when yogurt is mostly mixed through with some streaks of flour still visible (they will disappear when topping).
- Top peaches: Crumble lumps of the topping across the surface. Don't fully cover the surface, to let some heat through else the syrup won't reduce and thicken.
- Sprinkle with demerara sugar and cinnamon.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven. The cobbler is done when an instant read thermometer measures the centre of the biscuit topping as 95°C/203°F and the top is a lovely golden.
- Rest to thicken sauce: Rest for 20 minutes to allow syrup to thicken – it will still be perfectly warm for serving.
- Serve with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream