2013 Cooking Club Week 29: Peach Cobbler

It's Princess Peach Cobbler

Was delighted I got a summer slot, as peaches are in season and I can make my signature dessert. I've been making this for years now making small adjustments to a basic recipe I found in an old cook book till I was happy. It's a simple but very tasty recipe. Great for any level of cook!

Ingredients
Filling

• 6 peaches (the less ripe the better)
• 4tbsp caster sugar
• Rind and juice of half a lemon
• 1.5 tsp cornflour
• 1tsp vanilla extract

Topping

• 175g plain flour
• 85g caster sugar (plus extra for dusting)
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon (omitted from photo)
• 3oz butter (cold from the fridge)
• 1 egg
• 5 or 6 tbsp milk

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas mark 7

1. Peel and slice your peaches. You will get sticky! I have found the best method is to get a bowl of just boiled water, pop a peach in it for about 30 seconds, carefully take it out and the skin peels off very easily. You can soak the next peach while you peel this one. Then just do your best to cut large slices around the stone. You can cut the peach in half first and remove the stone, but then the peel is tougher to come off.

2. Place the peaches in an ovenproof dish (about 9 inches square). Add the 4 tbsp of sugar, the lemon rind and juice, cornflour and vanilla extract and toss together. Bake this in the oven for 20 minutes.



3. While the peaches are baking, make your topping. Sift the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Dice up the cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients using fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
Beat the egg with 5 tbsp of milk in a jug, then mix into the dry ingredients with a fork, until it is a soft, sticky dough. It shouldn't be runny but if you think it is too dry, add another tablespoon of milk.



4. Turn your oven down to 200°C/400°F/ Gas mark 6. Remove the peaches and drop spoon fulls of the topping over the surface. There is no need to smooth it out, it will spread out as it bakes. Sprinkle over with about a tablespoon of sugar and return it to the oven.




5. Bake for 15 minutes until the topping is golden and firm. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.