peach blueberry cobbler

This morning I sat up, said to myself, “Man I would really like a big juicy peach,” then flopped out of bed. I have no idea what I dreamed about the night before, but I woke up with one of those cravings again. And though I said I wanted a peach, I knew I did not want just a peach. I pulled out all my cookbooks and flipped to the fruit dessert sections and, running my finger down the list of peach items passing pies, crumbles, buckles, bettys, crisps, cakes, poached, and grilled, finally settled on cobbler. But the cobbler recipes looked plain and Jane.

Pushing away my cookbooks I went to Gourmet and Bon Appetit, scouring through twenty seven pages of peach recipes with only six recipes resulting in cobbler. I read and re-read the ingredients in each of the recipes and knew they weren’t what I was looking for. So off again I went on a hunt for a pure, flawless peach cobbler. I went over to Martha and landed on her peach blueberry cobbler. What caught my eye was not the peaches, but the “fluffy layer of vanilla-cream biscuits” that decked out the top of this cobbler. Now that is what I’m talking about, wait, wasn’t I talking about peaches?

Well I confess. When it comes to pies or crumbles or anything of the sort, I’m usually all about the crust. I love extra flaky, buttery crusts to pies and I always double the toppings for crisps — it’s a weakness of mine, really. Needless to say Martha sold me at the “vanilla”, and the “cream”, and the “fluffy layer” and well the “biscuit” part too. But the real stellar part of the cobbler was, well the whole thing together. The peaches were juicy and sweet and my blueberries were slightly tart and the biscuits were creamy, dreamy, vanilla-y, and most especially heavenly.

Peach Blueberry Cobbler
Adapted from Martha Stewart

I had a variety of peaches from the market and they were not especially fuzzy, the white peaches being barely fuzzy at all; for that reason I left the skins on, but normally I would take them off . If you prefer your peaches peeled, score a tiny cross at the base of each peach and plunge into boiling water for about 20 – 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, transfer each to a bowl of ice water to cool, then peel away the skin.

2 1/2 pounds peaches (about 5), halved lengthwise, pitted, and cut into 3/4-inch-thick wedges
1 cup blueberries, about 1/2 pint
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons packed light-brown sugar
Zest from one lemon
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, (1 stick), cut into cubes
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream, plus more for brushing
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375°F with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Stir together peaches, blueberries, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, brown sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish; set aside.

Whisk flour, baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives to form clumps that are no larger than small peas.

Add vanilla extract and cream to flour mixture. Stir until a soft, sticky dough forms. Here you can get crazy with your cobbles. You can dump spoonfuls of dough on top of the fruit, you can roll the dough out in an even layer and top your fruit or you can or you can cut your dough using a biscuit cutter and top your fruit. Once you have placed the cobbles on your fruit, brush dough with cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Place baking dish on a baking sheet and bake on top rack until topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. If your biscuits start browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then scoop into bowls serving with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.