I realise I probably mention the weather on here far too much! However, it’s unlikely to change in the immediate future.
I’ve been moping around the house as the most recent bout of continuous (incessent, unceasing, unrelenting, depressing) rain has ground our renovations to a halt while we wait for a dry patch. Instead, ha’ve been trying to find comfort in my kitchen. Yesterday the oven and stove were occupied for most of the day with a range of projects. There was pizza dough rising on the bench, the cookie jar is now filled to the brim with peanut butter cookies, a margarita sauce was bubbling away on the stove, there were muffins going in the oven and there was this, a peach cobbler, being assembled for dessert.
I’ve made cobbler before (see here) and I think I still prefer the cobbler topping in that recipe. However, Jamie Oliver has a recipe for peach cobbler in his (gorgeous!) book Jamie’s America. The stonefruit this year has been absolutely beautiful so I thought this was a great opportunity to try the recipe.
The peaches are cooked in a fragrant combination of vanilla bean, lime, orange and ginger and they do not disappoint. I think I added too much water to my cobbler topping (I have attempted to correct this in the recipe) and it didn’t form the firm little dumplings I was expecting. For that reason, next time I might use Smitten Kitchen’s cobbler topping with these peaches. I have set out Jamie’s recipe anyway because it’s still a tasty option.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to curl up with a big bowl of peach cobbler – sure it’s only 9.30 in the morning, but it’s raining!
- Prep Time:
15 min - Cook Time:
30-35 min - Ready Time:
45 min
Ingredients
- 6-8 Ripe peaches or stonefruit, halved, stoned and sliced into wedges
- 1 Vanilla pod or tsp vanilla bean paste
- Zest of 1 lime
- 40 grams Brown sugar
- Zest and juice of 1 orange
- 2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- 40 grams Pine nuts
- 100 grams Self raising flour
- 50 grams Caster sugar
- Pinch salt
- 100 grams Unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
Directions
- Preheat your oven to hot (210*C).
- In a casserole dish toss the peaches gently with vanilla bean seeds, lime zest, brown sugar, orange zest and juice and grated ginger.
- Turn the oven down to 190*C and then cook for about 10-15 minutes until your peaches start to soften.
- Meanwhile, whiz your pine nuts up in a food processor.
- Add the flour, sugar and salt.
- Add you cubed butter and then pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Tip into a bowl or out onto the bench.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of water to bring the dough together - add very gradually as you may not need this much. You want to end up with a firm dough.
- Put the dough aside (or in the fridge) until ready to use.
- Remove the peaches from the oven. Jamie suggests pouring in a half glass of water at this point but I found I had enough liquid in my dish.
- Stir the peaches gently and scrape away from the edges.
- Using a tablespoon, plop 6-7 spoonfuls of the dough on top of the peaches.
- Return to the oven for about another 20 minutes until bubbling, golden on top and the cobbler is reasonably firm.
- Serve with vanilla icecream or Greek yoghurt.

by email:
I used to make cobbler for a living and it’s a delicious dessert! Definitely one that I love in Winter