Southern Peach Cobbler - Cast Iron Style
I made this cobbler for the Fourth of July in 2012, served alongside my homemade vanilla ice cream -- IT WAS WONDERFUL!
I made this cobbler for the Fourth of July in 2012, served alongside my homemade vanilla ice cream -- IT WAS WONDERFUL!
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- topping
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 8 - 10 cups fresh peaches peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges (about 8 peaches)
- 12 tablespoons butter cold and cut into pieces
- cinnamon/sugar topping
- Carbohydrate 56.6627815499266 g
- Cholesterol 36.6037500156972 mg
- Fat 14.0698968038138 g
- Fiber 1.02546772008946 g
- Protein 2.78003201853464 g
- Saturated Fat 8.79309789737955 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (120g)
- Sodium 8006.63887821393 mg
- Sugar 55.6373138298371 g
- Trans Fat 1.05271639350804 g
- Calories 349 calories
Step-by-step
- Place a cast iron skillet in a cold oven. Place a large piece of foil on the rack under the cast iron pan (to catch drippings). Preheat the oven to 425.
- In a small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients for the filling. Stir to combine and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the peaches and the lemon juice, and then add the dry ingredients. Stir well to coat evenly, and then pour into the hot cast iron pan. Bake this peach mixture for 10 minutes.
- While the peaches are baking, combine the dry topping ingredients and whisk to combine. Blend in the chilled butter, using a pastry blender or your fingertips. Stir in the boiling water, just until it's all combined.
- Remove the peaches from the oven and drop the topping over them in spoonfuls. Sprinkle the cobber topping with the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Bake until the crust is golden and a toothpick inserted into the crust comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Serve warm.
Thick juices bubble intensely at the edges of a seasoned skillet, surrounding tender fruit beneath a coarse, sugar-dappled crust. Heating the cast iron pan inside a 425 degree oven before adding the fruit initiates immediate cooking on contact. This thermal shock helps release the natural juices from the sliced peaches while evaporating excess moisture so the filling thickens properly during its initial ten-minute bake. Lemon juice added directly to the fruit supplies necessary acidity to balance the heavy sugars.
Pairing this sweet, spiced pastry with unsweetened dairy creates the best contrast on the plate. Cold, heavy whipping cream or unsweetened vanilla ice cream melts into the warm crevices of the crust, cutting through the dense richness of butter and brown sugar. The chill of the ice cream provides a thermal contrast against the hot fruit filling, while its dairy fat coats the palate to temper the intense sweetness of the cobbler.
Incorporating chilled butter into the flour mixture requires cold ingredients to prevent premature melting. Working the fat rapidly with a pastry blender leaves small pea-sized pieces intact. These solid pockets of butter melt during the final 28-minute bake, generating steam and creating distinct flaky layers within the biscuit topping.
Adjusting the yield requires careful attention to pan dimensions. Halving the ingredient quantities allows the dessert to fit neatly into a smaller eight-inch skillet without altering the initial preheating procedure or oven temperature.
