Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Week 5: Peach Cobbler (Katie)


Back from vacation and settled into our new house...and I'm ready to get back to cooking! Sorry it took so long to post this...things have been so busy around here. But, at last, here is my peach cobbler post!

I made this dessert for our small group party on Friday. The recipe is from Cooking Light’s 20th Anniversary Issue. It was voted the best pie/cobbler. It definitely lives up to that title! I made this recipe once last summer, and I was so glad to make it again. Oh, and you are supposed to make Bourbon-Pecan Ice Cream to go with it, but I didn't this time.

Coconut-Peach Cobbler with Bourbon-Pecan Ice Cream

ICE CREAM:

4 cups vanilla low-fat ice cream
¼ cup bourbon
¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted

CRUST:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup flaked sweetened coconut, toasted
6 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
½ cup evaporated fat-free milk
2 large egg yolks

FILLING:

11 cups sliced peeled peaches (about 4 pounds)
1 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of salt
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1. To prepare ice cream, combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl; cover and freeze at least 3 hours.

2. To prepare crust, lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, baking powder, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a food processor, and pulse 2 times or until blended. Add coconut and butter, and pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine milk and egg yolks. Remove 1 tablespoon milk mixture; set aside. With processor on, slowly pour remaining milk mixture through food chute; pulse 5 times or just until blended. Press mixture gently into a 6-inch square on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes. Roll dough, still covered, to a 14 x 10-inch rectangle.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. To prepare filling, combine peaches, brown sugar, 6 tablespoons flour, nutmeg, and dash of salt in a large bowl; spoon into a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Remove one sheet of plastic wrap from dough; place dough on peach mixture, pressing to edge of dish. Remove remaining sheet of plastic wrap; brush dough with reserved milk mixture. Cut 6 (2-inch) slits in dough; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until golden. Let stand 30 minutes on a wire rack. Serve with ice cream.


The recipe really isn't difficult to make, although peeling and slicing all those peaches did take a while. Here is the bowl full of peaches:

And here are the peaches after I added the rest of the filling ingredients:

Yummy! The delicious cobbler before it went in the oven:


The final product!


I didn't have my camera out at the party, but my wonderful friend Elizabeth was so kind to take some pictures for me. She took the picture at the top (the piece shot). And here we are enjoying the cobbler:


Since most of our friends were downstairs watching the hockey game, I didn't get to hear everyone's reactions. But the ladies upstairs seemed to enjoy it. Brent said his only complaint was that the peaches weren't quite ripe, so they weren't as soft or sweet as they could have been. I would agree with that. Last year when I made this, the peaches were so soft they were about a day away from rotting. And I did like that cobbler better. So maybe I will make it again later this summer. It's a perfect summer dessert for a crowd!

Here's a picture of our whole small group (minus Elizabeth who is taking the picture). I love these people!