Peach Cobbler Recipe

Peach Cobbler

So, we have Cobblers, Crisps and Crumbles, Galettes, Crostadas and Turnovers, and of course Grunts and Slumps!  All of these wonderful dishes are filled with hot bubbling fruit amid a sweetened carb topping.  Of course they can also be prepared with savory fillings.  But what exactly is the difference between these homey, mom and apple pie treats you may ask.

I'll start with the Turnover since it is a rather distant cousin to the others.  Turnovers are simply pastry dough circles or squares folded into triangles or semicircles.  The edges are pinched closed to prevent any yummy filling from escaping.  The biggest difference here, is that Turnovers are prepared with layers of flaky puff pastry rather than singular pie crust.

My Mother and I ate Turnovers for Breakfast every morning for about a year!

Galettes and Crostadas are actually free-form tarts. No tart pan with the removable bottom is needed.  For these redolent confections, one prepares a basic pie dough, rolls it out, fills it with their fruit of choice then folds the edges around and over the filling.  These can be baked on a parchment lined sheet pan or in a deep-dish pie pan.  A very rustic and wonderful dessert for those of us who are pastry-challenged.  As for the difference between the two - none.  Galettes are French, Crostadas are Italian!  That's it.

You Say Galette I Say Crostada - Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

Now Cobblers, Crisps and Crumbles have become interchangeable monikers.  So let me clarify.  Cobblers are fruit desserts topped with a batter mixture which is more like biscuit than pie dough.  However, I like to prepare cobblers with a batter similar to cookie dough (sweet) as do many other cooks.  If you allow your eyes to look at the dish as a whole, and kind of unleash your imagination, the finished product does somewhat resemble a Cobbled Road, hence the name.  Now a Crumble is another dish of baked fruit.  These are topped with an oat-based streusel.  Yum!  Love streusel!  The brown sugar and butter, when mixed with the oats give you lots of "crumbly" texture.  While a Crisp, it's closest relative, also has a streusel topping but does not include oats.  Both offer a dandy, buttery finish to a hearty autumn meal.

A Stunning Blueberry Crumble

And just are Grunts and Slumps?  Well, to begin they are exactly the same thing, and are quite similar to Cobblers.  The difference between Cobblers and Grunts/Slumps is that while Cobblers are baked in the oven Grunts and Slumps are cooked on your stove top.  Most commonly in a cast iron skillet.  Then name Grunt came about because someone, somewhere decided the sound made by the fruit bubbling up from the batter sounded like grunting.  And Slump is the name given because someone else, some place else, decided that's what the dessert looks like when served on your plate.  Apparently there are many who agreed, as the names have stuck.

Stove-top Grunt or Slump - You Decide 

Oh! and there's one more, a Buckle.  A Buckle also used ripe fruit combined with a batter, but true Buckle recipes use a batter that is more cake-like.

So there you have it.  You now know the difference between Cobblers, Crisps, Crumbles and Buckles, Grunts and Slumps, Galettes and Crostadas.  I'm not going to even touch Brown Bettys!

Set Up - Not A Whole Lot Of Ingredients

Recipe for PEACH COBBLER

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter – melted        1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

1 cup all purpose flour                                 2 teaspoons baking powder                               

¾ cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons

1 large egg – room temperature                  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup buttermilk                                          ¼ teaspoon salt

2-2 ½ cups sliced, ripe peaches                  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Equipment – 6 ramekins, parchment paper or silicone mat (silpat)

Preparation                                                         Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1)    Line a large sheet pan or jelly roll pan with parchment paper or a silpat.

2)    Using a small pastry brush or a wadded up paper towel, brush the entire interior of each ramekin with the melted butter, set aside on your lined sheet pan until ready to fill.

3)    In a mixing bowl combine peaches, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, lemon zest and cinnamon, set aside.

4)    In a separate medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, ¾ sugar, baking powder and salt.

5)    Using a large bowl, whisk egg into buttermilk – stir in vanilla extract.

6)    Gently stir dry ingredients into larger bowl with wet ingredients in 2 batches.

7)    Spoon about 2 tablespoons of batter into the bottom of each ramekin.

8)    Evenly distribute peach mixture among the six ramekins then pour remaining batter over the top.

You may sprinkle remaining tablespoon of sugar on top of the batter.  I do.

Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, until cobblers are golden brown in colour.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or my favourite, crème fraiche.

Big Flavor In a 4-oz. Ramekin

It's All About What's Inside - Right?