Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Crazy cobbler is a winner at harvest time

Recipe: Summer peaches, nectarines featured in this version of Blue Ribbon Cobbler

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUL 28, 2019

Blue Ribbon Cobbler is put together differently than most.
(Photos: Debbie Arrington)

One of the great pleasures of midsummer is a rich and satisfying fruit dessert that makes the most of a sweet-tart bounty.

My favorite is this cobbler: easier than pie and flexible to what’s ripe.

I discovered this recipe 35 years ago when I first started writing about food. “Blue Ribbon Peach Cobbler,” which according to accompanying recipe notes won top prize at an unnamed state fair, was part of Ronald Johnson’s wonderful “The American Table: A Festive Sampler of Regional Cooking at its Savory Best.” Johnson encouraged readers to substitute other fruit or combinations for the peaches, which I have done often.

In honor of closing day of our State Fair, this Blue Ribbon Cobbler will win smiles at summer gatherings. (Just use the correct size pan.)

The example here uses yellow peaches and nectarines, peeled and sliced. Strawberry-rhubarb, peach-blueberry, apple-rhubarb, mixed berries; all these combos work well, as do straight peaches or other fruit.

The recipe itself looks out of whack with way more sugar than flour, plus lots of butter. That’s what makes it delicious. The batter bubbles when it’s spooned over the melted butter, and the fruit is dropped on top, not layered underneath. As the cobbler cooks, the fruit sinks down into the batter. The top and sides develop a rich, brown crunchy crust, wrapped around sweet-tart syrupy filling.

All that sinking and rising needs some room. Use a DEEP baking dish (3 inches preferred), not a shallow pie pan. Place a cookie sheet under the baking dish to catch overflow, just in case.

Blue Ribbon Cobbler
Adapted from “The American Table,” by Ronald Johnson (Pocket Cookbook, 1984)

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

The prepared fruit is spooned over the batter before baking.

½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
¾ cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 cups sugar (divided)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¾ cup milk
2 cups fresh fruit (such as peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, apples, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, boysenberries, rhubarb or mixed)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the stick of butter in a deep, square baking pan (8- or 9-inch). Place pan in the oven and let butter melt as oven heats. (Remember to take it out.)

Meanwhile, mix flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and 1 cup sugar. Stir in milk to make a batter. Set aside.

Prepare fruit. If using peaches, nectarines or apples, peel and slice; halve and pit apricots or cherries; string and chop rhubarb; or hull berries.

Mix prepared fruit with remaining 1 cup sugar.

Pour batter over melted butter in pan. Spoon fruit evenly over the batter. Bake for 1 hour.

Serve warm with cream, whipped or plain.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

RECIPE

A recipe for preparing delicious meals from the bounty of the garden.

Keywords:

baking recipes gardening Sacramento farmers markets peaches summer fruit backyard produce farm to fork produce mangement

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Thanks to our sponsor!

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!