Shocking Peaches and Atomic Cobbler

This post isn't really going to be following my typical format. For starters, I wasn't planning to use these peaches to make cobbler. I was going to use them to make fruit leather in my car (or fruit roll-ups, if fruit leather sounds too weird for your delicate sensibilities). However, this being Texas, the day that I decided I wanted extremely hot weather the temperature began to drop and rain clouds formed. It hasn't really rained or gotten cold, but it is far too cloudy to do what I want. I held on to these peaches for over a week until finally throwing in the towel and using them for something else. I'm a bit bitter about it, actually. The dessert I replaced the fruit leather with, peach cobbler, is great. But...you know...I had a plan and shit. Whatever. Peach cobbler. But not just any peach cobbler. This peach cobbler is really weird. It forms a sort of mushroom cloud in the oven sure to alarm even the most confident Southern dessert maker before eventually sucking back in and shrinking, like a failed souffle. Also, it tastes delicious. It's possible that opinions on the taste are influenced by the rush of relief following cobbler implosion (I have feared for my oven at times), but I prefer to think that this is merely an excellent recipe. Also, you get to shock the peaches. If right now you're visualizing jumping out at them from around a corner, then this next bit is for you.

How to Blanch and Shock Fruits (and Vegetables!)
(and your mother, who wasn't aware you could even work a stove)

1. Boil a pot of water.
2. Add a pinch or two of salt if working with veggies.
3. Add vegetables or fruits a little at a time so they aren't crowded.
4. Important: Only boil for about 1.5 minutes.
5. Remove from hot water and place in bowl of ice water until cool.

Blanching and shocking is used when you want to cook something completely but don't want it to become soggy or mushy. It's an excellent way to prepare green beans and asparagus. We used it for the peaches because it made peeling them much easier.

Atomic Bomb Peach Cobbler
Recipe from Gourmet Gals,Austin TX

Materials:

9x15 baking dish
Mixing bowl
Sifter (optional)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup flour
Less than 1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
3 cups sliced fresh peaches or 2 cans of peaches

Process:

1. Slice a stick (1/2 cup) of butter into pieces and put them in the baking dish. Put the dish in the oven while you preheat it to 350F melt the butter.


2. Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add in 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Slowly add in the milk, stirring until the lumps in the batter are gone.







3. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Do not stir to mix the butter and the batter together--they should be separate.


4. Lay the sliced and peeled peaches on top of the batter. Again, do not mix anything. No. Mixing.

See what I'm doing here? I'm not mixing any of these ingredients together. I'm layering. And yes, the peaches are going on top of the crust. Prepare for your mind to be blown. While you're preparing, you should also sprinkle about 1/4 cup of sugar on top of the peaches.

5. Bake the cobbler at 350F for approximately one hour, or until the top has started to brown. During the baking process, something magical happens. Don't panic. All that batter buried underneath the peaches begins to rise, thanks to the miracle that is baking powder, and suddenly you have a dessert on your hands!


This particular cobbler was fairly calm. The first time I used this recipe I peeked into the oven to find a huge balloon creeping over the edges of the dish. Cleaning the oven afterward was not fun. This time the growth wasn't very alarming at all. However, don't panic even if it does become huge and start to look hostile, as once you take it out of the oven it will deflate into something less menacing.

Like this!