Eat: Peach Cobbler Pie

Peace…Peach…you get it, right?

But let’s talk about cobbler. Okay?

Now there are different types of cobbler out there. There is the cake under fruit. There’s the fruit under biscuit topping. And there is fruit under pie crust. While I can enjoy any one of those cobblers any day of the week, my favorite by far is fruit under a pie crust.

And if you can add in another layer of delicious gooey butter but flaky pie crust in, I am all for it.

And that’s why this particular cobbler caught my eye.

Yes it looks like a pie. Yes it acts like a pie. But the recipe calls it a cobbler, so who am I to say that it’s not. All I can say is that, mmm, it is tasty.

Pie crusts are not my most favorite thing to make, but believe it or not, that was not the most annoying thing to do for this cobbler pie. It was peeling the peaches.

If you have nice, fully-ripe peaches, peeling them is a snap. You just dunk them in some boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute and then pull them out. When the peach is cool enough to touch, the peel should just slip right off the peach like an oversized shirt.

But not all of my peaches were quite that ripe. So when the blanching didn’t work (and I tried up to ten minutes), or only partially worked, the vegetable peeler came out. And with patience and time, those peaches were peeled.

So despite the fact that my peace was almost compromised while making this treat, all was put back in order with one delicious mouthful. And top it off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and you’ve got yourself one little slice of peace on earth.

Peach Cobbler Pie
slightly adapted from Ezra Pound Cake

for the crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
Scant teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, very cold
1/4 cup ice water

for the filling:
7 large peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 of a stick) unsalted butter

for the crust:
1. Put the flour, salt, and butter in a mixing bowl. Blend well with a pastry blender or two forks, until the mixture is the texture of cornmeal.
2. Add the ice water, mix quickly, and shape the dough into a ball.
3. Dust the dough lightly with flour and shape into a flat cake. Wrap in saran wrap, and put in the refrigerator to rest for 30 minutes.

for the cobbler pie:
1. Roll out half the pie dough, and press into an 8-inch pie dish.

2. Roll out the rest of the pie dough, and cut into strips for a lattice top. Set aside. Refrigerate if necessary.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
4. Mix the peeled, sliced peaches with the sugar and pour into the crust lined pie pan. Dot with slices or cubes of butter. (If you forget to dot with butter, you can just stick the cubes of butter in between the lattice slats…not that I know from experience…)

Then weave the strips of pie dough over the top, making a lattice pattern. Press the strips down and seal, moisten with water if necessary.

5. Set the cobbler pie in the middle rack of the oven, and bake for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 425 degrees F, and bake for another 30-35 minutes. Let the cobbler pie cool for about 30 minutes before enjoying.