PEACH COBBLER WITH CORNSTARCH RECIPES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and salt. Work in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and cold water. Sprinkle over flour mixture, and work with hands to form dough into a ball. Chill 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Roll out half of dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish, covering bottom and halfway up sides. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
• In a large saucepan, mix the peaches, lemon juice, and orange juice. Add 1/2 cup butter, and cook over medium-low heat until butter is melted. In a mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cornstarch; mix into peach mixture. Remove from heat, and pour into baked crust.
• Roll remaining dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Cut into half-inch-wide strips. Weave strips into a lattice over peaches. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar, and drizzle with 1 tablespoon melted butter.
• Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top crust is golden brown.

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 425*F.
• 2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
• 3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
• 4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.
• My Note: You should note however the amount of baking powder - this is a very "cake-like" cobbler. Also, the amount of cinammon-sugar on the top makes it very hard to tell when it is "golden brown". "very thin" slices of peach also lead to a less chunky peachy cobbler than I really like, so you may want to make your slices reasonably substantial if you want good sized chunks of peach.
• I would include details on peeling the peaches for newbies. Place the peaches in boiling water for about 60 seconds, remove and plunge into cold water. The skins should slip right off. if you use salted butter cut back on the amount of salt that the recipe calls for by half otherwise the recipe will be really salty. Second, instead of baking it for thirty minutes cut that time in half otherwise it will be over done. Third, instead of 6 tablespoons of butter add 8 tablespoons.
• A suggestions to improve it though. First, I used fresh peaches from my son's Georgia peach tree - some of them were quite under-ripe - and the recipe still came out very sweet. I will definitely make this again, but I will use a bit less sugar in the fruit and in the topping. Second, while the topping is super tasty (if a bit sweet), there's not enough of it! It doesn't need to be doubled but maybe 50% more topping would be great.
• I tried boiling the peaches to peel them, as suggested, but that didn't quite work out. Instead, I just peeled them with a knife, which worked out just fine and wasn't a hassle at all. When choosing peaches, be sure that they do not have any green on the skin -- this means the fruit hadn't developed before being picked, and it won't get any sweeter afterwards. The crust is unbelievable. When you pour in the boiling hot water, it immediately puffs up into a thick dough. This bakes into a thick, crumb-cake-like topping. The sugar amounts can be adjusted as desired. I found it to be just right. It is incredible with a scoop of vanilla or butter pecan ice cream (or both). My "southern" gentleman companion, who has had his share of peach cobblers, really enjoyed it!