It’s about time to order peaches from Georgia. Like a small child I anticipate the arrival of this ripe luscious fruit. This week I’m sharing one of the simplest ‘little ole’ cobbler recipes for your fresh summer peaches. I made it for years at Silver Dollar City, serving it during our Southern Gospel back porch concerts. It will definitely remind you a little of the original ‘Dump Cake’ recipes, from days past.
Served warm with a dollop of cinnamon ice cream!!!
When I was pulling this dish up I noticed my recipe for ‘peach tea’. I thought they made a nice combination, therefore; I am sharing both of them in one column. You could say this week is a ‘two for one’ special! In our present economy it has a nice ring.
Last summer when the peach shipment arrived I made several peach pies, and shared my bounty with others. This year I’m dipping into making vanilla peaches. I even have all the important ingredients like vanilla beans, in the cupboard ready to go. I was going to make them last season, but I gave away too many peaches!!
Jump back to the peach tea, would I serve it with peach pie? Probably not, it would be a little overwhelming. Save it for an evening on the screened-in porch sippin’ sweet tea and swingin’. Mercy, I am pouring on the thick southern slang today!
Here’s a fun ‘peach’ story to conclude the conversation this week. We were living in Platte County, Missouri between Platte City and Smithville, Mo. One of the neighbors, whom I didn’t know well, offered me peaches from her backyard tree. I looked down into the sack and was so surprised, it was filled with ‘itty bitty’ miniature peaches that looked like little donuts. This particular year they were not very tasty, however they usually have a reputation for great flavor. That’s right they are truly called a donut peach, Saturn peach, saucer peach or a flat peach. You can leave the skins on to eat, or remove them. Thinking I was about to receive peaches the size of a medium apple, I was a bit taken back by the quarter size specimen. I immediately called my mother, the resident master gardener in our family, to see what I had. When I found out I had to peel these itty-bitty quarter sized things to make myself peach jam, well; I threw in the towel. We munched on a few and shared the rest with the cattle on the back
40. (This is slang for the back side of a property or farm, or an uncultivated piece of land. This slang is pegged to around 1862.)
Have an outstanding week, Simply Yours, The Covered Dish.
Cheater’s Peach Cobbler
(1) Butter Pecan or regular Butter Cake mix
1/2 cup chopped pecans for bottom
1/2 cup brown sugar
(1) 28-29 ounce can heavy syrup sliced peaches
Top
3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon maple flavoring
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Pour can of peaches across the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.
Evenly sprinkle down the pecans and brown sugar over the peaches. Over the fruit sprinkle the cake mix, again spreading evenly.
For the top of the cobbler melt the butter and stir in the maple flavoring.
Drizzle this across the cake mix as equally distributed as possible. Finish with the last 1/2 cup chopped pecans over the top.
Place in a 350-degree oven and bake until the top is golden brown. Outer rim of cobbler should also be boiling.
Plan on this serving 8-10 persons not the traditional 12 servings from a 9 x 13 baking pan. If you’re from the country you’ll want a bit of cream over your cobbler. Vanilla or cinnamon ice cream or whipped cream are also good additions.
When this was done baking it seemed very loosey goosey and I worried that it wouldn’t set up. After cooling it was just fine. I also could not get any butter pecan cake mixes when I first created this on September 6, 2014. The alternative was a regular butter cake mix.
Fresh peaches would be a super alternative, you would just have to sweeten them and maybe add a bit of cinnamon. You’ll also need about a cups worth of liquid for the bottom. This could be made with peach or apricot nectar and a bit of cornstarch.
Peach Tea Syrup
6 large sweet peaches
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
4 cups tea-or one quart
1 1/2 cups syrup
Place washed and sliced peaches (skins left on) in a saucepan with four cups of water and 1 cup of sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for one hour. Turn off heat and allow fruit mixture to set for at least one hour or longer. Set a sieve over a collecting container, place a thin tea towel or cheese cloth of the sieve. (Sometimes in a pinch a coffee filter will work.) Pour the cooled fruit mixture through the cloth and sieve. This should yield around 4 cups of syrup depending upon the cook down and peaches.
To make the tea place a quart of brewed tea in a pitcher and stir in 1 1/2 cups of the ‘cold’ syrup. This will not be a very sweet tea, if you want it sweeter add a 1/2 a cup of sugar at a time.
