Peach & Cherry Cornmeal Cobbler with Rum Whipped Cream

Sometimes you drive two and a half hours to pick peaches only to be told that you're not going to be picking any peaches.

No. No peaches for you because everyone else was rude and picked them all.  So you can go back peachless or take the ones the orchard-keepers have picked for you.  Okay, not so bad.

Oh, but you wanted to revisit the spot where you got engaged?  Too bad.  The orchard is closed, because we are fancy enough to be able to close a section of a mountain.  Yes we are.  But please, buy another donut. 

Ok, ok, bye.  

P.S. I'll take half a dozen donuts, please and thank you.  

Though last Saturday's venture was a bit disappointing, the peaches were nonetheless delicious, because we had not picked them ourselves. 

I have been baking and blanching and freezing for days, but this simple cobbler was the most delicious reward, and it made the drive worth every minute. 

I am always looking for new ways to add more texture to my favorite recipes, and ever since I saw Tracy's Raspberry Cobbler I have had cornmeal on the brain. 

I love the subtle, but distinctive crunch that it adds to baked goods. 

Cold butter, cornmeal, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and a bit of all-purpose flour come together in a rough dough after a few pulses. I really love when I can make a crust in my food processor.  

I have had half of a bag of black cherries in my freezer for about two weeks, so I decided to toss them in with the peaches.  Their flavors worked so beautifully together and the colors were more vibrant than my old Lisa Frank notebook. 

I get unreasonably excited at a chance to blanch peaches, but it is just SO MUCH FUN!  Every time I do it and those soft, fuzzy skins peel away with the slightest pull, I am amazed and I have to share my astonishment with whomever is closest. Sometimes that's just snap chat. 

Blanched peaches happen to be really slippery, so be extra careful when slicing. 

One third of the buttery, cornmeal crust is crumbled onto the bottom of the pan, making a bed for our fruit that will soak up an excess juices. 

The remaining crust is pinched into small pieces and sprinkled atop the fruit. 

This would be a good time to line a baking sheet with foil and place it under the rack that you will be baking on.  Bubbling fruit juices have a nasty tendency to drip all over your clean oven. 

After some quality oven time, this cobbler will be bubbling and that cornmeal crust will have reached a lovely shade of golden. 

We could call it a day right now, but I felt as thought this bake was begging for a creamy counterpart. 

Rum whipped cream perfectly fit the bill.  The subtle notes of rum were the perfect compliment to the rich, sugar-kissed fruit.  It's also excellent eaten by the spoonful... 

This was my snack, my dinner, and breakfast the next morning.  It's fruit, so, you know - healthy! 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Peach & Cherry Cornmeal Cobbler with Rum Whipped Cream

serves 6

for the cobbler topping

• 1 1/4 cup fine cornmeal 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes 
• 1/4 cup ice water

In the work bowl of your food processor, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and ground cinnamon.  Pulse until well-combined.  

Add butter to the flour mixture and pulse several times, until the butter is in pea-sized pieces.  Slowly stream in ice water, one tablespoon at a time, pulsing until a rough dough just comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a disc.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for thirty minutes.  

for the filling

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch 
• 1 cup granulated sugar 
• 4 medium, ripe peaches
• 1 cup black cherries defrosted, if frozen
• 1/2 whole lemon, juiced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Place a sheet pan lined with foil on the bottom rack.

In a medium bowl, whisk to combine cornstarch and granulated sugar.  Toss the fruit in the cornstarch mixture and add lemon juice. 

Divide the chilled dough into thirds and pinch one third into pieces.  Sprinkle in the bottom of 9-inch pie plate.  Cover with the fruit filling.

Crumble the remaining 2/3 of the dough over the top of the fruit.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, on the center rack, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is crisp and evenly browned.  

Allow to cool for about thirty minutes before serving.  While the cobbler is cooling, prepare the cream.

for the rum whipped cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar 
• heavy splash of rum 

In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat cream on high speed until it holds soft peaks.  Beat in confectioner’s sugar and rum until just combined. 

Serve atop warm cobbler.  Enjoy! 

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Sea Salt & Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie Peanut Butter S'mores // Summer of S'mores Pt. 5

It's Friday.  We made it.  Let's celebrate. 

I know there are a few of you out there who take issue with people like myself who like to trash up their chocolate chip cookies. 

Not only have I done that, multiple times, (see here, and here), now I have trashed up my trashed up cookies by turning them into s'mores.  You are very, very welcome. 

Are these really s'mores?  I don't know.  Probably not, considering that there's not a graham cracker in sight. 

In my defense however, the whole goal of this Summer of S'mores was simply to be inspired by the three classic flavors, and these are definitely evocative of the girl scout classic, albeit they do not meet all the technical requirements.

These salty, nut-filled cookies are giving graham crackers a run for their money in my house. 

Let's get right into this.

First we need to make the cookie dough. 

You know the drill, right?  Soft butter meets sugar and an egg before it gets cozy with the dry team - flour and baking soda. 

Now for the fun part. 

And by fun, I mean chopped almonds, chunks of milk chocolate, and sea salt. 

I love a good wrinkly cookie top. 

And I live for crispy edges. 

So, now we have cookies.  Cookies that are perfectly wonderful on their own, but are we done yet?  Of course not, because it's Friday and we need more chocolate. 

Creamy peanut butter and melted chocolate make an excellent spread for lots of things.  S'mores, toast, your fingers...  

If you have not noticed yet, I am not a graceful marshmallow-toaster.  In fact, I am much more of the light-it-on-fire-and-let-it-burn type.  I like the char, and I'm incurably impatient. 

Cookies?  Check!  Peanut butter chocolate gooeyness? Check!  Toasted (read: burnt) marshmallows?  Check! 

And we are done.  Happy Friday!

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Sea Salt & Almond Chocolate Chip Cookie Peanut Butter S'mores

makes 8 s'mores or 16 cookies

for the cookies

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

- 1/4 cup light brown sugar

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar 

- 1 large egg 

- 1 teaspoon vanilla 

- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 cup milk chocolate, roughly chopped

- 3/4 cup raw, unsalted almonds 

- 2 teaspoons course sea salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer for 1 minute; until fluffy.  Add sugars and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture is light in texture and the ingredients are well incorporated.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  

With the mixture on low speed, slowly add the flour and baking soda to the butter mixture, beating until smooth and homogenous.

Fold in the chocolate, almonds, and sea salt using a rubber spatula, being careful to evenly distribute them. 

Portion the dough out into 16 cookies, using a spring-loaded cookie scoop or a large spoon.  Place the cookies on baking sheets, lined with parchment and bake on the center rack for 10 minutes.  For even baking, rotate the pan halfway through the cooking time. 

Set the cookies on cooling racks while you prepare the chocolate peanut butter spread.  The cookies do not need to be completely cooled when you assemble the s'mores, but you do not want them to be too hot, otherwise the chocolate peanut butter spread will just slide off the surface. 

for the s’mores

- 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

- 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

- 24 marshmallows 

In a small glass bowl, combine peanut butter and chocolate.  Microwave for thirty second increments, stirring after each, until the mixture is smooth.  Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, until it has thickened slightly.

Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the chocolate peanut butter mixture unto the bottom of eight of the cooled cookies.  Top the remaining eight cookies (top-side down) with three marshmallows and place on a baking sheet.  Set the marshmallow-topped cookies under the broiler* of your oven and broil for 1-2 minutes, until the marshmallows are soft and well-toasted.  Be sure to keep an eye on your cookies so that the bottoms do not burn!  

Press the marshmallow halves against the chocolate peanut butter-coated cookies and serve immediately.  Enjoy! 

*You could forgo the broiler altogether and use a kitchen torch to toast your marshmallows, I just find sometimes that it does not melt the marshmallows all the way through. 

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Mexican S'mores // Summer of S'mores Pt. 3

It is Monday, and I am sure we could all use a little chocolate.  Let's get into this!   

These s’mores were supposed to come to you last Friday, in time for your weekend… I'm sorry. 

I would like to tell you that I always have my recipes tested on time, photographed perfectly on the first try, and my posts scheduled, but that is just not the case some weeks.  

I staged and restaged these s’mores until I finally gave up for the day and set them aside until morning.  Usually such a failure would have ended in tears of defeat and discouragement, but last Thursday, I exchanged the tears for some deep breaths and reminded myself that nothing good could come out of my striving against the Sun. 

Thankfully, Friday morning's light was much more congenial, and s'mores happen to make a mighty fine breakfast. 

It is a challenge to let go of my minutely-organized schedule.  To release the fears of losing your gracious-given attention and interest, and to accept the fact that sometimes, no amount of preparation can save me from the occasional blunder. 

Though they are late, these s'mores are absolutely superb.  I may not make tacos, or enchiladas, but I do make a pretty fine Mexican s’more.  

Let’s break this down.  Homemade cinnamon vanilla marshmallows, chocolate spiked with a pinch of cayenne and a hearty dose of ground cinnamon, smooth dulce de leche, and of course, graham crackers.  I really wish I had thought of using cinnamon sugar graham crackers for these s'mores.  Sadly, that little dose of genius just occurred to me two minutes ago, but it's not too late for you.  Go for the cinnamon, spice it up!     

Can a s’more be a s’more if you use a cookie in place of the graham crackers?  I don’t think so, but part of me really wants to make a s’more with a gooey, slightly underdone chocolate chip cookie… Let’s come back to that soon, okay?

These s’mores can have as much or as little heat as you like.  I like mine on the hotter side, but if you are making them for little ones you could forgo the cayenne altogether. 

These s'mores are not exactly mess-free, but I have never known a good s'more that was.  Happy Monday! 

Sincerely, 

Pedantic Foodie

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Mexican S’mores

makes 12, but can easily be divided or multiplied

for the s’mores

- 6 ounces milk or dark chocolate, either is delicious 

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 

- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 12 full graham crackers, broken in half

- 3/4 cup dulce de leche (you could make your own, but I took some help from my trusty friend Trader Joe)

- 12 cinnamon vanilla marshmallows (recipe below)

In a small, microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate by microwaving at thirty second increments, stirring after each.  Stir in ground spices.  Refrigerate the chocolate for 15-25 minutes, until the chocolate has thickened to a spreadable consistency, but has not hardened. 

To assemble: Spread one tablespoon of dulce de leche on one half of your graham cracker.  Set a marshmallow on top and toast with a kitchen torch.*  Spread about one tablespoon of chocolate on the remaining graham cracker half and place on top of the marshmallow, with the chocolate facing down.  Yeah, you know how to do this. ;) Serve immediately.  Enjoy! 

*Cook’s note:  You can certainly go the traditional route and toast your marshmallows over a campfire, however, I have found that homemade marshmallows tend to melt quicker and more easily over an open flame.  While I would normally suggest popping these under the broiler if you are making them for a group, the high heat does not blend well with the dulce de leche, so I would highly recommend investing in a torch.  I found mine at the hardware store for about fifteen dollars.  You’ll thank yourself.  (It’s way fun to torch things.) 

cinnamon vanilla marshmallows

- 3 packages unflavored gelatin 

- 1 cup ice cold water, divided use

- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

- 1 cup light corn syrup

- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Prepare a 9x13 pan by greasing with nonstick spray and dusting liberally with powdered sugar.  

In the work bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment, add 1/2 cup ice water and sprinkle with gelatin; allow to bloom while you prepare the syrup. 

In a small saucepan, combine remaining 1/2 cup ice water, granulated sugar, kosher salt, and corn syrup.  Place over medium high heat and cover.  Cook for 4 minutes, then uncover and attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan.  Cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F; about 8 minutes.  When syrup has come to temperature remove from the heat immediately.  With the stand mixer on low speed, slowly stream in the syrup.  

When all the syrup has been added, increase the speed to high.  Whip for 13 minutes.  During the last minute of beating, add ground cinnamon and vanilla extract.  Fold the marshmallow into the prepared pan and dust the top liberally with powdered sugar.  Cover the pan and let it set for 4-8 hours, until firm.

Flip the marshmallow out of the pan and unto a surface dusted with confectioner's sugar.  Use a greased pizza cutter to cut into squares.  Toss the cut squares in your remaining powdered sugar and store in an airtight container until ready to use, or up to a week.  Enjoy!

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