TFF: Bourbon Peach Cobbler
See that steam? That’s one hot cobbler, baby.
Last weekend was the local Peach Festival around here. It’s a pretty big draw every year, there’s never any place to park and the line of cars waiting to get in usually stretches about three miles. All of us want the same thing… to sample peach cobblers, pies, ice cream, salsa, and even slushies. The boyfriend and I always leave completely peached out, but still take home a huge bag wondering what we’re going to do with them all.
I was craving more cobbler after a few days passed by and I’ve had Tyler’s Bourbon Peach Cobbler recipe bookmarked forever. It was the perfect time to test it out.
I’ve still been out of the baking loop (and down a little over ten pounds now to show for it) and I felt really rusty being in the kitchen again. I was somehow tripling certain ingredients instead of cutting them in half (?) and rummaging around the cabinets not remembering my organized chaos ingredient placements. However, this was a good recipe to sort of get me back in the swing of things. It’s fast, easy and I could make it in just a few pans and bowls using basic kitchen utensils and my hands.
This cobbler is full of fresh peaches, has a thick sauce with a background note of bourbon and just the right sweetness and spice. The biscuits on top are brushed with heavy cream and sugar before baking and are perfect – crunchy on top, moist underneath. I’m telling you, you won’t even need ice cream to go on top of this (although I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt!). I didn’t use any simply because I didn’t have any in the house. The biscuit layers aren’t that overly sweet though, so be aware if you like things a little more sugary that you might want to add a little extra sugar to the dough or make sure you do have ice cream.
The only change I made was to adding a little vanilla to the peach filling. It seemed strange to me not to have any vanilla in the recipe.
I made half a batch and it was gone within an hour between the two of us.
I need more peach cobbler. Now.
Tyler Florence’s Bourbon Peach Cobbler
Show: Food 911 Episode: Chili Roundup
Ingredients
8 peaches, peeled and sliced, about 6 to 8 cups
1/4 cup bourbon
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing
Click here for directions
I do love this Tyler Florence, there’s no doubt about it.
Bourbon Peach Cobbler marks my 20th post for Tyler Florence Fridays, a group with the freedom to make any recipe of Tyler’s that they choose and then share their experiences every Friday.
BB Bonus: Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce
The Barefoot Bloggers June Bonus Recipe Challenge Winner was Becke of Columbus Foodie. That gave her the opportunity to choose the first ever BB bonus recipe. These picks are optional for all the bloggers to make but once I took a look at the Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce, there was no way I was sitting this one out.
I did some research and found that Coeur a la Creme is a classic French fresh cheese dessert that translates to “Heart of Cream”. It’s traditionally made in a heart shaped porcelain mold with holes in the bottom so any excess liquid can drain out while it sits overnight. However, I didn’t have one of the molds so I got to thinking what could work and came up with this:
PLUS
= It worked out fine. All I did was put a cheesecloth inside the cookie cutter, filled it up with the creme and then turned it out. Maybe my heart would have been more beauteous had I used the mold but I’m not complaining. I already owned the colander and the cookie cutter cost me 59 cents at AC Moore. Works for me.
Let me just say that this was one of the best things I have ever made. My boyfriend agreed, he couldn’t stay out of it. It’s so easy to make but then comes across totally fancy. The Raspberry and Grand Marnier sauce is soooo good.
Ina Garten’s Coeur a la Creme with Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce
Show: Barefoot Contessa Episode: Birthday Gift Dinner
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce, recipe follows
2 half-pints fresh raspberries
Raspberry and Grand Marnier Sauce:
1 half-pint fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup seedless raspberry jam
2 tablespoons orange-flavored liqueur
Directions
What I did: Used a colander and cookie cutter instead of the porcelain mold. No excess liquid drained out overnight though, maybe it’s common with other versions, just not Ina’s.
What I changed: I used extra vanilla instead of the scraped vanilla beans. I only had one pint of raspberries so I didn’t have enough after making the sauce to serve fresh raspberries with the Creme.
What I thought: Fabulous. I will make this again.
Thanks to Becke for picking such a great bonus recipe. Be sure to stop by Columbus Foodie to check out her Coeur a la Creme and then make your way over to Barefoot Bloggers and see how everyone else’s turned out. I know I can’t wait to see them.
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler – TWD (My 20th)
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection of Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler comes from Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake. The TWD group just recently made a Cobbler back in June (see Mixed Berry Cobbler) but I definitely didn’t mind making another one. These are the types of desserts my boyfriend will eat. Any time I don’t have to severely cut down a recipe to try to get as few servings as I can for just myself, it’s a good baking day. Plus, this cobbler recipe is very different from the last one we did. The obvious difference is the fruit that’s used but maybe less obvious is how different the topping is. The Mixed Berry Cobbler topping was plainer and was rolled out like a pie crust. The Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler topping is 1/2 whole wheat, jazzed up with ginger, rolled into little balls of dough and placed over the filling.
Rhubarb was a challenge to find. I went a couple places around here looking for it, but no rhubarb. Then I thought about trying a store near where I worked instead. The town I work in is a little fancier than the town I live in and the store I went to down there had absolutely EVERYTHING. Rhubarb, Dulce de Leche, Grape Leaves, Figs, Mascarpone, all kinds of jams and spreads… everything I’ve needed that I’ve had serious trouble finding. All in one place. The rhubarb I got was expensive but it was as big as a sword. I could’ve had a good old fashioned rhubarb fight. I’ve only ever seen it little celery sized stalks so that kind of surprised me.
What I changed: I used soy milk instead of regular milk in the topping. I used frozen cherries instead of fresh.
What I did: I followed the recipe exactly, except for using soy milk. One tiny mistake I made was I added the milk to the topping mixture before I was supposed to. I just dumped all the ingredients in and mixed at the same time. This gave me no problems, it turned out fine. Dorie says to peel the rhubarb but I only peeled it a little bit. I just took off any of the outside that looked like it needed to be removed. It just seemed like too much of a hassle to do the whole thing.
What I thought: I preferred this at room temperature instead of warm. The ginger gave it a real kick and a little bit of an aftertaste, but it wasn’t too much or overwhelming. I liked the addition of whole wheat flour in the topping a lot. The rhubarb and cherries together was an interesting flavor combo. I’ve only ever had strawberry and rhubarb. At times, the filling was kind of tart (which I expected it would be), but the crust did a nice job of evening out the taste.
This marks my 20th completed Tuesdays with Dorie recipe (which brings my total to 23 recipes made from Baking From My Home to Yours). I still have every intention on catching up on recipes that I wasn’t a member for, but I’ve taken a couple weeks off on the “Blast from TWD Past” posts. I’m getting extremely busy now that summer is in full swing and my stomach is pooching out a bit more than usual from all the good food that’s been created in my kitchen lately. Once things slow down and my three mile long walks become a habit, I’ll get back to the catching up posts. I’ve only got ten more recipes to go. That’s nothin’.
Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler comes from page 415 of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. Head on over to Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake to see how Amanda’s Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler turned out and to see the recipe. Then make your way to the Tuesdays with Dorie site to take a look at everyone else’s Cobbler creations.
Next week, Michelle of Michelle in Colorado Springs has chosen Summer Fruit Galette. See you next Tuesday!
Daring Bakers June 2008 Challenge: Danish Braid
Here we have my second Daring Bakers challenge. The first one, Opéra Cake, certainly posed various challenges for me. So I was curious to see how I would fare on the June 2008 selection, which turned out to be a Danish Braid chosen by Kelly of Sass and Veracity and Ben of What’s Cooking?.
Danish Pastry is a “laminated” dough, which means that it’s made up of dough and butter layers. There are two components – Detrempe: ball of dough and Beurrage: a butter block. The dough is rolled out in to a rectangle and folded up into thirds like a business letter. This “turn” of the dough is performed four times with 30 minutes of chilling time in between each turn and a final chill time of at least five hours before filling and braiding the dough.
I had no problems making the dough or shaping the braid. I decided to use a filling of Orange Cream Cheese Filling and an Orange Blueberry Sauce. This happened by accident because I thought I was using Vanilla Extract for the cream cheese filling but after I poured it in, realized I had used Orange instead. No worries though.
Update: I did make another mistake that I realized late last night. I never adjusted the oven temp down to 350 after the 10 minute mark….
The filling leaked out a lot but I thought presentation wise it was beautiful. And it tasted as good as it looked to me. It was a long road to get it finished in terms of all the waiting in between each step, but this was a really fun challenge. This is not something I ever would have attempted on my own and as I was finished and enjoying a piece of the final product, I was proud of myself for being able to pull it off. Stop by the Daring Bakers blogroll to see all of the different Danish Braid creations by other members. Can’t wait to see what’s in store for July!
From Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking
DANISH DOUGH
Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough
Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in a bowl and mix on low speed. Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice. Mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth. You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky. Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
BUTTER BLOCK
1. Combine butter and flour in a bowl and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free. Set aside at room temperature.
2. After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick. The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour. Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough. Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter. Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third. The first turn has now been completed. Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally. Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface. The open ends should be to your right and left. Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle. Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third. No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns. Make sure you are keeping track of your turns. Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight. The Danish dough is now ready to be used. If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it. To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze. Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling. Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.
DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids
Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups filling, jam, or preserves
For the egg wash: 1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
1. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick. If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again. Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2. Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart. Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3. Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle. Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover. Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling. This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished. Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.
Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.
Proofing and Baking
1. Spray cooking oil onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid. Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2. Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown. Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature. The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.
Mixed Berry Cobbler – TWD
This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie selection was Mixed Berry Cobbler chosen by Beth of Our Sweet Life. Things have been seeming a little rough for me lately. Ugh. So it’s actually the perfect time for a little comfort food and I can’t think of a more comforting dessert than cobbler.
This is an easy recipe, the filling and the crust are the only components. The nice thing is that you can use frozen berries and you don’t even have to defrost them first. I already had a couple of bags in my freezer and used a mix of mostly blueberries, a few blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.
I only had one little problem and that was after rolling out the crust. The crust just did not want to come off the wax paper and eventually I gave up and starting pulling it off and putting it together like little puzzle pieces over the filling. I guess I could’ve scraped off crust with something to try to keep it in one piece but I didn’t even think about that at the time because I was distracted by watching Legally Blonde while I baked. Anyway, cobblers aren’t meant to be works of art, right? No idea if my problem with the uncooperative dough could be related to the fact that I had to substitute a mixture of regular milk and butter for the heavy cream. The cream I had in the fridge expired last week, it smelled weird and I wasn’t about to use it. And I definitely wasn’t going to head out to the WalMart on Sunday morning just to get some more. Pre-baking crust issues or not, it really didn’t seem to make any difference once baked. The heavy cream substitution worked out in the end.
I had read some comments from other people that they thought the crust was too bland, or too salty or just not that good. I decided to double the amount of sugar and I thought it tasted just fine. I cut the whole recipe in half and baked in a smaller round glass dish for only about 35 minutes. I would make this again, both the boyfriend and I thought it was good. I didn’t have any vanilla ice cream but I’m sure that would make it even better.
The recipe for Mixed Berry Cobbler can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking From My Home to Yours and here. Head on over to the Tuesdays with Dorie site to check out how all the other TWD member’s cobblers turned out. Next week, the selection is Apple Cheddar Scones chosen by Karina of The Floured Apron. I have to say I’m kind of excited to make these, it’s one of those recipes that has intrigued me since I got the book. See you next Tuesday!
Mini Strawberry Mascarpone Cheesecakes
My friend Carey recently informed me that I say the word “mascarpone” wrong. Apparently, “Mars-Ca-Pone” is not the right way to say it. According to Wikipedia, it’s a common mistake to mispronounce it. I guess it’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one out there getting it wrong. “Mas-car-poh-nee” is the correct way to say it. Eww, that just sounds ugly. 
Anyway, I’ve always been a big fan of baking in small batches. I can’t remember the last time I made a full batch of anything. My boyfriend doesn’t really like sweets and I really don’t need a lot of stuff sitting around on the counter tempting me to “just take one more bite”. Normally, I cut recipes (at least) in half and it actually kind of gets on my nerves to figure out all the measurements. So when I stumbled across a book called “Small-Batch Baking” by Debby Maugans Nakos where the recipes produce servings for just one or two people I realized I could still bake from scratch… in small batches… and the measurements were already cut down for me. I knew I had to buy the book immediately, this was my kind of thing.
Now, Debby tells you that you can bake in old soup cans and things like that. I tried it, it didn’t work for me. It was fun though to see if it would actually work. You’d be ok with smaller sizes in loaf pans, tart pans and cake pans.
What really impressed me about the book was the sophistication of some of the recipes. For instance, Southern Peach Cobbler with Bourbon Cream. Um… yeah, baby! Or Pecan Meringue Tarts with Caramel Latte Mousse. Mmmm Hmmm. I think I may just be a sucker for words like “bourbon cream” and “caramel latte mousse” at the end of the recipe titles but whatever. It seems like some people have real issues with this book in some of the reviews I’ve read on it. But so far, I honestly haven’t had any problems with anything.
So, here we have Strawberry Mascarpone Cheesecake Tarts. These were pretty good. And there were only two of them… mini size. I ate an entire cheesecake in one sitting by myself and I don’t have to cry myself to sleep later on tonight for doing it. Nice!
Mini Strawberry Mas-car-poh-nee Cheesecake Tarts
adapted from Small-Batch Baking by Debby Maugans Nakos
makes 2 mini cheesecakes
What you need: Two 4 and 1 3/8 tart pans with removable bottoms, one baking sheet
Ingredients
Preparing the tart pans:
Unsalted butter, room temperature, for greasing tart pans
Crust:
1/3 cup vanilla wafer or graham cracker crumbs (I used vanilla wafers)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
For the glaze and filling:
Half a 10 oz package frozen strawberries IN SYRUP, thawed, with their juices **(I used about five ounces of fresh strawberries with around 3 tbsp of sugar mixed in and let them sit out on the counter for about 2 hours)
2/3 cup mascarpone cheese, at ROOM TEMPERATURE
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
Yolks of 2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
6-8 fresh strawberries hulled and sliced (see, you need fresh ones anyway)
Directions:
1. PREHEAT oven to 325 degrees, place a rack in the middle. Grease tart pans, place on baking pan, set aside.
2. FOR THE CRUST mix crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter in a bowl and whisk until blended. Press mixture firmly into the bottoms of pans (and up the sides if you want, although your crust may seem real thin in places). Bake on baking sheet for about 8-10 minutes or until crusts are just about set. Transfer to wire rack, cool completely. Leave your oven on.
3. FOR THE GLAZE press thawed strawberries through a sieve (I used a wire mesh thing that worked fine) to extract all juices and some of the pulp. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook down until reduced to 3 tablespoons (about 15-20 min, but watch yourself, make sure you stir and keep an eye on it). Remove from heat and cool completely.
4. FOR THE FILLING place mascarpone and sugar in bowl and beat on medium JUST until smooth. Reduce speed to low, add in flour. Add egg yolks, one teaspoon of strawberry syrup, vanilla and salt. Beat just until blended. Pour filling into tart pans. Cover remaining strawberry syrup and place in refrigerator.
5. BAKE for about 28 minutes until cheesecakes appear dry and have just begun to brown. Transfer to wire rack, cool completely. Cover and refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight.
6. FINISHING begins with heating up strawberry syrup (I added a little water to mine). Cook on low until it’s nice and liquidy again. Brush a small amount on the top of each cheesecake. Place the sliced strawberries on top of each tart and brush remaining syrup over the tops. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
7. ENJOY!
What I DID, CHANGED, THOUGHT:
Used fresh strawberries, not frozen and vanilla wafers which were good although I think I would use graham crackers next time for more of a color difference.
I think only putting the crust on the bottom may have made the cheesecakes overflow. It seemed a little heavy on crust compared to the filling to me anyway.
It tasted good. I would make it again. Maybe try a different fruit such as blueberries.
It felt awkward leaving my oven on for such a long period of time without actually using it.
I found it REAL hard to wait for all the stuff to cool completely.
I like this picture. I like how you can see the dots on my plastic cutting board.
Pioneer Woman’s Apple Dumplings. Ohhh, baby!
Seriously. It doesn’t get much better than these Apple Dumplings from The Pioneer Woman Cooks! website. I mean, it just doesn’t. I’ve been looking at these for a while and wondering if I should make them because I am *supposed* to be on a diet. Now I have no problem sticking to my diet from about 10pm to 5am… when I’m in bed asleep. But the rest of the time is a struggle because I absolutely love sugar, pasta, bread and some extra sugar. You know, all those “white poisons” I always hear are just what you should stay away from. But who needs all that stress in their life that comes with denying yourself pleasure from certain foods? Especially ones like these apple dumplings? Not me!
These are so easy to make. There’s very few ingredients. Nothing fancy or complicated, especially the “secret” ingredient that I think is what takes these to the next level taste wise.
The great thing about these is how crusty the top gets. And it’s all sugary. Another plus.
But then the bottom is a totally different texture. It’s soft from the apples and the dough cooking in all that good secret ingredient liquid. I was a huge fan of this texture difference. My boyfriend also really liked these and he rarely likes anything sweet.
Ice cream is a nice addition to lots of extra sauce from the bottom of the pan spooned over everything.
Ree’s Pioneer Woman site is a must read of mine everyday. She has a TON of readers, so a lot of people probably already know or have at least heard of her, but if you haven’t check out her site here. She always has funny and heartwarming stories to share about herself, her family and country life on a ranch. She has great sections on cooking, photography and Photoshop tips. I’ve made three things from her cooking site now: Best Lasagna Ever, Sherried Tomato Soup and now these Apple Dumplings. All three recipes turned out awesome AND passed the boyfriend test, too. (Which is not easy to do!) Her site really stands apart from other ones because she does a step-by-step approach to each step to a recipe, complete with photos. You feel like “This looks easy! I think I can do it!” once you see it broken down in that way. Plus, she interjects her humor throughout which is much better than just the usual reading of “Put all ingredients in a bowl and stir”.
Apple Dumpling recipe can be found here. You must make these like… tonight. Please don’t be like me and forget the cinnamon on top before putting in the oven. I said in my last post that I always get ahead of myself and end up forgetting something once I get in the middle of things. Although, even without the cinnamon these were delicious so I’ll have to try them again with the cinnamon to get the full intended effect. Um, I sure hope I can handle it!
Dear Diet,
I think we should break up.
