Summer baking - peach blueberry cobbler and a bit more

Peach blueberry cobbler

Recently we had a lovely cool-in-the-50s day with a gentle/sometimes heavy soaking rain that lasted ALL day! Somewhat unusual for August, It was nonetheless much needed and I could tell the earth was so happy.

I puttered in the kitchen using up some fresh Michigan peaches that I hadn’t otherwise had time for and fresh blueberries from one of our great local markets.

A couple of years ago I had purchased Lindsey Shere’s “Chez Panisse Desserts” but have only tried a smattering of recipes, most notably the almond torte. I turned to and checked out the cobbler dough - biscuit like (no egg which I normally use to make my scones), it comes together in a bowl, by hand, with cold cubed unsalted butter and cold cream added to all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and a bit of sugar. You can create whatever shapes that delight you - I went for rough diamonds - or should I say diamonds in the rough?

Here’s my version of the cobbler dough: in a medium bowl blend 195 g/1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour (Lindsey uses all purpose), 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder and 1.5 tablespoons sugar; blend in 85 g/6 tablespoons cold, cubed butter with your fingertips to create coarse crumbs but leaving some flattened pieces of butter visible in the mix; with a fork quickly mix in 3/4 cup of dairy consisting of half cold buttermilk and half cold heavy cream (Lindsey uses all heavy cream); bring together with a bowl scraper then turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap and bring in any remaining dry flour with your hands.

Fold the plastic wrap over the dough leaving enough space to lightly roll the dough between the plastic into a rectangle about 7”x10” and 1/3” thick. Chill until ready to use - that makes it easier to handle and to cut into your desired shapes.

SIDE NOTE: here’s a cobbler post a few years ago using another delicious topping dough.

Yum!

For this smallish sized cobbler I used about 4.5 to 5 cups of fruit - about 3.5 cups sliced peaches (peeled and de-stoned) and 1.5 cups blueberries - tossed with 3 tablespoons sugar and 1.5 tablespoon flour. Spread into a small Pyrex 7-ish by 10-ish casserole, I dotted a few bits of butter all over, placed my cobbler pieces on top, brushed them with milk and added a sprinkle of raw sugar.

Bake at 400ºF for 20-25 minutes until the fruit is bubbly and the topping golden brown. If you’re happy with the bubbly-ness of the fruit but need a bit more top browning, reduce the oven to 350ºF and give it another 5-10 minutes.

Serve warm, slightly warm or at room temperature and don’t forget either a dollop of whipped cream of a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Even a sprinkle of sliced, toasted almonds adds just that extra something. Creamy, crunchy, fruity and delicious.

Pretty tasty

Because it’s still blueberry season I had an itch to make Joanne Chang’s maple blueberry scones again too. Boy they’re good!!

I scoop them out in a more petite version than Joanne does. Lightly glazed, a cross between a scone and a muffin, the texture is wonderful. Best of all they hold up to a couple of days’ shelf life wrapped loosely in parchment paper at room temperature. A short 10 second microwave warm up is just the ticket before enjoying. They freeze well too!

Our neighbors were getting ready to drive their daughter up north to return to school so I gave them a fresh boxful for the road. Another neighbor is recovering from an injury so guess what - she was also a recipient.

Of course I did keep a couple on hand for morning coffee and savored every bite.

Summer marches on and I’m dreaming of cooler weather and autumn days bustling in the kitchen. Can’t wait!

Black-eyed Susans along the walking path

Tosca almond torte

This project came about as a result of three forces: Lindsey Shere, Brontë Aurell and Dorie Greenspan. Not a bad way to start eh?

For some months I’ve had the simple almond torte recipe from Lindsey Shere’s iconic book “Chez Panisse Desserts” on my to do pile. I still had some of Mandelin’s fabulous almond paste on hand and thought why not?!

So I made it and LOVED it!

Here’s the torte run down: butter a 9” springform pan or round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment; heat the oven to 325ºF; beat 250 g/1.25 cups sugar with 227 g/8 ounces soft almond paste (it works well to grate it!) to blend well; beat in 227 g / 8 ounces soft unsalted butter and a teaspoon vanilla extract then cream for several minutes until light and fluffy; beat in 6 large room temperature eggs, ONE at a time, until each is thoroughly blended in; fold in 130 g/1 cup all purpose flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt, blending just until combined. Transfer batter to prepared pan, smoothing the top with a small offset spatula.

Bake for about an hour to an hour and a quarter, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remember - always check sooner than later! Gently touch the center and it should feel springy. Let it cool in the pan about 20 minutes then un-mold and cool on a wire rack.

Here it is in all its simple glory, bottom side up. No muss, no fuss - just one delicious cake. On it’s own dusted with confectioner’s sugar or with some lightly whipped cream and fresh berries, it’s all good.

Then two other things happened that pushed me to the next step in this process. I happened upon a Dorie Greenspan piece in NYT Cooking with a recipe for “Swedish Almond Cake”.

Hmmm I thought, this one sounds good too. While the cake itself doesn’t contain any almond ingredients, It’s deelish and buttery and includes a cooked almond/butter/sugar/flour topping (known in Sweden as “tosca” topping) that goes onto the cake part way through the bake.

I made D.G.’s version and it’s fantastic. Just go to the recipe and try it yourself - you won’t be disappointed.

Now cue Brontë Aurell’s book “Brontë at Home” to which I’ve referred in both my rye buns and Danish Kringle posts. That’s where I first learned about tosca topping. Her’s is very much like the one Dorie G. uses with just a few slight variations. Hey! Why not make Lindsey Shere’s almond torte and add the tosca topping to it? What a wonderful almond-y treat it could be!

And so I did.

A quick note: I recommend using a springform pan for this since it would be difficult to turn it out of a standard round cake pan due to the topping.

Prepare the almond torte batter and once the cake is in the oven, get the topping ingredients ready to go. I tweaked DG’s topping recipe by reducing the butter and sugar, using brown sugar instead of granulated and subbing heavy cream for milk.

Here’s my mise: 80 g / 5.5 tablespoons unsalted butter; 100 g / ~ a cup sliced almonds; 80 g / scant 1/2 cup dark brown sugar; 2 tablespoons all purpose flour; 3 tablespoons heavy cream.

The baking time for the almond torte is somewhat longer than for Dorie G’s butter cake but either way, bake the cake about half way then make the tosca topping. Mix the topping ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to melt the butter. Bring to a boil and cook for a minute or so.

Take the partially baked cake out of the oven and gently portion the topping over the cake, spreading with a small offset to cover the top. Pop it back into the oven and finish baking.

The topping should become beautifully golden, the liquid-y appearance should set and caramelize and the aroma . . . . Oh my.

Soon after it comes out of the oven take a paring knife or offset spatula and gently run it around the edges of the cake so they won’t stick to the pan. Then let it cool 10-15 minutes, remove the sides of the springform pan and finish cooling to room temperature.

Enjoy a slice with a fresh cup of coffee or tea or just by itself au naturel. It is SO good.

Here’s to a safe and calm summer with beautiful deep blue skies and nature’s varied hues to give us peace.

We can do this.