There were just seven luscious, organic Georgia peaches left in my favorite white ceramic bowl. I could have easily devoured every one of them, as-is. I could have grilled them until caramelized and then poured warm cream over the top with lavender, toasted pecans and a light drizzle of maple syrup.

But I wanted a crumble. I also wanted a cobbler, and I didn't have enough peaches to make both.

A trip to the store would have been no match for the roadside peaches I picked up at the border, floral and perfectly ripe, plucked from the tree that morning.

I settled on cobbler, and as I was plopping the biscuit dough onto the sugared peaches, I noticed quite a lot of unused real estate. There were large gaps between biscuit dough plops, creating pathways of unpaved cobblestone peach roads.

I wanted to pave those roads with something — fruit, more biscuit dough, something. As I mulled over the options, I nibbled the leftover bits of butter, sugar and flour used to coat the peach slices. I think you know what's coming next…

I mixed up a quick crumble topping, sprinkled the exposed peaches with the sugary nubs of butter and flour, popped the dish into the oven and waited patiently.

Fluffy, buttery biscuits, saturated with intense peach nectar, generously made room for the crispy, sweet crumbles clinging to the warm fruit; definitely worth the drive, and worthy of the beautiful fruit.

For the peaches:
7 ripe organic peaches, 1/2" slices
1/2 cup organic sugar
1 vanilla bean pod, split, seeds scraped
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon peach brandy (optional)

For the crumble:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter, diced

For the biscuit dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, diced
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream

Prepare the peaches:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, add sliced peaches, sugar, vanilla bean seeds, butter, flour, salt, pepper, lemon and brandy. Gently toss to coat.

Make the crumble:
In a small bowl, add sugar, butter, flour and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the other ingredients to form small clumps, ranging in sizes from a dime to a nickel. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the biscuit dough:
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles a course meal with pea-sized pieces of fat. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and heavy cream. Add to the flour and mix until just blended. The dough should be sticky, but not wet.

Assemble and bake:
Pour the fruit and accumulated juices into a large shallow baking dish. Divide the biscuit dough into 5 equal pieces and plop onto the fruit, equally spaced. Sprinkle the crumble mixture between the biscuits, over the exposed fruit.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and the fruit is just starting to bubble. Remove from oven and cool on the stove top for 30 minutes before serving.

Post by Dawn Viola : DawnViola.com