Peach (or Pluot) Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Kristen Miglore’s Genius Desserts arrived at my door at the end of August, and about five minutes later, I found myself at my Co-op buying peaches, the cobbler with hot sugar crust calling my name.
The peaches, unfortunately, were rock hard, and for a minute I considered putting the experiment on hold until the peaches ripened. I decided instead to compromise: I would use the rock-hard peaches immediately, but halve the recipe to minimize waste in the event of disaster.
Much to my delight and surprise, after 80 minutes in the oven, the peaches softened beautifully and not an iota of fruit or crumb was wasted. The following weekend, Labor Day, I made the full recipe, dividing the batter among two pans, using peaches—ripe this time— in one, pluots in another. And this past weekend, I used Honey Crisp apples. I brought the cobbler to a small get together with friends, where, as melting vanilla ice cream pooled around the stewy, sugar-crusted fruit, it was met with rave reviews.
Phew! I’ve been trying to get this cobbler post out for weeks, and I feared it would have to wait till next summer, but this recipe continues proving to be both versatile and forgiving—any number of fruits at any level of ripeness seem to work; scale the recipe up or down as needed.
Did I mention it’s easy, too? When using stone fruit, there’s no need to peel: the cut fruit go right into the pan with a little lemon zest, juice, and nothing more—there’s no thickening agent; just fruit. The batter is a mix of softened butter, sugar, a nice amount of salt, baking powder, flour, and milk. It comes together in about 5 minutes.
Note: This is not a traditional cobbler. For one, the batter is not at all biscuit-like (made with cold butter cut into flour, mixed with cold liquid) and cannot be cut into discs and dropped neatly over the fruit. Second, it employs a curious method:
Kristen writes: “Only after smoothing on a layer of batter and dusting the top with sugar do you encounter the uncomfortable step of sloshing hot water over the top of your lovely cobbler.” As the cobbler bakes, the water steams away, and “a dainty crust forms, blanketing the cake and saucy peaches like a sheet of Bubble Wrap, begging to be popped.”
The crust is so, so good—upon removing the cobbler from the oven, it’s nearly impossible not to tap a spoon into to send cracks rippling across its surface. The crust is very thin and light, unlike many recipes of its kind, and the cobbler as a whole is on the delicate side: a thin layer of bubbling fruit topped with a shatteringly crisp crust. It’s really lovely.
Friends, I’ve included the full recipe for the peach cobbler below and the half recipe for the apple cobbler on the next post. And I hope to share more recipes from Genius Desserts this fall — so far, I’ve made Maida Heatter’s East 62nd Street Lemon Cake, which was a huge hit with kids and friends alike, and Cook’s Illustrated Blondies, which I had made and loved shortly after Kristen first wrote about them. They are just as good as ever.
Friends, as you know, I am a huge fan of Food52 and Kristen Miglore, whose writing is as enjoyable as her recipes—I look forward every week to her Wednesday column, which never fails to make me laugh, to teach me something, to make me rethink something else, or to get me scribbling down a grocery list. Genius Desserts, a combination of greatest hits — think: Dorie’s World Peace Cookies , David Lebovitz’s Chocolate sorbet — and new surprises, is no exception.
UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED. WINNER IS DEBBIE HALTZMAN. I’VE EMAILED YOU. Friends, I have an extra, author-signed copy of Genius Desserts, which I would love to give to one of you. Do you have an all-time favorite dessert? Let me know in the comments. For the giveaway, U.S. residents only (sorry, Friends from afar!!).
Peach (or Pluot!) Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 8-10
Description
From Kristen Miglore’s Food52 Genius Desserts
To make a half recipe and to use apples, see this post: Apple Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust
If you like video guidance, I made this in Instagram Stories
Tart pan: This summer, after realizing I didn’t have a good pan in which to make clafouti, I invested in this set of Toulouse tart pans from Food52’s Shop. I absolutely love them. I’ve used them to make eggplant involtini, quinoa-stuffed poblano peppers, and, as here, peach and pluot cobbler with hot sugar crust. They are dishwasher safe and clean up like a dream.
Ingredients
- 10 large, ripe peaches (about 4 1/2 pounds / 2kg) or pluots or other stone fruit, pitted but not peeled, cut into 1-inch (2.5cm) chunks
- 1 large lemon
- 1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups (400g) sugar, divided
- 1 1/2 cups (190g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (185g) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (120g) hot water
- Heavy cream or ice cream, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C), with a rack in the center. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Arrange the peaches in a 9 by 13-inch (23 by 33cm) or two 10-inch pie plates or other similar-size baking pan or gratin dish. Using a zester or Microplane, zest about 2 teaspoons of lemon zest evenly over the fruit. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze about 1⁄4 cup (60g) of lemon juice over the top.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and 1 1/2 cups (300g) of the sugar on medium speed until creamy but sandy, about 1 minute. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and beat on medium speed until all the flour is incorporated and the mixture is evenly crumbly, about 30 seconds more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the milk. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the batter is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Scoop the batter in about 6 large blobs over the peaches. With an offset spatula or the back of a big spoon, carefully spread the batter evenly over the fruit.
- Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup (100g) sugar over the batter. Drizzle the hot water evenly over the sugar, using it to melt the sugar topping.
- Set the pan on the foil-lined baking sheet and bake the cobbler until the top is golden brown and cracked, 70 to 80 minutes. A toothpick stuck in the topping should come out clean or with just crumbs clinging—be sure to check in a few places.
- Let the cobbler cool for about 30 minutes to firm up. Serve warm, scooping it into big bowls and pouring a little heavy cream over the top. Refrigerate any leftovers airtight.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 80 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
196 Comments on “Peach (or Pluot) Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust”
Chocolate Layer Cake would always be my first choice for a favorite dessert! Love everything you do!!❤️
I think my favorite dessert is pumpkin pie. I also love mixing hot with cold, like brownie with ice cream or pie with ice cream. This recipe looks delicious!
Thanks for this offering! My new favorite is olive oil rosemary cake with dark chocolate. Man is it delish!
Coconut cream pie is my all-time favorite dessert! I’m continually inspired by you to try new things. Thanks for all you share! And so glad you got to visit Paris!!
this looks so beautiful. picking a favorite dessert feels almost impossible, but my first thought went to the Al Di La chocolate pear cake (via SK), served with some simple whipped cream (or mascarpone cream). It’s the recipe that first taught me about the delightful nuttiness of browned butter and is deliciousness in every bite. thanks for all of your amazing recipes!
Mm, I’m such a sucker for that crisp, sugary crust. The dessert I get most excited about, each year, is that NY times plum cake with the little plums. So good!!
Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream. YUMMMMMMMMY!!!! This sound awesome, too. 🙂
Apple crisp! I can’t wait to make this cobbler. It looks like my cup of tea! (or crisp!)
This looks so delicious! Apple blondies are my favorite dessert, It goes great with cup of tea on a nice fall day.
All the pies!
It’s hard to choose a favorite, especially when your post just reminded me of balzano apple cake, and my old standby is The classic New York Times chocolate chip cookie BUT I am going to say the winner for me today is actually berry pie. My mother-in-law told me some of her secrets to great berry pie and I have been tweaking it ever since. It’s great every time!
pies, crumbles, fruit desserts are my favorite. Just lightly sweetened so it doesn’t mask the yumminess of the fruit. Can’t wait to try this one!
My all time fave is German chocolate cake. I eat it every year on my birthday and this year, started a new tradition of having it for breakfast on my birthday.! I’d also claim croqueembouche as my favorite of all time.
It’s so hard to pick a favorite desert, but something that always sounds good is a perfect, warm chocolate chip cookie. I’ve recently been hooked on the recipe for Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies you posted awhile back. It’s perfect!
Alice Waters’ fig and raspberry galette is one of my go-tos when figs are in season. 🙂
Oatmeal cookies, or ginger pound cake with lemon curd, no, wait, apple dumplings with rolly-polly’s made from the leftover dough.
But I must look-up the fig and raspberry galette mentioned above. Sounds like a new favorite is in my future.
Peach Cobbler is and always will be my favorite dessert!!!!!
My fav dessert is apple crisp! I’ve been eating it all summer. I was looking for a yummy peach recipe to try and this is it! The good news is I don’t have to wait til next summer for peaches cuz they’re all kinds of possibilities to use in this cobbler!
Thanks so much Alexandra for sharing this!
Have a great weekend!
Peanut Butter Cookies — my Grandma made the best ones!
I make a butter almond cake that I cant get enough of. But your posted cobbler may become my new fave. It looks crazy good.
A good old fashioned vanilla pound cake is my favoriate dessert of all time. Always reminds me of my grandmother! Hers were the best!
My all time favorite dessert is brown bread ice cream: Vanilla ice cream with caramelized grape nuts!
My favorite dessert was always apple or cherry pie….until this Cobbler with Hot Sugar Crust! Thank you for my new best favorite. ????
Don’t know what the questions marks are there. I put a happy face!
So hard to pick just one favorite, but a classic French apple tart is always a good bet!
This looks so good I might make for thanksgiving. One of my favorite desserts is carrot cake with lots of cream cheese frosting. And must have tons of raisins!
If I told you how many years I’ve been making Maida Heatter’s Lemon Cake, I would have to tell you how old I am! But I will tell you that yours is the best food blog/newsletter/website. Ever. Will there be another cookbook any time soon? Thank you for all your hard work.
My all time favorite is custard pie. Lots of nutmeg.
My favorite dessert has got to be Key slime pie with a high merengue topping…. Mmmm
My favorite dessert would have to be the Paris Brest I had in parks at Jacques genin! So divine. I could eat it forever and ever…
Paris***
Hi, There are a few desserts that I really enjoy like Old Fashioned Crumb Cake, Italian Sesame Cookies & a Brownie Tart with coco nibs that I like to serve with fresh strawberries. Your Paris trip brought to mind a real favorite, French Profiteroles. I like to make them before then fill them with good ice cream & freeze. The puffs stay crisp if done just the day before. For serving I throw together a nice Chocolate Ganache & pour it warm over the frozen filled puffs. The combo of the frozen eggy puffs, ice cream & warm chocolate sauce just does it for me. I like to go with strawberry for the ice cream but then I’m partial to strawberries & chocolate together. …heavenly