Peaches!!!

Do you see these peaches? Do you know how many peaches these are? A little over five pounds buddy. Yep. That’s A LOT. It took me approximately an hour to wash, sort, and slice these puppies. A dear friend of ours has a beautiful peach tree along with an avocado, lemon, lime, and orange tree; boysenberries, grape vines, and a lovely gazebo to complete the lovely yard. Very picturesque. When we arrived the tree was ABUNDANT with peaches. Nothing I had imagined to see or let alone to be picking from.


Now I understand how technology haters feel. Computers, phones, cameras, iPods. All of that. All of it is unpredictable and absolutely stubborn. The point is, I’m going to have to “paint my pictures with my words.” That being said, allow me to continue.

When we arrived to this magnificent abode of a yard, the tree was laden with peaches. Now these peaches didn’t look like your typical grocery store peaches. They were more of an orange apricot color than the typical red color. The red was present, but the orange more so.

Peaches are known for being the “fuzzy” fruit. You think the peaches in the store are fuzzy??? Ha! That’s HILARIOUS. These peaches are so fuzzy, when taken a bite out of; fuzz would literally be sitting on the top of your lip. Instead of a milk mustache, it’s a peach fuzz mustache!

What’s incredible and almost bizarre, is the fact that the peaches would begin to rot almost instantly after being picked. Four hours after being picked, I had to begin cutting off appearing bruises and throw out liquefying fruit.

Like I said, it took me about an hour to complete this job. The single picture above is the one picture my camera decided to cooperate for.

And guess what?! Remember when I was, uhmm, talking about superfine sweet rice flour? Well, I’ve learned a lot. Allow me to explain. We’ve already established that Sweet Rice flour is sticky or for a “chewy” sort of substance when used. Tapioca Flour gives you elasticity needed in your goods. Normally, any sort of rice flour makes for a very delicate scone, bread, anything, when combined properly with the correct ratio of tapioca and/or potato flour.

…I just realized I haven’t told you what I’m sharing with you. Lol. Sorry about that. Peach Cobbler. Yum. Goes perfectly with a Southern meal. Fried catfish, ribs, Mac n’ cheese, chili, cornbread, greens, jambalaya, and end it with sweet potato pie or peach cobbler :-). (Make sure to wipe up that drool on your shirt).

Back to my scientific discovery. The scone batter I used for the cobbler called for rice flour, tapioca flour, and xanthan gum. The only kind of rice flour I have on hand is the superfine sweet rice flour. That being taken into context, combination of all those ingredients would just about equal…..sticky, chewy mess. So, I extracted the Xanthan gum from the picture. And the result? Tahdah! A tasty top on your cobbler!

The scone recipe was produced by Darina Allen and Rosemary Kearney. I tweaked it a bit, of course, to fit the cobbler needs.

*If you use regular rice flour, 2 tsp Xanthan gum is needed. The scone recipe was originally produced in grams and ounces. If you can follow the weights, I highly recommend it. To give you an idea for the ounces, 8 oz is approximately one cup.

**I suggest serving it or devouring it with Butter Pecan Ice Cream.



GF DF Peach Cobbler

-1/2 cup Water
-3 tbsp Cornstarch
-3/4 cup White Sugar
-1/2 cup Brown Sugar
-1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
-8 qt. sliced Peaches

-275 g/10 oz superfine Sweet Rice Flour
-50 g/2 oz Tapioca Flour
-4 tsp Baking Powder
-1 tsp Salt
-1/4 White Sugar
-1 tsp Cinnamon
-110 g/ 4 oz Earth Balance
-2 Eggs
-125 – 175 ml/ 4 – 6 oz Plain Soy Yogurt (Wildwood)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line with parchment paper or oil a 9*13inch pan. Stir cornstarch into water until all clumps are gone. On low heat, dissolve cornstarch and sugars to the point of simmering. Add vanilla extract. Follow with peaches. Simmer on low heat until peaches are soft and juices become syrupy. In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or fork, break up and mix earth balance until a coarse mixture forms. In a separate bowl mix eggs and yogurt. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients until well combined. Don’t over mix. You still want to see the butter pieces. Pour to the peaches into the pan and spoon the batter on top. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted.