A few weeks ago an old friend called to invite me and a mutual friend for lunch at her home.  I hadn’t seen either of them in quite awhile, so I was very happy at the prospect of a few hours of good conversation, great food, and lots of laughs.  The day before the lunch she sent me an email asking me to bring cookies, because she knows I always have some in the freezer.  Though I had a small variety of French Macarons in the freezer, I thought it would be nice to bring a summery treat, as well.

I had just watched an episode of The Kitchen, where Katie Lee made an unusual peach cobbler.  I was intrigued while watching it, and this was just the excuse I needed to try the recipe.  When you read the recipe, you will see that this is not a traditional cobbler with a biscuit-like topping.  After you put the batter on the peaches, you will pour a cup of boiling water over the top. Very unusual!!

The morning of the luncheon, I picked up some fresh peaches and set out to make the cobbler.  It was done minutes before I had to leave.  I grabbed the macarons, the cobbler and some vanilla ice cream and ran out the door!  She only lives a few blocks from me, so the cobbler was still hot and bubbling when I arrived.  It looked fabulous and smelled even better.

It was a huge hit!  The top has a crispness to it that I hadn’t expected.  I think it is the cornstarch that adds the crunch. It’s hard to describe what the topping is like, but it is delicious, and I think you will be very happy that you gave this recipe a try.

I brought a little bit home for my husband to try.  He isn’t crazy about peaches, but he loved the topping.  I decided to make it again with nectarines, which he does like.  He raved about it.  He’s not a huge sweet eater, so that was high praise from him.  I’m anxious to try it with other fruits, too.  I hope you will give it a try, too! Don’t forget to comment with any changes you make.

Blanch the peaches in boiling water for about a minute.  My peaches were small and I knew I would need more than the recipe called for to get the correct measurement needed for the recipe.  If you end up with too many peaches, you can always freeze them for future use.

When they are done blanching, put them in an ice water bath to stop the cooking action.

Next peel, slice and measure the peaches.

Place the peaches in a 9-by-9-inch baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Add the milk and melted butter and mix well. Pour the batter evenly over the peaches.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the cornstarch and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle the mixture over the batter. Evenly pour the boiling water all over.