The family and I have been on vacation in North Carolina the past few days visiting my husband’s parents. Ben’s parents have a farm up near Asheville with goats, cows, chickens, sheep and pigs. We always look forward to taking time from our hectic schedules to slow down in the mountains.

I remember the very first time that I ever went to visit his parents in North Carolina. Ben’s parents had a beautiful home up in the mountains that originally had been a barn. The house was warmly decorated with country chic decor and vaulted ceilings that brought a modern feeling to the once barn home. There were beautiful flowers blooming all around the house and bushes of wild berries growing carelessly across their property. After arriving from a long and tired car trip, we ate supper. Even though I can’t remember what we ate for dinner, I definitely remembered dessert. Ben’s mother, Kathy, made a peach and blueberry pie. Growing up I had never had much pie other than maybe apple so I was curious to try this combination. This pie was absolutely divine. It was the best pie that I had ever eaten. It wasn’t too sweet and the crust was perfectly golden brown and flaky. Perfect, perfect, perfect pie.

On our last night on our most current trip, Kathy made her blueberry peach pie for good ol’ times sake. 🙂 It was just as good as I remembered. There was just something so magical about being in the country mountain setting and eating a warm peach blueberry pie that gave me a feeling of being relaxed and not so focused on time. A feeling of home away from home.

We made it back home to Florida a day before the 4th of July. We were expecting family over the following day to celebrate Independence day with us and I was obviously in charge of dessert. There is the usual red, white and blue flag cake but I wanted to make something different. Something simple yet homey. So I decided to make a Blueberry Peach cobbler. I found a recipe in a cookbook that I had purchased in Asheville while visiting this past week and thought it would be the perfect dessert to celebrate with. It’s summer time and peaches and berries are at their peak which makes for a fresh and inexpensive dessert to make.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and your 4th of July holiday.

 

 

Blueberry Peach Cobbler

(adapted from Sunny Point Cafe recipe book, “Breakfast and Beyond- comfort food from dawn to dark, By April Moon)

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and dried
• 1 1/2 lbs of  fresh peaches, peeled and sliced –about 3 large peaches
• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour and 1 tbsp. white wheat flour
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg + a pinch of ground cardamom

Topping

• 1 c. all purpose flour and 1 c. white wheat flour
• 1 tbsp and 1 tsp. of baking powder (non-aluminum, if desired)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tbsp. raw sugar
• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. heavy cream + 1/2 c. half and half
• 2 tbsp. raw sugar for sprinkling on top

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together blueberries, peaches, flour, sugar, nutmeg and cardamom. Turn fruit into a well greased 2 quart baking dish.

2. Make the topping. Place flours, baking powder, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut butter into small chunks and work into the flour with fingertips or a pastry cutter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Using a tablespoon drop batter over the top of the fruit until entire surface is covered. Sprinkle with raw sugar.

3. Place cobbler in the preheated oven and bake 30-40 minutes. The top will be golden and the center bubbling when done. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

  

Some tips from the little red bird:

• If you only have all-purpose flour, omit the white wheat and  use all-purpose throughout the recipe. I like to integrate whole grains when ever I can. And by halving the all-purpose, this will help bring more fiber and nutrients.
• If you choose to use the white wheat, remember, it is a much heavier flour so the “batter” that you end up spooning over the top will be thicker due to the fact that it absorbs more moisture than the all-purpose flour does.
• Raw sugar can be substituted for regular. Raw sugar is sugar that has not been processed or bleached, therefore, it has a golden look to it due to the molasses which is a by-product that come from the fiber of the stem of the sugar cane.
• Ground cardamom is optional. The reason I added it was because of the fruity aroma it provides and how it gives this dish a little something special.
• I peeled the peaches but you can leave the skin on. I love to leave the skin on but also want to make sure that when you bite into a peach, there isn’t a long string of skin connected from your mouth to your fork. Not very visually appealing.