Cinnamon Swirl Peach Cobbler

by Peter on Sep.04, 2009, under Baking, Desserts & Sweets

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I remember that this time of year was always a busy time when I was a kid. Of course, school was starting, which was always exciting and busy, as my parents hauled my brother and me all over to buy school supplies, new school clothes and new school shoes. Growing up in a small town in Vermont, this usually proved to be quite a production with a big family trip down to Burlington, an hour away, and the closest mall in the area. In addition, there was plenty to do in the garden with harvesting all the late summer produce and watching after the vegetables that would be harvested later in the fall. On top of all this there was lots of canning and freezing going on. Corn needed to be removed from the cob before freezing and green beans needed to have the strings removed before they could be processed for canning. While I am sure that there were a number of items my parents canned, I can only vividly remember three of them: tomatoes, green beans and peaches. What I remember most about the green beans is the boring job of having to snap off the ends and pull the strings. After canning I can remember listening for the “pops” as the jars cooled and the lids were pulled tight by the vacuum created.

The tomatoes were the worst, from what I remember. While Mom and Dad may have canned whole and diced tomatoes, what I remember most was the tomato juice they canned. I loved the tomato juice, but I remember just hating the way the house smelled as my parents cooked, peeled, pureed, and processed those tomatoes. If I was lucky, it was nice outside and I could escape the odoriferous confines of the house. If luck wasn’t on my side it rained on the days my parents canned and my brother and I were stuck, having to bear the assault on our olfactory nerves all day long.

On the other hand, I don’t really remember much about my parents canning peaches. I can remember the trips out to farms or markets to buy bushels of peaches, but I don’t remember much about the canning process. What I do remember though, is how good those peaches tasted on snowy mornings before school, or sneaking into the fridge after school to steal a sip of the sweet, syrupy juice those peaches sat in.

My parents haven’t canned peaches in years, and I have not yet tried my hand at canning them, but my brother does, and always makes sure we get a jar or two around Christmas time. My wife hoards them, doing here best to keep me out, and for the most part, I obey, but occasionally, late at night, when everyone else is in bed, I’ll sneak into the kitchen for just one more sip of that syrupy, sweet goodness.

Peach Cobbler is one of my favorite desserts. Served with vanilla ice cream, there are few summer desserts that can compare, in my opinion. Usually, cobblers are topped with a pastry that is somewhere between a pie crust and a biscuit dough. In this version I use store bought cinnamon roll dough. It gives the cobbler a different look and makes it a little quicker to make. While I am not someone who believes in using store bought shortcuts as often as I can, I do think that every home cook should have a couple of shortcut tricks up their sleeve, for those just in case moments when you don’t have time to prepare something from scratch or are just too busy, as long as it doesn’t compromise the integrity of the dish
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Cinnamon Swirl Peach Cobbler

8 cups Peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (about 8-10 peaches)
¾ cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
½ tsp. Ground Ginger
½ tsp. Almond Extract
2 cans Ready to Bake Cinnamon Rolls (I use the Pillsbury Grand ones)

To peel the peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Make a shallow “X,” with a knife, on the end opposite the stem end. Place a couple of peaches in the boiling water and all to cook for 25-30 seconds. Immediately remove the peaches and plunge into an ice bath. The skins should peel right off.

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the peaches, sugar, cornstarch, ginger and almond extract and mix well. Pour into a 9×13 baking dish. Cut 6 of the raw cinnamon rolls in half so that you have 2 thin rounds out of each. Place them on top of the peaches in 4 rows of 3 each. You’ll have to squeeze them in to make them all fit. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are a deep golden brown and the peach mixture is bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 15 minutes before serving.

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