Fruit Frenzy

Yesterday’s weather was absolutely perfect- just warm enough to get your body toasty in the sun but the slight breeze would cool you right down. Kamil and I decided to take a trip down to Lyman Orchards and I couldn’t help myself. I bought peaches, apples, apple butter, and some blueberry preserves. Because well, it’s the end of summer and I’ve yet to make any crisps or cobblers! So tonight I went a little fruit crazy and made peaches and cream cobbler and bluberries and cream turnovers .

Peaches & Cream Cobbler Recipe



The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

1 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
5 pounds ripe peaches, peeled and cut into wedges 1/2 inch thick (I don’t think I used this many, but I had about 7)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly grease a 15×10 inch baking dish (I used a 9×13). In the baking dish, whisk together the cream, 2/3 cup sugar, and cornstarch. Add the peaches and mix gently
To make the cobbler dough, sift together the flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla. Using a wooden spoon, stir enough of the milk mixture into the flour mixture to make a moist dough (you may not need all of the mixture)
Divide the dough into 8 pieces and pat each into a 1/2-inch disk. Place the dough on top of the peaches, covering them nearly completely. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown, about 45-50 minutes. Let the cobbler cool for 10 minutes, then spoon it into individual bowls. Top with vanilla ice cream, if desired

Boy did I get my bicep workout baking this dough! I don’t own a pastry blender (though I’m starting to think I should invest in one) and it was just a lot of work trying to cut the butter into the flour. Here’s a tip if you’re doing it by hand like me- shake up the bowl often because it’s easy to forget about the flour that’s hidden underneath

The VERY moist dough. I ended up using all of the mixture, though that probably wasn’t necessary based on how sticky it was. Use lots of flour for your hands! Not that it helps that much…

Blueberries & Cream Turnovers

Flaky Pastry Dough, Double Crust Variation Recipe

The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter (cut into 1/4-inch cubes)
6 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed


Fit mixer with paddle attachment
In the bowl of the mixer, combine the flour, sugar, and salt, and with the mixer on low speed, stir together the ingredients
Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture
Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse meal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas
Add the 6 tablespoons water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together. If the dough is dry, mix in more water 1 tablespoon at a time
Cut the dough in half, and then pat each half into a round, flat disk
Roll one disk out into a 12 inch round
Use a 4 inch round cookie cutter and cut out 3 or 4 rounds from each rolled-out dough round. Press the dough scraps together and re-roll to cut out additional rounds (I used the lid of my cocoa container because it was the only circle I had that was 4 inches in diameter )

Blueberries & Cream Filling

Adapted from Martha Stewart

24 ounces (3 packages) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
? 1/2 cup blueberry preserves (if that)
? 1 cup fresh blueberries


Put cream cheese, butter, and sugar into mixer bowl; mix until creamy
Mix in vanilla
Mix about 1/2 cup cream cheese mixture with 1/2 cup blueberry preserves and spread over half of your cut dough rounds, leaving a small border around it
Top with 5-6 blueberries each

Assembly

Preheat oven to 375° and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
Using a small pastry brush, dampen the edge of each round with cold water
Lay the remaining dough rounds down over the berries and gently press the top of each dough round down over the berries (the edges will not line up perfectly)
With the tines of a fork, press the edges of the dough rounds together
Refrigerate the pockets on the baking sheet until the dough is firm, about 15-20 minutes
Bake the pockets until golden brown, 35-40 minutes
Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve warm

My biceps were honestly burning by the time I was done!

The dough after the water was mixed in. It wasn’t too sticky, it was just right

Rolling and cutting my dough rounds

Tagged: blueberry, cream cheese, fruit, heavy cream, peach, preserves