Berry Peach Cobbler

My husband has a hunting buddy that’s been nice enough to pick him up several times during duck season. This past weekend was the end of the season, and they decided to stay overnight near their lease to take advantage of 2 days hunting. As a “thank you” I decided to make an extra batch of fruit cobbler that the hunting friend and his son could enjoy when they returned home.

The cobbler making adventure came about because it occurred to me that I still have lots of berries in my freezers, and berry picking season isn’t too far away. Berry Peach cobbler is one of my favorite applications. I was way overdue in making one.

These cobblers also became an experiment in gluten and allergen-free baking. For those of us used to conventional baking, gluten-free is an interesting challenge. The recipient’s son is on a restricted diet that has eliminated all grain products except rice and millet. He also needs to avoid high fructose corn syrup, dairy and eggs. To give myself a starting recipe I referenced a cobbler crust recipe in the pink Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I used it as a guideline for measurements and swapped the traditional ingredients for the gluten-free products. The original recipe did call for eggs and dairy (butter, milk). They were replaced with juice from the canned peaches. For those not familiar with tapioca flour, it’s a non-grain thickener. In gluten-free baking it’s used for thickening sauces and providing some structure to flours that lack protein.

Since I wanted to make sure this recipe really worked, I made our batch of cobbler gluten-free as well. The only difference between ours and the gift was the addition of blueberries. Blueberries are on the “do not eat” list for the son. In case you’re wondering about the blackberry juice in the filling, I can’t stand the seeds, so I cook my berries until they start producing juice. They are placed in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. I use a large spoon to mash them against the mesh, than let them sit over the bowl for an hour or two. When I’m making a dessert I don’t mind the pulp and prefer not to waste more than necessary. I use the spoon to scrape the pulp from the outside of the sieve. In the event that I have more juice than I need, the excess is poured into quart freezer bags. It might make an appearance in another cobbler or get added to a batch of lemonade.

Filling

3 (15 oz.) Cans Peaches (look for light syrup – doesn’t usually use corn syrup; read label)

¼ c. Organic Cane Sugar

¾ c. Blackberry Juice

2 tbsp. Tapioca Flour

Crust

1 c. Brown Rice Flour

1 tbsp. Tapioca Flour

1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder

¼ tsp. Salt

½ tsp. Cinnamon

¼ c. Canola Oil

½ c. Peach Juice

Pre-heat oven to 400°. Drain peaches & reserve ½ c. of juice for the crust. The remaining juice can be added to the blackberry juice if you want to use it. To cut down on dishes, measure sugar in glass measuring cup and add juice until it reaches one cup. Once sugar is dissolved, stir in tapioca flour. Like corn starch, it’s best to add to cold liquids. Put peaches in a baking dish and pour juice over them. Stir in a handful or 2 of blueberries if you desire and set the fruit aside.

For the crust, combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the canola oil. The mixture will look like large crumbs. Once the oil is incorporated, stir in the peach juice. Drop the mixture 1-2 tbsp. at a time over the fruit filling. It can be spread out a bit with the spoon to cover more of the fruit. Sprinkle cane sugar and cinnamon over the crust before baking for 25 minutes.

It occurred to me while making this cobbler version that it’s a recipe that can satisfy more than one kind of special need. While it’s still plenty sweet, it’s more diet friendly without the animal products. Know a vegetarian or vegan? Try making this for them. Having tried it myself, I can honestly say it’s very delicious.

The Project Queen