After a brief break from baking in general, we are back once again on a Tuesday, baking along with our fellow doriestas. This week we were given two options, either a Fig Crostata, or Johnny Cake Cobbler. The selection was easy, since we had just purchased the most amazing, locally grown fresh peaches at Whole Foods. The recipe actually calls for sliced nectarines and purple plums, but peaches are in season and were an easy substitution.  For those of you that are unfamiliar with our TWD baking experiments, there is usually a weekly host who supplies the actual recipe from  the book Baking with Julia. Lacking a host for this week’s recipe, we will break with tradition and supply our own gluten free version. If you are looking for the original recipe, please check out page 389 in “Baking with Julia” and/or visit the TWD website here.

First of all, like most cobblers, this is very easy to make.  For any novice gluten free baker, this is a recipe you cannot fail at.  Provided you have the ingredients on hand, which is easy this time of year, with all the abundance of fresh fruit, you can have this dessert on the table from start to finish in under one hour. We chose peaches, but any choice of fruit would lend itself beautifully for this dessert.

Johnny Cake Cobbler:

To fill a 9 x 9 inch casserole dish you will need the following ingredients:

Fruit filling:

• 6 peaches, sliced
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 Tbsp. butter, or coconut oil

Melt the butter, or coconut oil (if you need to be dairy free), in a large pot over medium heat. Add the peaches, minced ginger and coconut sugar. Mix well and cook over low heat, until the peaches are just beginning to get soft. Fill into the lightly greased casserole dish and set aside, while you prepare the topping, for which you will need the following ingredients.

Topping:

• 1-1/2 cups of gluten free flour, consisting of 1/2 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup tapioca flour and 1/2 cup almond meal
• 3 Tbsp. coconut sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. Himalaya salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 stick (2 oz.) of butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup lactose-free sour cream
• 1/2 cup almond-coconut milk blend

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Please note that we took some liberties with the original recipe.  We reduced the amount of flour by 1/2 cup and substituted lactose-free sour cream (Green Valley Organics, available at Whole Foods and your local health food store) as well as added the almond-coconut milk (Califia Farms) to help thin out the batter.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, add the butter, mixing well until coarse crumbs form. Then add the sour cream and coconut-almond milk. You are looking to create a light pillowy dough/batter that easily drops by the spoonful on top of the prepared fruit. Spoon the batter on top of the prepared filling and bake in the preheated oven for 14-17 minutes. Your baking time may vary depending on the type of fruit used, or the elevation in which you reside. You will know the cobbler is done when the biscuit topping is golden and the fruit filling is bubbling.

Serve warm. It is delicious by itself but could also be served with your favorite ice cream. We absolutely loved the ease of making this tasty dessert. The flavor of the fresh peaches was absolutely phenomenal making this a favorite late summer treat.