Stone Fruit Cobbler

Who knew fresh fruit could become so overwhelming? When we joined our CSA I was much more concerned about using up the vegetables and happily signed up for a fruit share with nary a reservation. I'm not exactly complaining, mind you, I just wasn't prepared for the volume of fruit needing to be used immediately. This is the glorious difference between fruit harvested before it's ripe for the purposes of shipping, and fruit picked at the height of juicy ripeness-- and, man, does it ever taste better. It just doesn't keep.

So when we were presented with a pint of sugar plums, a pint of apricots  and two pounds of peaches (and lord help me, we still had some plums left from the previous week!), I knew I had to do something with them immediately. Fortunately, I have that super-easy and oh so decadent cobbler recipe, which is basically a layer of whatever fruit you like topped with a layer of bread cubes (I like to use brioche), soaked with a butter, egg and sugar mixture and then baked until the bread gets nice and golden.

I decided to pit and slice all of the fruit I had on hand, figuring the different flavors would compliment each other. I peeled the peaches, but lazily left the skin on the apricots and plums. And instead of cinnamon, I used ginger. I also baked individual small dishes, instead of one large one, which is a bit fussy, but looks too cute for words.

Whoa, daddy! It was damned tasty.

Stone Fruit Cobbler

However many peaches, plums and apricots you need to use up, cut into slices
4 1-inch slices of brioche, cubed (about half of a large loaf)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 egg, beaten
Ground ginger, to taste

Place the fruit in the bottom of a round baking dish, toss them with as much ginger as you like, and then layer the brioche cubes over them. Mix the melted butter with the sugar and flour and then add the beaten egg and mix well. Pour the sugar mixture over the brioche cubes. Bake at 350 F for about 40 minutes.

Comments

[Manggy]

HAH! I love the quantity in the recipe-- "However many peaches, plums and apricots you need to use up." That's the spirit :) I'd love to have some, maybe with some custard or ice cream on the side...
If you can get someone to get one at Costco, maybe you should get that $50 1.5 quart ice cream maker... They use up so much fruit to make a measly amount of sorbet or ice cream, plus you are able to use fruits that are hanging on by a thread. Third bonus is that you get to eat something chilly to counteract the heat! :)

[Deborah]

First of all, I love the individual dishes!! And I love that you combined all of the fruit - I bet that was quite a treat!

[Deeba]

Oh yummy...I love these rustic fruity bakes where you can throw in a bit of this & that.Peeled, unpeeled & it looks & tastes gorgeous! Love the bowls too. And am going greener & greener everytime I read about this very envious CSA (???), fruit share & farmer's market stuff Ann.

[Rosa]

A gorgeous cobbler! I love those fruits! Wonderful!

Cheers,

Rosa

[Meeta]

Oh yeah me too - i am enjoying stone fruit is every way too. I have not tried a cobbler with it though. A great idea!

[Susan from Food Blogga]

I suppose having too much fruit is a good problem, huh? That's why cobblers, crisps, and crumbles are ideal anytime desserts to use up sweet, ripe fruit. It looks terrific, Ann.

[Julie]

Love the simplicity of this. Also, your CSA sounds awesome.

[michelle]

Oh geez, it IS cute! I'm definitely missing the stone fruits. I love that you found a fruit CSA, I didn't even know they had them until you started talking about yours!

[noble pig]

Beautiful. I want to join a CSA too but worry I won't be able to use everything. I guess I just have to be creative!

[brilynn]

Your little dishes are definitely cute, that looks great! I haven't had my share of peaches yet this year, I'm craving some.

[grace]

this sounds AMAZING. i'm about to be given a bucket full of plums, so this page is becoming a shortcut on my desktop. :)

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

I absolutely love your idea to sub ginger for cinnamon. I like cinnamon, but am not wild about it. So in some future recipe, I will try this substitution.

Ann - Those little pots are breakin' my heart...

[kellypea]

Hahahaha -- I went through a whole hurry up and use the fruit thing this morning, too. Your cobbler looks and sounds PERFECT to me right now. I love being lazy with peelings, too. The flavor is so much better, I think. Very nice dessert!

[JEP]

Oh I love the idea of this recipe...I can customize it to fit my individual single-person needs. btw, I have never used bread cubes in a cobbler before but you have convinced me!

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

I love an accommodating cobbler! Just dump in all the fruit you have, and it always seems to work out. Can you freeze this for later use?

[Johanna]

ah, the tyranny of a surplus! I also put fruit in salads in summer when I fear it might not get eaten! I would love some ripe stone fruit right now - we are coming to the end-of-winter scarcity of fruit

[Zita]

Yummm...I'm alwasy in the mood for cobler, yours looks amazing, can almost smell the ground ginger... love your blue mini dish :)

[Aparna]

Cobbler is a great fruit idea and this looks good. Really liked the single serving presentation.

[Aran]

cobbler, crumble, pie... all so summery, refreshing and good.

[Jacob]

This recipe is too easy (and delicious) to pass up!

[lin]

what a great idea! i've been in the mood for making peach cobbler.!

[mindy]

Oh my gosh; this looks great. I was quite the cobbler aficionado in college, but haven't had any in a while. Love the big, thick, crusty top on this version.. mmm!