Peach cobbler is the perfect way to end Sunday dinner, especially during the summer. To make this dessert combine frozen, fresh, or canned peaches with brown sugar, cinnamon, granulated sugar, and cornstarch in a bowl. The cornstarch helps things thicken. Add melted butter to the peach mixture before pouring into a greased pan. Top the peach mixture with a simple batter of flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, salt, and cinnamon. Top with homemade or store-bought crust and bake for 30-40 minutes. Cobbler crust should be golden brown and bubbling.
A Virginian peach orchard in bloom.
Courtesy of Karen Blaha. CC BY-SA 2.0.
Peaches are the star ingredient in peach cobbler. They are often associated with Georgia, but the fruit is not indigenous to the state or North America. Today, peaches grow all over the country with California being the number one grower of peaches, and South Carolina, Alabama, and New Jersey also contributing. Peaches were domesticated and cultivated in China for 8,000 years. Spanish colonists introduced peaches to North America in 1539, and the fruit thrived particularly well in Georgia. While Europeans brought the peach to the continent, peaches spread through the eastern US South through Indigenous peoples.
This water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina, known as the Gaffney Peachoid, holds million gallons of water and is 135 feet tall. Georgia is known as the “Peach State” but South Carolina grows more peaches on average than Georgia does during peach season.
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Spanish Conquistador Hernando de Soto and his men are believed to have introduced peaches to North America in 1539.
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
The cobbler as a dish dates back to Colonial America, when European settlers brought their culinary traditions and skills to the American continent. Cobblers were improvised dishes, as pies were challenging to make on open hearths. Early colonists placed fruits in deep pots and covered the tops of the fruit with biscuit dough, then covered and cooked them over hot coals. The first published recipe for peach cobbler appeared in Lettice Bryan’s The Kentucky Housewife in 1839.
Peach cobbler was initially a dessert reserved for society’s elite, but by the 20th century, cobbler was eaten by the masses. Peaches became more widely available as more people began cultivating them in the late 19th century, while canning technology also turned them from a seasonal treat into something that could be sold and enjoyed year-round.
Peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Courtesy of Ralph Daily. CC BY 2.0.
Peach cobbler is a dish that can be enjoyed at home or at a local restaurant. There are even nationwide chains like Peach Cobbler Factory that serve fresh peach cobbler daily. The truly adventurous can travel to Fort Valley, Georgia, for the Georgia Peach Festival and set their eyes and taste buds on the “World’s Largest Peach Cobbler.”
“The World’s Largest Peach Cobbler” sits at 11 by 5 feet and about eight inches deep. It takes 90 pounds of butter, 150 pounds of sugar, 32 gallons of milk, and 75 gallons of peaches.
Courtesy of the Georgia Peach Festival.
