Necessity is the Mother of This Cobbler

A few nights ago, Justin and I had honey garlic chicken wings for dinner. Unfortunately, in the effort to make these wings, we were a little too generous with our saucing, and ended up with a very dirty oven and a foul odor through our whole house. Several times this week I have turned on the oven and only remember what happened when I start to smell that lovely aroma. I tried to clean it today, but none of the cleaners I have will do the trick.

So, at dinner time this evening, I became incredibly frustrated as I went over the list of various meals I could make with the ingredients I already have only to mentally cross them out as options because they required use of the oven. Luckily, I had ample left overs from other meals which took care of dinner; but I've had a few peaches and nectarines in my fridge for a little too long and needed to do something with them. I found a recipe several months ago from the Magnolia Bakery in NYC that would work perfectly for my fully ripened fruits :)

Thus began Peach and Nectarine Cobbler:

Topping -

1 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 cup Milk

4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, Softened

Filling -

4 cups Sliced Nectarines - I didn't have enough, so I mixed nectarines and peaches

1/2 cup Cold Water

1/3 cup Loose Light Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tbsp Unsalted Butter

Garnish -

Cinnamon Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. To prepare topping: In medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, & baking powder. Add milk & butter. Beat until smooth.

3. To prepare filling: In large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook & stir over medium heat until mixture is thickened and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes - I cooked it longer, about 15-20 minutes.

4. Pour into ungreased 13x9" glass dish. (sorry the picture is blurry)Spoon topping over the filling & spread evenly with spatula. Sprinkle top with cinnamon sugar.

5. Bake 30-40 minutes until topping is golden & cake tester comes out clean.

6. Don't forget to top it off with some vanilla ice cream :)

Even though I didn't have an oven, I have a convection/toaster oven. I had to use a much smaller pan than the recipe calls for - I used a 9x9" square. I double-lined the pan with aluminum foil. In case you are wanting to make this in your own toaster oven, please note that my oven is made by Cuisinart, and because the heating elements are so close to the food, I always decrease the temperature by about 50 degrees so it has time to cook before the outside turns brown.

Being a girl who has only ever made cobbler with canned peaches in syrup, I was very pleased with this recipe. The nectarines, while similar to a peach, give it a sweeter taste that's less tart than peach cobbler. Also, the topping is much cake-ier than my grandmother's country cup-a-cup-a-cup-a recipe, which is nice and crunchy mixed in with the fluffy. This one is very tall and light, a pleasant surprise.

This has really contributed to my self-sufficiency. I now know that I can cook a cobbler in my toaster oven :) Which is a valuable asset with hurricane season in full swing. I can now keep everyone's spirits up by making this with only a small generator for power :)

Oh, and just to let you know, it tasted delicious :)