Cinnamon-Sugar Saucy Peach Cobbler

Mama went to the hospital on Wednesday. Not COVID, the aide said at first—something else, a fall overnight, they found her on the floor in the morning, they think she fell getting up in the dark. She is eighty-three years old and she fell in the night in a building where I cannot be and she was taken to UAB Medical Center and she is in a room and I cannot go to that room. No visitors. COVID protocols. No exceptions.

I drove to the hospital. I sat in the parking garage for an hour. I called the nurses' station and they told me she was stable, she was resting, they were monitoring her. I asked about the fall and they said there were no broken bones but she was weak and they were concerned about her lungs, which had some congestion. I asked if I could speak with her. They said she was asleep. I asked if she would know if I called. The nurse said they would try to get the phone to her when she woke up. I sat in the parking garage and ate the bag of food I had brought for her—the sweet potato pie and the cornbread—sitting in my car because there was nowhere else to put the need to do something, no outlet for it, and the food was in my hands and eating it was the only thing I could do in that moment that was related to Bernice at all.

Calvin prayed with me when I got home. We sat in the kitchen, at the table, and he held both my hands and he prayed, and I said amen when it was done, and then I got up and I made dinner, because dinner was something I could make, because making something is better than doing nothing, because the pot was there and my hands were there and Bernice taught me that the kitchen is where you go when everything else is beyond your reach, and I went to the kitchen, and I made dinner, and the night passed, and the morning came.

The sweet potato pie I brought Mama never made it to her room — I ate it alone in the car because there was nothing else to do with my hands — and when I got home and Calvin’s prayer was done, I needed something warm and saucy and forgiving to make in that quiet kitchen. This cinnamon-sugar peach cobbler is the kind of thing Bernice would have had in the oven before the trouble even settled: fruit and butter and a little sweetness, nothing complicated, just the smell of something baking to remind you that the morning will still come. I made it that night for no particular reason except that making it was something I could do.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup whole milk
4 cups fresh or canned peach slices, drained if canned
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

Instructions

Melt the butter. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place the stick of butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish and set it in the oven while it preheats, just until the butter is fully melted. Watch it so it doesn’t brown.
Make the batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour in the milk and stir until a smooth, thin batter forms. Do not overmix.
Season the peaches. In a separate bowl, toss the peach slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Set aside.
Layer — do not stir. Pour the batter directly over the melted butter in the baking dish. Do not stir. Spoon the seasoned peaches and any accumulated juice evenly over the top of the batter. Again — do not stir. The batter will rise up around the fruit as it bakes.
Add the cinnamon-sugar finish. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the top of the peaches.
Bake until golden and saucy. Bake uncovered for 40–45 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and the edges are bubbling. The cobbler will look loose in the center but will set slightly as it cools.
Rest and serve. Let the cobbler rest for 10 minutes before serving. Spoon into bowls and serve warm, plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cinnamon-Sugar Saucy Peach Cobbler — The Kitchen You Go Back To