the best of summer… STONE FRUIT AND BERRY COBBLER

       Needing ideas on how to use all of those fruits and berries that are at their peak of summer goodness?

                     Try this!

    To quote my husband -- "The brighter the color, the better it is for you."
                              
                                                                                  
                                                                                         I like that!

               :: Peach and Berry Cobbler
                             ... recipe from In The Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley

FRUIT:
• 2 1/2 pounds ripe freestone peaches
• 2 cups mixed berries
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons cornstarch (depends on the fruits' juiciness)
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
BISCUIT TOPPING:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, and cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup whole milk, cold
• 1/2 cup heavy cream, cold
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Additional unsalted butter, at room temperature, for greasing the dish
• Additional 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar, for sprinkling

1.  Preheat oven to 400˚F.  Lightly butter the inside of a shallow 2-quart baking dish and set aside.  Wash and pat dry the peaches, then cut each one in half, discarding stone.  Cut the peach halves into 8 slices and place in a large bowl.  Add the berries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice.  Gently toss the ingredients together until the sugar and cornstarch are evenly distributed.  Set fruit aside.
2.  In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and pulse to combine.  Add the butter and pulse until the size of peas.  Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.  Take the reserved fruit and stir again gently, then spoon the fruit into the prepared baking dish, scraping the juices, sugar and starch from the bottom of the bowl over the fruit and spreading the filling evenly over the bottom of the dish.
3.  Combine the milk, cream, and vanilla and pour this mixture over the flour-butter mixture.  Stir with a fork to moisten the dough.  It should be very wet and sticky.  Pinch off egg-sized lumps of the dough and drop the lumps all over the fruit, until the fruit is practically all covered with dough.  There will be cracks between the biscuits.  Sprinkle the top of the cobbler with the 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar.
4.  Bake for 60 minutes, or until the biscuits are a deep golden.  Cool for at least 25 minutes before serving.  Serve with vanilla bean ice cream, or the way I like it -- with a big drizzle of cold, heavy cream.

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