Churro Peach Cobbler!

How to give peach cobbler a Southwest kick? With churros, of course! I took Paula Deen’s recipe from ‘The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook’ and put my own twist on it. Churros are a fried Mexican treat, covered in cinnamon sugar. They are very popular at state fairs and Disneyland; they are also my favorite treat to get when I am finished shopping at Costco. Not sure if that is a nationwide Costco treat… Anyway, I decided to be a little more authentic and go to my local Mexican market (see previous blog post) and get churros there. To be honest, the ones at Costco are better, or at least not stale. I also tried placing the churros 2 ways- before baking and just for the last 10 minutes. The ones that were placed on for the entire baking period sank. While they were delicious baked into the peach goo, there was the lack of presentation wow factor. So that is the way I will do it from now on.


Recipe:
2 cups peeled, large chopped peaches
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup self rising flour
¾ cup milk
4 (8”) churros

In saucepan, bring peaches, water, sugar and cinnamon to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often to make sure sugar is dissolved.

Preheat oven to 350. Put butter in deep dish and place in oven to melt. Mix sugar and flour; add milk slowly to prevent lumping. Pour over melted butter- do not mix. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup- still do not stir. Bake 30 minutes.

While baking, cut churros in half length-wise, making 2 long strips. Cut these into 1” chunks. Remove cobbler from oven after the 30 minutes- add churros to top- bake another 5-10 minutes, until juices are bubbling up around the churros.

Peaches and Cream Cupcakes

So, in honor of my time in Georgia, I decided to make a Peaches and Cream cupcake. I took inspiration from the recipe at www.cupcakeproject.com but added a creamy center. However, attempt one with their made-from scratch recipe had the cupcakes peeling off with the paper wrapper. So for round 2, I used a box mix (which I in no way feel in cheating) and added peach jam. Much better!

Peaches and Cream Cupcakes



Cupcake:
1 box butter yellow cake mix
1 cup peach jam

Filling:
6 Tbsp. butter, softened
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
¾ cup marshmallow crème
2 Tbsp. heavy cream

Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla paste
1/3 cup peach jam

Make cupcake batter according to package directions on the cake mix box, adding the jam and mixing thoroughly. Pour into lined cupcake pans and bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Cool completely.

While cupcakes are baking, mix together the ingredients for the filling with a hand mixer. Put filling into a pastry bag fitted with tip that will allow you to pipe into the cupcake’s center. When the cupcakes are cool, fill them.

Also while cupcakes are baking, mix ingredients for frosting. Frost cupcakes however desired (piping bag or just slather on).



Note: The vanilla paste in the frosting gives it the speckled look of vanilla beans and really does make it taste just a smidge more fabulous. However, I had used regular vanilla extract in the first cupcake attempt, and it was delicious as well.