Stone Fruit Cobbler

Sorry for the brief 4th of July hiatus! But believe me, this cobbler is worth the wait. It's a great choice for both using up aging stone fruits and serving a crowd--the perfect combination! I used a combination of peaches, apricots, nectarines, pluots, and plums, some of which really needed to be used up and some of which I bought that day to supplement. The combo of all those different fruits was absolutely terrific! Each bite was slightly different, some tarter and some sweeter. Amazing! There was also just the right amount of sweet cobbler topping. One note on the topping is to let it cook longer than you think you want to--there is nothing worse than cobbler topping that is gooey on the bottom! So let it get really brown and you'll have no problem with this.

Stone Fruit Cobbler (from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

Cobbler Topping
1 1/2 cups flour (white or whole wheat pastry)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 T cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Milk as needed

Mix the dry ingredients together and then cut in the butter. If you have time, chill the butter-flour mixture for an hour or two (not necessary, but this helps the butter get really firm). Stir in the yogurt with a fork until dough comes together. Add milk as needed to get the dough to a good consistency. I made my dough quite wet (adding about 1/3 cup milk) and everything turned out great, so I think there's some leeway here.

Fruit Layer
6-8 cups peeled and sliced stone fruits (I used peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, and pluots)
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
Grated zest of 1 (smallish) lemon
Juice of 1 lemon

Peel and slice the stone fruit. To get the peels off easily, pop the fruit in boiling water for 30 seconds and then immediately remove to an ice bath (prepared ahead of time). The skins should come off easily with your hands. I found apricots tough to peel so I left the skin on and didn't notice them when eating the dish. Peaches and nectarines were easiest to peel.

Toss fruit with all the rest of the ingredients for the fruit layer.

Assembly

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8x10 dish with oil. Put fruit in the dish, then dot with the topping. Bake until fruit is cooked and bubbling around the edges and the top is very brown.