This rich, sweet cobbler was one of my grandmother’s signature recipes.
She often served it to my brother, sister and me on our visits to her home in Porterville, California in the 1970s.
Each summer we kids stayed for a few weeks with Grandma, traveling—without adults!—by train from our home in the San Francisco Bay Area to Grandma’s.
A proper Edwardian lady, Grandma ran her home with gracious formality. I remember she spooned this homey cobbler onto her “everyday” Wedgewood, the syrupy fruit pooling prettily in the creamy white bowls.
Lucky me, I inherited not only Grandma’s china, but also her extensive recipe collections.
Family recipes keep loved ones alive
Along with culinary instruction, vintage recipes often tell family stories: I identify this summer dessert as my grandmother’s, but a closer look at the besmirched recipe card attributes it to her sister-in-law, my Great Aunt Viva.
Or maybe it really came from “Edith Green” whose recipe, Grandma notes, “calls for Crisco instead of margarine.”
For more than 50 years Grandma, her friends and family exchanged, embellished, reworked and re-traded recipes until it was impossible to say whose was whose.
These ladies—and a handful of other daughters of California pioneers—were born in the San Joaquin Valley at the turn of the last century. They spent close to a century living closely together in small-town society, raising children, managing households and making pleasant rounds of bridge luncheons and charity teas.
Over the years they prepared thousands of meals for friends and family. Likely it never occurred to these modest women that their daily rituals and delicious dishes would live beyond them in loved ones’ memories.
Why I love peaches in this recipe
Grandma’s house was surrounded by fruit trees. In addition to pomegranate, apricot, apple and plum, she had an old but fruitful peach tree. Planted when the house was built in the 1920s, half the tree had been awkwardly pruned away by the 1960s.
Maybe the asymmetrical trim allowed the the tree to funnel all it’s energy into the remaining off-kilter fork. The ugly little tree—it grew far in back of the house, beside the clotheslines, hidden behind decorative bushes—produced the most delectable, perfumed and full-flavored peaches.
Grandma served us peaches for breakfast peeled, sliced, slightly sweetened, splashed with half-and-half and spooned into in her small white Wedgewood fruit bowls.
She also transformed the golden fruit into jams, pies, tarts and this cobbler.
But don’t limit yourself to peaches
Grandma incorporated all kinds of summer fruits into this recipe—and so should you. Try her cobbler with apricots, plums, nectarines or berries—singly or mixed.
The recipe calls for a scant amount of sugar to sweeten the fruit: A tart, juicy base makes the perfect foil for the cobbler’s very sweet, eggy topping.
Make cobbler today for family memories tomorrow
Some ancient family recipes require arduous preparation or arcane ingredients. While you cherish those “receipts,” very likely you only make them as a novelty.
But you can make my Grandma’s San Joaquin Valley Peach Cobbler Recipe any time. Simple and bomb-proof, it whips up in a single bowl in minutes. Plop the batter onto hot fruit, bake and serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
While Grandma would never have served her cobbler for breakfast, you can. It’s heaven dished up at room temperature and splashed with half and half.
Wedgewood optional.
Grandma’s San Joaquin Valley Peach Cobbler Recipe
6 cups summer fruit—peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots separately or mixed—peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium saucepan combine fruit and 1/2 cup sugar. Cover pan and place over medium flame. Bring fruit and sugar to a boil, turn flame down and simmer for five minutes. Pour hot fruit into a casserole dish.
- While fruit simmers, mix cobbler topping. In a medium bowl combine remaining sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.
- Cut in butter, blending with pastry cutter, whisk or your fingers until mixture is mealy.
- Add egg and mix swiftly.
- Drop batter in dollops across top of hot fruit mixture.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Serves 8.
Hi Lorraine,
I make mine with the batter on the bottom. It’s interesting to see the batter on the top. Can’t wait to try this version….and eat it for breakfast…with ice cream!
Oh, one other thing…sometimes I reserve the liquids, if there is excess, as syrup for pancakes and waffles. Great substitute instead of maple syrup.
Now you’ve done it, Karen: All I can think of is fluffy pancakes with fruity syrup–plum would be divine. : >
Heidi, I’m delighted to hear your family’s from the “Big Valley!” I’m sure we share many memories–acres of cotton shimmering in the Valley’s midday heat, the oil fields of Bakersfield, dusty orange groves, etc.
Living on the east coast for 20+ years I get positively homesick for California’s land and flora.
I’m glad you’re passing on wonderful memories to your girls!
Lorraine,
Gosh, I love the magic you wove here. I have my grandmother’s recipes, too. Her name was Jo Donohoe and at 4’10”, was called Little Jo. What I adore about the old recipes is the descriptions and some of the language: ” a ball of butter the size of a walnut,” , “a good dollop,” “stack as high as your knuckle.” Take THAT, Barefoot Contessa…
Lorraine – this beautiful post made me cry – and stirred up old memories of my own beloved grandmother in the kitchen—what lyrical, heartfelt writing!
There’s a journal called Alimentum that I think you should submit this to – hope we can get together for a little group again sometime
Thanks for sharing wonderful memories of dear grandmothers…
@Louise Appreciate your stopping in from the left coast. BTW, love your NY Times’ piece about “the Bu!” http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/travel/21hours.html
@Lynn Thanks for your kind words–high praise from a marvelous writer like you. I agree, it’s time for The Group to meet again.
Oh my, what an utterly lovely post. I love how your grandmum used her “everyday Wedgewood” and wrote those recipes in her beautiful cursive writing. You are so lucky to have inherited that. I love the peach cobbler recipe. Such posts are so heartwarming and just what one would like to read first thing in the morning. A beautiful post, L. And your grandmum was an elegant, lovely lady. x shayma
ps mmmm a midnight snack with thick cream, too!
Dear Lorraine,
Thank you so much for sharing your lovely memories, pictures, and peach cobbler recipe from California. Your grandmother sounds like a lovely lady.
I grew up in Whittier, California. We had a peach tree in our backyard that my dad grew. The peaches were big and delicious! They were delicious eating peaches as well as in mom’s peach cobbler. My mom makes delicious peach cobbler with a lattice top.
I have many wonderful memories from growing up in Southern California. I now live in North, Central Texas. It is pretty here but it does not compare to California!
Can’t wait to try your peach cobbler recipe. Also, I am going to ask mom for her lattice recipe, too.
Hi Kathy:
I know Whittier–my great aunt lived there.
You’re right, no place compares to California–for us Californians. I think we’ll always feel a tug for our home state’s golden hills, endless rocky coastline, dusty orange groves or miles of cotton fields.
Your mother’s latticed cobbler sounds fabulous. I bet it makes a beautiful presentation, too. My grandma’s cobbler is a little lumpy and messy looking, but a delicious complement to summer fruit.
Hope you have some nice peaches coming into season soon!
I cant wait to try this recipe. I grew up in Visalia and my great grandmother would make peach cobbler for me every year on my birthday. Hers was a tad different though, her dough was rolled out and cut into long strips and put on both the top and bottom of her cobbler. I loved the bottom layer because it absorbed the peaches.
I now live in Porterville with my husband and my own daughter. Small world, isn’t it?
@Nina: Yes, indeed, it is a small world. I have the fondest memories of Porterville. My grandmother lived on East Mill Avenue. We often walked down the block to the park to feed the ducks and look at the old mill. In the 70s, P’ville had a thriving downtown with a small department store, movie theater and many small shops.
Does it still have that cozy, small town feeling?
I hope there are a few summer fruits left so you can try this recipe. Your great grandmother’s version sounds fabulous as well!
I love everything about this post, the recipe itself, the picture of the card, your beautiful grandmother’s pictures, and your writing. And I think we probably are related. I found it while doing an image search for Hallford. My Hallfords came from Missouri to Texas and stayed here, but I know there were others that made their way West. Good cooks all the way around.
@Janice: Yes, we probably are related! My great-grandfather, Stephen Hallford, came from Missouri to California in the 1880s or 90s. I have his family genealogy going back to the late 1700s and many, many daguerrotypes and photos—-siblings and other family–both in Missouri and in CA. I will enjoy exploring your website!
Hi Lorraine I am astounded to stumble upon this entry and see a photo of myself at the train station in Visalia! I am the little girl in the photo. How can we explain this amazing discovery? My sisters and I are so perplexed and amused. Maybe our families knew each other?
@Meredith: Perhaps we’re familial lookalikes: the kids at the Visalia train station are my brother, sister and me.