I spent the first 7 years of my life in a little town in Massachusetts called Hardwick. Hardwick has the oldest fair in the United States, it’s been going since 1762! I have fond memories of the fair from my childhood. And I won a blue ribbon for zucchini bread when I was a teenager, you can read about that here.

The fair is being held virtually this year so I entered the Home Baking competition which was to make this peach cobbler and enter a photo online. You can see my entry here. I don’t think I’ve ever made a peach cobbler before but the fam loved it with some homemade whipping cream. It was gone in a flash!

HOW TO EASILY PEEL PEACHES (it really works!)

Gently lower 2 – 3 peaches at a time into a pot of boiling water. Leave them in the water for about 30 seconds and then remove them to an ice water bath. The bath will shock them and keep the peach flesh from cooking but the peach skin will be so easy to peel that you won’t even need a knife.

Peach Mixture

5 peaches, peeled, cored and sliced (about 4 cups)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cobbler Batter

6 tablespoons butter

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

cinnamon (and sugar)

1 For the peach mixture, put peaches, sugar and salt into a saucepan and stir to combine. Cook on medium for a few minutes until sugar dissolves and juice starts to come out of the peaches. Set aside.

2 For the cobbler batter, preheat oven to 350. Slice butter into pieces and add to 9 x 13″ pan or large 12″ skillet. Place pan in oven while it preheats to melt butter. Once melted, remove from oven.

3 Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt then stir in milk just until combined. Pour mixture into pan, over the butter, and smooth into an even layer. Spoon peaches and juice over batter. Sprinkle top generously with cinnamon. (I added a little sugar to the top too.)

4 Bake for 38 – 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

recipe from The Hardwick Fair