Buttermilk Peach Cobbler

Last night after the atrocious bombing incident at the Boston Marathon I wanted to keep abreast of new developments, but was too antsy to sit in front of the tv. So I put on news radio and decided to keep myself busy in the kitchen. My friend Diane Smith recently made a Blackberry Buttermilk Cobbler which has been in the back of my mind since I got the first glimpse of her delicious-looking pictures. And, for the first time in many years I had buttermilk in my fridge. So the plan was set, I'd make a cobbler. Comfort food. Just what this emotionally, shell shocked lady needed. Naturally I didn't have any blackberries but I did have a bag of frozen peaches in the freezer and decided I could work with those. Diane gave her cobbler a citrus undertone and since I was using peaches, I thought a hint of almond would work nicely in mine. Here's my recipe:

Buttermilk Peach Cobbler
Inspired by Diane Smith
Serves 6

2-1/2 cups frozen sliced peaches
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of self rising flour- I made my own: combine 1 cup AP flour, 1-1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups Splenda no calorie sweetener
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In small saucepan melt butter and set aside. Remove peaches from freezer and set those aside too.

They only partially defrosted, but it didn't seem to matter. If you have self rising flour, measure out 1 cup and set that aside. I made my own and mixed it with 1 cup of the Splenda.

To the Splenda flour mixture add buttermilk, half the melted butter and both extracts and whisk until combined.

In baking dish (spritzed with cooking spray) add the batter. I used my favorite soufflet dish that's about 40 years old. Top the batter with the peaches and top the peaches with the rest of the Splenda (1/4 cup).

Now drizzle the rest of the butter on top. It looks very rich, I know.

This baby is ready to go into your pre-heated oven. Bake for 1 hour, allow to cool a bit and serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream or even just plain cream the way my dad used to like it.

This is one creamy, crunchy, fruity dessert that I really enjoyed. It was the perfect food solution for a very stressful day. Thanks Diane, what an inspiration you are!