A couple of months ago I was doing dishes and staring at the little curry leaf plant that grows next to my kitchen sink. It suddenly occurred to me that curry leaves might go well with peaches. I love finding new ways to combine herbs and fruit. Herbs can add a wonderful surprise to the flavors of fruits.
I often add lavender, thyme, rosemary and basil to lemon bars, fruit pies and fruity cocktails. But I’d never had a combination of curry leaves and peaches before and never heard of anyone else trying it but I thought it would work. So we headed out to the farmer’s market to get some peaches to test my theory.
We actually ended up with nectarines that day because they were so delicious. I adapted the nectarine cobbler recipe by Joy the Baker by adding some spices and curry leaves.
I was really excited to share it on the blog but it turned out that the center was way undercooked. It still tasted amazing… as long as you avoided the center, which under a beautiful exterior was just gooey batter. We were able to save it somewhat by microwave-baking the individual slices. But that was certainly not blog ready. So I resolved to redo the recipe.
I used peaches this time and reduced the amount of fruit. It worked out great! I am so happy to say that I think this is my new all time favorite dessert!
Peach and Curry Leaf Cobbler
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter 1 stick
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
- ⅛ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp curry leaves finely minced
- ¾ cup evaporated milk any other kind of milk will work too
- 2 cups peaches sliced and peeled (about 3 medium peaches)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Melt butter in a saute pan until it is bubbly and starts to turn light brown.
- Pour the browned butter into a cake pan or baking dish (make sure it’s at least 8 or 9 inches wide and deep enough to hold all the batter and have a little extra room to puff up) and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, flour, baking powder, and spices until well blended.
- Stir in the evaporated milk and grated ginger until just mixed well. (You can also stir in the minced curry leaves at this point if you want. I wait till later so that you can see the curry leaves on top)
- Pour the batter over the browned butter. Do not stir. Just layer the batter over the melted butter. Don’t worry about some of the butter drifting to the top as you pour.
- Arrange the peaches on top of the batter. Try to disturb the batter as little as possible.
- Sprinkle the minced curry leaves on top. Then sprinkle the brown sugar.
- Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the batter has risen to the top and turned golden brown.
Notes
If you can’t find fresh curry leaves, you can order dried curry leaves online. Use 1/2 teaspoon if using dried and mix it into the flour mixture before adding the milk.
Fresh thyme would probably also work well instead of the curry leaves.
Serve the cobbler warm with vanilla ice cream. Adapted from the Nectarine and Cream Cobbler recipe by Joy the Baker
I found this month’s Improv to be a true challenge. I’d NEVER thought to combine peaches with any sort of herb. I love the peach and curry leaf cobbler that you’ve come up with! Very creative! I’m so impressed that you were able to make a dessert for the challenge this month.
Thank you Amber! 🙂
Your cobbler is beautiful. I am intrigued with the peach and curry leaf combination. It is so much fun to add different flavors together.
Thanks Kristen!
I had never heard of the curry leaf before (as a curry novice) but was a creative idea for a cobbler. Love it!
That is a really unique combination of flavors. It sounds and looks wonderful.
The ubiquitous cobbler has a new face in your recipe. Found you on gawker and you are on my reading list 🙂
Very creative! I haven’t used curry leaves before and this looks like a delicious way to get started.
Mimi
What an incredibly unique and truly beautiful use of this months ingredients. I would never have thought to pair curry leaves with peaches and now I’m truly intrigued. I will definitely have to make this! Lovely!
Looks simply amazing and tempting!!
You infused curry leaf with Cobbler! How brilliant ! How incredibly brilliant !
Your beautiful pictures inspired me to try this gorgeous recipe 🙂
Wonderful combination of flavors, Puja, like always! Looks incredibly tasty.
What a unique paring ! Awesome
Oh Puja….what a great pairing and this cobbler looks so good! I can just imagine the sweet and spiciness of it! So glad it worked out the second time! : )