Upside-Down Peach Cobbler

By Melissa Clark

Updated Oct. 12, 2023

Upside-Down Peach Cobbler
David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour 40 minutes
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour, plus at least 20 minutes’ chilling
Rating
4(313)
Notes
Read community notes

This juicy pastry crosses a peach cobbler with a caramel-coated apple tarte Tatin. To make it, the peaches are caramelized with sugar in a skillet just like apples are in a classic tarte Tatin. But then, instead of being covered with pie dough or puff pastry, the fruit is topped with fluffy biscuit dough. While baking, the biscuits rise and brown, creating a golden, tender pillow on which the jammy fruit lands when it’s all unmolded. The whole thing is a bit more cakey in texture than the usual crisp-crusted Tatin, with the allure of fresh ripe peaches.

Featured in: Peach Cobbler as You’ve Never Seen It

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Ingredients

Yield:8 servings

    For the Biscuits

    • 1¾cups/225 grams all-purpose flour
    • ¼cup/50 grams granulated sugar
    • 1tablespoon baking powder
    • ¾teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 6tablespoons/85 grams cold unsalted butter, cubed
    • ¾cup plus 1 tablespoon/192 milliliters sour cream, more for serving
    • 1tablespoon Demerara or raw sugar

    For the Filling

    • ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
    • Pinch of fine sea salt
    • 1teaspoon honey
    • 4tablespoons/56 grams unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
    • 2pounds small peaches or nectarines (8 to 10), halved and pitted (if using large fruit, quarter instead of halving)
    • Sour cream, crème fraîche or whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

460 calories; 24 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 60 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 28 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 366 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Place a piece of parchment or wax paper on a small rimmed baking sheet or a large plate.

  2. Step 2

    To prepare the biscuits, in a food processor, pulse together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Pulse in butter just until the mixture looks like lima beans. Add ¾ cup sour cream and pulse just to combine. Alternatively, you can do this in a bowl, cutting the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or two knives, then mixing in the sour cream. If the mixture is still too crumbly to hold together, add a tablespoon or two of water (or even a bit more: It should hold together as a crumbly, but not floury, dough).

  3. Step 3

    Transfer to a lightly floured surface and pat dough together, incorporating any stray or dry pieces. Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Transfer to the parchment paper-lined baking pan or plate, and flatten balls into ½-inch-thick disks; wrap loosely with plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes or up to 24 hours.

  4. Step 4

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. To prepare the filling, in a 10-inch nonstick skillet, combine ¼ cup water, sugar, salt and honey. Bring to boil, stirring. Stop stirring and continue to simmer until the caramel is the deep amber brown color of an Irish setter (it may be difficult to see with the skillet), 6 to 10 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Remove from heat and whisk in butter (stand back, the caramel may bubble up and splatter).

  6. Step 6

    Arrange peaches, cut side down, as close together as possible in the skillet. Return to heat and simmer the peaches in the caramel for 5 minutes, then carefully flip the peaches to cut side up. Simmer for another 5 minutes to condense the juices.

  7. Step 7

    Top peaches with biscuits. Brush the biscuits with remaining 1 tablespoon sour cream, then sprinkle with Demerara sugar.

  8. Step 8

    Place skillet on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any overflowing filling, and bake until biscuits are golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool slightly (about 10 to 15 minutes but no longer), then carefully flip onto a serving platter, replacing any peaches that stick to the pan back onto the crust. It may look runny, but the caramel and juices will continue to set as they cool. Serve warm with sour cream, crème fraîche or whipped cream.

Ratings

4 out of 5
313 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Carlos Malo

I'm adding bourbon. Fight me.

Jane

Could you make this with frozen biscuit dough?

John Golden

Why couldn’t this be baked in a cast iron skillet?

Rob

until the caramel is the deep amber brown color of an Irish setter. LOL

James A

I am generally not a peach peeler. However…. This year I was gifted a load of fresh, ripe fruit and the skins were bitter. So I peeled them! The fruitiness of the flesh was much more enjoyable. Rule of thumb: taste the fruit and decide based upon your findings.

Dan

I stopped peeling peaches a long time ago and I haven't heard any complaints. The peaches in the photo look unpeeled.

Tracy

seasoned cast iron, as used for upside down cakes.

Denise

Bake till biscuit topping is color of golden retriever.

Lee

Would Greek yogurt work instead of sour cream so I don't have to schlep to the store?

Sharon

The point is to use the same pan as you've made the caramel in, which cannot be done in a springform. If you are only interested in finding a guaranteed good experience in unmolding, the springform won't help in this instance. Caramel will seep out during baking, and as most springforms are rather thin what caramel remains may burn. You could use a cake pan having buttered the bottom and the parchment as well. It's messy and there's caramel loss, so you're not guaranteed a better unmolding.

Marion

Any reason not to use a biscuit mix?

dwct

D, stainless may make the fruit stick and the dough hard to release from pan. I suggest using parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.

Tracy

Any stone fruit; nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries and apples sliced thinly.

Ellie Mae

I want to offer encouragement to less-experienced cooks. I made this as written - although my technique probably left much to be desired. I had qualms midway: not knowing how to make caramel, or biscuits; unsure how to judge when it was done. I wondered why I tried such a difficult recipe. Fortunately I went through with it, and the result was fabulous both in appearance and taste. The biscuits are delicious and cakelike; I can't imagine refrigerated ones would be so good. Don't peel the fruit.

P Collins

It isn’t necessary to peel smooth skin nectarines but, if using fuzzy skin peaches, I would definitely peel them.

n

I carefully followed the directions and it looked just like the picture—but the biscuits were stodgy as hell! I liked the caramel fruit bits, so I think next time I will use a muffin or cake batter instead.

suziroo

Definitely not aiming for Irish setter - probably one second away from burnt. The hardest part was flipping it, mostly because of fear of making a giant mess. It fell into the plate beautifully, no a trace left in the skillet. And it was delicious according to all that ate it. I thought it pretty good myself. Sorry so long, but that’s cooking disabled. Arduous and sometimes downright dangerous - that’s a whole ‘nother story…

suziroo

Starting with new peaches I plunged ahead. I’m sure the refrigeration helped the biscuits (though not beany). My big advantage was that it was my dog Bob’s monthly day of beauty - I could work using the floor! I used my cast iron skillet and it worked great - strongly recommend! Making the caramel, I looked for the parade of dog breeds. I myself was aiming for Bob’s coppery color he had as a pup. He’s mostly white now, as bearded collies coats change from pup to adult, no matter the birth color

suziroo

Cooking/baking is really difficult for me, as I have to use one arm to hold myself upright - but I was determined to make this. Thought I’d do it on a Monday, when my friend comes to help with the housework. She peeled the peaches while I got the biscuits going. One problem - I looked at the second page and put the butter out to soften. We got no “lima beans”! She went home and I decided I’d stick the food processor bowl in the fridge. Thursday seemed liked the best day to get back to work.

sue

Carlos, I'm drinking bourbon. Great idea. No fight here. LOL!

NDM

No reason that I can see to make the dough into biscuits. I just made one large biscuit by rolling out to pan diameter, chilling and placing on top of the pan instead of individual biscuits. Less handling and easier. Winning recipe in peach/nectarine season!

Amy

I didn’t peel the peaches and had no problem with the way they turned out. I bought a bag of rejects at the farmer’s market. They were slightly over ripe with some bruises. Perfect for cooking.

Amy

I cooked this recipe with no modifications except substituting Cup for Cup gluten free flour. Great result.

Robin

Not a bad dessert, but I found that the caramel overwhelmed the flavor of the peaches - and they were really tasty peaches.

Connie C

Ive never commented before but I made this last eve and OK at best. Biscuits not pillowy (more like hockey pucks). I followed recipe, but did refrigerate biscuit dough over night. I wouldn't recommend that. I also used "Wondra " flour and I'm wondering if that was the issue? In any case...next time, sliced peaches & ice cream w raspberry sauce and a sugar cookie!

kswl

Far too much sugar in the caramelized peach mixture— you lose a lot of the peach flavor if you use so much sugar and the result is far too sweet. Less sugar by half caramelizes the peaches — or apples or whatever fruit you’d like to use—just fine.

Gary

For the first time ever, my end result looks like the one in recipe! The visual is stunning, however I think our peaches (store bought) were lacking in flavor. I think for the next edition of this desert, after tasting, I'll consider a few extra spices for a hint of flavors, maybe ginger or cinnamon. No problems unmolding and as I mentioned, it looks pastry store worthy.

Casper Pike

THis is fantastic!!!!!!!!!! Not just that it showed me that my well-seasoned castiron pan is non-stick. Sour Cream makes great biscuits. One thing that should be emphasized is when the liquified sugar mixture is liquid and simmering. FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS AND DO NOT STIR!!! Stirring caused me to create roughly re-crystalized sugar. I just added water and started over. We learn more from mistakes.

kh

I used pre-made biscuits, cut up the peaches in chunks since I couldn't get clean halves and added blueberries. Ugh. It was a mess. So much juice I had to spoon out a 1/2 a cup before putting it in the oven. Time consuming if you make your own biscuits. The cooked peaches were matted down with overly sweet caramel and the texture was goopy. I'de rather slice ripe peaches (uncooked,) top a homemade biscuit, maybe some lemon zest, add a dollop of whipped cream and call it summer.

Geri

I was successful in making a vegan version of this. It was delicious. I used vegan butter and instead of sour cream -substututed plant based (soy) yogurt.

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