How to make the perfect peach cobbler – recipe | Felicity Cloake's How to make the perfect …

A fruity stew topped with something akin to a crumble dumpling, the cobbler is a beloved specialty of the southern US – but whose version will make it to your table?

‘If you go to a picnic in the south,” wrote the late South Carolina chef Emily Meggett, “and there’s no peach cobbler, someone’s got some explaining to do.” Cobblers, a rustic variety of fruit pie that seems to have originated in the rough-and-ready environs of the American west, are now principally associated with the US south and are, as chef Brad McDonald observes, “unglamorous” yet “rarely fail to please”.

As befits frontier food, they’re extremely adaptable to a variety of climates and kitchens, too, but, as the southern food critic James Villas once explained, “no matter how you construct a hot cobbler, the main principle is that the filling should never be either soggy or dried out and the crust must be crisp enough to create a good counterpoint with the soft fruits or berries – not to mention the obligatory scoop of ice-cream on top”. Far easier to pull off than a pie, but more impressive than a crumble, cobblers are a great way to use a bargain tray of overripe or bruised fruit, should you be lucky to come across such a thing.