Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake

You'll have to excuse me for a minute if I'm not making sense because my head is spinning. I just looked up cobbler online to help clear up a few questions. But between the cobblers, grunts, slumps, buckles, sonkers, crisps, crumbles, and pandowdys...I'm more confused than ever. It seems they're all made with fruit, but some are topped with oatmeal and others with biscuits, dumplings and/or batter.

And if that wasn't enough, then there's the brown betty made with breadcrumbs or bread pieces (like a bread pudding). I could break it all down for you, but I'm dizzy and don't really feel like it. I'm getting the impression that they all blur into one another anyway, so what's the point? Does that sound pessimistic? I guess that's just the mood I'm in (not very Betty Crocker of me, I know). Then again, she wasn't very Betty Crocker either. I looked it up and it turns out she wasn't real, some guy made her up (if you're devastated, you can cheer up....Sara Lee is a real person and still alive.) See what I did there? I droned on and on for so long, you didn't even realize I never described this recipe. It's kind of like a cross between cobbler and cake. There.

BROWN BUTTER NECTARINE COBBLER/CAKE

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

3 cups fresh nectarines or peaches, in 1/2-inch slices (about 1 lb.)

5 oz. sugar (about 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 oz. flour (about 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

______________________________________________________________________

1.       Heat the oven to 350º F. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the fruit slices, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer, then take the pan off the heat.

2.       In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until it smells very nutty, turns golden, and flecks of dark brown appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the brown butter into an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish.

3.       In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the batter on top of the brown butter, use a spatula to even out the batter but be careful not to mix it into the butter. Scatter the nectarine slices and juice on top of the batter without stirring. Sprinkle with the almonds, nutmeg and demerara sugar. Bake until golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

from New York Times (July 27, 2011)

I used peaches...fresh, local beauties.
You know they're basically fuzzy nectarines, right?

peach slices

peach slices, sugar and lemon juice

butter browning

butter in baking dish

adding buttermilk to dry ingredients

dough mixed (it should be thick, like biscuit dough)

dough gently added, trying not the displace the butter

spread as delicately as possible

peaches added

almonds, nutmeg and demerara sugar sprinkled on top

Demerara sugar is an unrefined, light brown sugar. It
tastes slightly like molasses. The grains are larger than
refined granulated sugar, so it adds a nice crunch when
sprinkled on top of baked goods.

The bag I found said "raw cane sugar", not "demerara sugar" on
the front, so I read the ingredient list just to make sure it was demerara.

demerara sugar up close

baked

.