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Morrison's Cafeteria Peach Cobbler

Subject: Morrison's Peach Cobbler recipe From: Beverly Date: 11/9/2021, 5:23 AM To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com On 11/8/2021 10:54 AM, Beverly wrote: First I want to say thank you for all these recipes. Morrison's for my family, like so many others, was a family favorite. My mother who has gone on to glory, nothing gave me more pleasure to treat her there. I truly miss it and Piccadilly.  My favorite was the peach cobbler. I have searched all over for a comparable recipe with no luck. The crust was delicious! I know you indicated you had no luck locating it. But just dropping a line to see if you've had any luck or perhaps know of a good one in comparison. Thanks again!

Hi Beverly,

There isn't a cobbler recipe of any kind in the partial copy of Morrison's Kitchen Manual that I have. However, over the years I have made the acquaintance of some former Morrison's Cafeteria managers and employees, and some of them have different editions of the Morrison's Kitchen Manual. One of them in particular, James, has been a tremendous help in locating Morrison's recipes. I asked him about the peach cobbler, and below is what he said and the recipes that he sent.

Peach cobbler is one of my favorite desserts. I don't recall Morrison's cobbler in any detail, but peach cobbler and egg custard are just about the only desserts that I have eaten in Morrison's or Piccadilly or any other cafeteria in which I've dined.

Note that there are multiple recipes given below. In earlier times, Morrison's made nearly everything from scratch, but as time went on, they shifted to more pre-prepared products, such as canned peach filling. Also, staff at local Morrison's Cafeterias sometimes added their own touches. There is just not much way to determine exactly which recipe was used to make the cobbler of your memory. We have no idea about the brand of pie/cobbler filling. or the brand of canned peaches. Morrison's most probably purchased them from a third-party vendor. The recipes for cobbler are rather basic, and the uniqueness of Morrison's cobbler would have been due in large part to the particular brand of filling or peaches or pre-made pastry used.

Note that these are food service recipes that make large quantities.

"Clearjel" is a thickening product similar to cornstarch. You can buy it online. I believe that Amazon has it.

Phaed

Subject: Morrison's cobbler
From: james
Date: 11/9/2021, 2:51 AM
To: phaedrus@hungrybrowser.com

There were several ways cobbler was made. The homestyle and the one using pastry were 
the most popular. The one using Clearjel was too much labor. In later days when you 
could buy refrigerated pastry sheets these were used and were a great convenience. 
They were similar to grocery store pie crusts, but not the same.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morrison's Peach Cobbler Using Pie-Cobbler Filling

YIELD: 48 portions/1 – number #200 pan or 2 half pans

10 lbs. Morrison's Peach Cobbler/Pie filling
4 1/2 lbs Pastry dough  NOTE: There is a recipe for homemade pastry dough, 
but when refrigerated pastry sheets became available this was used.

Roll long pieces of pastry dough and place in bottom of a greased #200 steam 
table pan. Place in oven and cook until half done. Remove from oven and cool.

Take two long strips of pastry dough ¾ inch wide and place along outer edge 
of pan.

Place 10 pounds of filling in pan.

Roll long strips of pastry dough and brush with pie wash. Using pie crimper, 
cut into 3/4 inch strips and top cobbler.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour or 350 degrees convection.

Serve in vegetable dish with pie plate underliner. If displayed on line, pastry 
must be stripped on top of cobbler.

NOTE: This recipe is also used for other  canned fillings – Cherry, Blueberry, Apple
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morrison's Peach Cobbler Using Canned Peaches
48 portions/ one number #200 pan or 2 half pans

1 #10 can of peaches
12 oz. Oleo
Drain peaches and retain juice. Add water to make 2 quarts liquid.  Put liquid 
into steam kettle and bring to rapid boil.

5 oz. Clearjel mixed with 6 oz. Water.
Add to peach juice and cook until thick and clear.

3 1/2 pounds sugar mix – (sugar mixed with a LITTLE water to make a thick slush. 
Add to mix and stir until smooth. Fold (do not stir) peaches being careful not to 
break fruit. Remove from steam kettle and pour into large bowl.

At this point follow directions for cobbler using canned cobbler mix and use this 
mixture in its place.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morrison's Pastry Dough
(Use for all two crust pie, cobblers and apple dumplings)

Yield: 40 pounds

Six pounds of iced water mixed with 12 oz. Salt (no cubes) – set aside.

20 lbs. Plain flour and add 15 pounds of shortening in large mixing bowl on 
Hobart mixer. Make sure flour is placed in bowl first. Using cake paddle mix 
for one minute or until mixture is cream in color. DO NOT over,mix. This is a 
critical point. Add iced water/salt mixture in a steady stream. Mix for two minutes.

NOTE: Contrary to most thought, mixing at this point will not toughen the 
pastry provided the flour and shortening were first thoroughly incorporated.