Recipes Desserts Cake Skillet Graham Cake with Peaches and Blueberries Be the first to rate & review! Chicago chef Stephanie Izard’s skillet cake, baked on the grill, gets amazing flavor from graham crackers mixed into the batter and in the crumbly streusel topping. It can also be baked in a 300° oven for the same amount of time. Slideshow: More Grilled Dessert Recipes By Stephanie Izard Stephanie Izard Video Best New Chef Stephanie Izard. Video Stephanie Izard describes what it means to be named a Best New Chef. Born 1976; Evanston, IL ("I was born the day before Halloween, October 30. My mother calls me 'devil's child.'") Education Le Cordon Bleu; Scottsdale, AZ Experience Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, Paradise Valley, AZ; Christopher's Fermier Brasserie, Phoenix; Vong, Spring, La Tache and Scylla, Chicago. How she opened Scylla when she was just 27 "I was cooking at La Tache, and one of the cooks said, 'You should open your own restaurant.' That was it. The next week I quit, got a giant loan, bought a building and opened Scylla. I think I was on a big adrenaline rush; I could not do that again by myself now." Childhood Experience "I always cooked with my mom; we'd shop together every Sunday and then cook together. She's a good cook, but now I notice that she uses things like jarred garlic; I throw her under the bus every time I do a demo." How she knew she wanted to be a cook "When I was growing up, I was always watching Martin Yan's Yan Can Cook and Julia Child while all my friends were watching Saved By the Bell." Memorable Cooking Experience "When I was eight, my family went to Epcot. We went to 'France' and had ham-filled crêpes with mushroom béchamel sauce. When we got home, I looked through cookbooks and recreated the dish pretty much exactly. My parents couldn't believe it." Kitchen Tool Vegetable peeler. "My sous chef just got me one from an Asian market. It's got a little green face with little googly eyes on it. It also has a wasabi shredder on the inside." Memorable Meal Tetsuya's in Sydney. "I was by myself. It's the only time I've done a big 10-course tasting by myself. I spent the whole time watching everyone else eat, watching their eyes light up. It was also the first time I'd gotten a chef's cookbook and then gotten to eat their food." Cheap Eat San Soo Gab San, a Korean restaurant in Chicago. "They're open late, and the chap chae [a cold noodle dish] is ridiculous. We get a table for 20, sit on the floor and cook all our own food—which, maybe, after a night of cooking, isn't the best part. But we have a little party there." Guilty Pleasure Tamari rice crackers with The Laughing Cow cheese. "It's my go-to snack in the kitchen. There are always tamari rice crackers sitting on my station; I dip them in whatever I'm making that day." Next Restaurant Little Goat. "It will be a diner, with a bar, opening in late fall. We're also going to make all kinds of breads there; we're going to blow up the bread program. So you'll be able to walk in at 7 a.m. and get bread right from the oven." Upcoming Cookbook Girl in the Kitchen (Fall 2011). Advantage to winning Top Chef season 4 "After oversleeping and missing my flight to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, I was 20th on the standby list for the next flight. Then a woman at the counter saw me and said 'That's my Top Chef!' She snapped her fingers and said, 'Get my Top Chef on the plane!'" Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on June 1, 2015 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: John Kernick Active Time: 1 hrs Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins Yield: 10 Ingredients STREUSEL 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 stick unsalted butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt FRUIT 3 large peaches, each cut into 1-inch wedges 3/4 cup blueberries 1/2 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 tablespoon unsalted butter CAKE 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour 1/2 cup fine graham cracker crumbs 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 stick plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar 1/4 cup granulated sugar 3 tablespoons honey 4 large eggs 1 1/4 cups buttermilk 1/3 cup canola oil 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Vanilla ice cream, for serving Directions Make the streusel In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat all of the ingredients together at medium speed until crumbs form. Transfer the crumbs to a bowl and press into clumps. Refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the fruit Set up a gas grill for indirect grilling, then heat to 300°. In a medium bowl, toss the peaches with the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over low heat. Remove from the heat. Scrape the fruit and any juices into the skillet. Make the cake In a medium bowl, whisk both flours with the graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat the butter with both sugars and the honey at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Scrape down the side of the bowl and beat in the dry ingredients until just smooth. Spread the batter in the skillet in an even layer. Scatter the streusel evenly on top. Set the skillet on the grill over indirect heat. Close the grill and bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, rotating the skillet every 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean; keep an eye on the heat to maintain the grill temperature. Let the cake cool for 1 hour. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream. Suggested Pairing Fruit desserts pair best with fruity sour beers. Rate it Print