Blackberry Cobbler #1

  Posted by Ree in All PW Recipes,

In the coming days and weeks, I’m going to be blowing the lid off the international debate about cobbler. ‘Round these parts, cobbler is everywhere. Particularly in the summertime, various fruit cobblers can be found at diners, church potlucks, family picnics, and parole coming home parties. And one thing I’ve found is that everyone—everyone—has his own idea of what cobbler is.
The "real" cobbler recipe, from what my research indicates, involves spooning a biscuity topping on top of fruit and baking the dish in the oven. When baked, the topping creates a "cobbled" effect—hence the name. My mother-in-law’s cobbler, on the other hand, is topped with a flat pie crust, and some folks even tear up pieces of crust and mix them in with the fruit. I happen to prefer the recipe I’m posting today, my stepmother Patsy’s recipe, which is probably farther away from actual cobbler than any other…but that doesn’t make it any less yummy.
That’s my purpose for this series of posts—not to determine, when it’s all said and done, which interpretation of cobbler is the best, but to lay out for you all the options you have, and to encourage you to make all of them, and to give myself an valid excuse to try them and eat them ’til I bloat in the interest of culinary curiosity. I need all the rationalization I can get.

The Cast of Characters: Milk, Butter, sugar, self-rising flour, and blackberries.

First, place 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter in a microwaveable dish.

Melt the butter.

Now measure 1 cup of sugar and pour into a mixing bowl.

Take self-rising flour…

Measure 1 cup…

And dump into the bowl. Whisk in 1 cup of milk.

Mix together well.

Now get your melted butter…

And pour it into the bowl.

Whisk together. I love action whisk shots.

Now butter a baking dish…

Aww, c’mon. Don’t hold back. Butter that baby!

Now take two generous cups of blackberries. These are fresh, but frozen works just fine.

Give ‘em a good rinse and lightly pat them dry.

Now pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. (Batter…buttered…batter…buttered…Betty Botta bought some butter, but she said, "This butter’s bitter. If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter. But a bit of better butter will make my bitter batter better. So she bought a bit of butter; better than the bitter butter to make her bitter batter better. So ’twas better Betty Botta bought a bit of better butter. Amen.) Say that fast eighteen times.

Now start sprinkling the 2 cups of blackberries over the top of the batter.

Try to distribute them evenly…

Until they’re all in there.

Now, sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar evenly over the top.

Because if some sugar is good, even more sugar is better. That single statement sums up the entire philosophy of my cooking. Now pop the dish into the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. My dad’s wife, Patsy, likes to sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

And here’s what it’ll look like when you take it out.

Hey, look! It kind of looks like a cobblestone street, doesn’t it? Who’s got the cobbler NOW?

Up close, it kind of looks like a blueberry muffin, doesn’t it?

To serve, just stick a big honkin’ spoon in and scoop some out.

And once you put it on the plate, if it doesn’t look like enough, which, in my case, it didn’t…

Go ahead and get some more. Remember: if some is good, more is better. Now. You can whip some fresh sweetened cream. Or you can retrieve that vanilla Haagen Dazs from the freezer. Or you can…

Use this.

Hey, whoever originally maligned this great American invention was probably being treated for psychiatric problems.

And don’t be shy…

Remember…if some is good…

More is better.

Or, you could just stick to the "some" approach like most reasonable, sane humans. Up next…Blackberry Cobbler #2!
 

Blackberry Cobbler #2

Posted by Ree in All PW Recipes, Desserts, Fruit Desserts

We’ve already examined one version of blackberry cobbler, which happens to be my favorite. It was more cakey and sweet than the version I’ll share today, and can really stand on its own without a creamy accompaniment such as ice cream or squirt whipped cream. Today’s version, however, is the more traditional definition of "cobbler": a slightly, but not overly, sweet biscuity topping is spooned in clumps over the top of sweetened blackberries, creating a cobblestone effect on the dessert—hence the name "cobbler."
This really is a basic, yummy fruit dessert, but what catapults it into the realm of absolutely blissful deliciousness is the addition of a scoop of vanilla ice cream when serving. Honestly, it always amazes me that something so simple—a round ball of frozen cream, sugar, milk, and eggs—can make such an amazing difference in this dessert. Without the ice cream, the cobbler’s still a good, basic cobbler. But with the ice cream, it takes on a whole new dimension.
Let’s tackle this cobbler, shall we?

The Cast of Characters: Flour, Sugar, Milk, Egg, Butter, Shortening, Salt, Baking Powder, Lemon, and Blackberries. How hard is that?

First, place six cups of blackberries into a mixing bowl. These are fresh, but you can certainly use frozen. I’m here to make it easy on you, folks.

Add 1/2 cup sugar.

Now cut a lemon in half.

Squeeze 1 tablespoon of lemon juice…

And add it to the bowl.

Have you picked up a Microplane zester/grater yet? You must. It’ll change the entire course of your life.

Just run it over the surface of half a lemon to remove the zest. (I would have used the same one I juiced earlier, but I forgot and threw it in the trash. Don’t be like me.)

Throw the zest into the bowl.

Now stir mixture together…

And set aside. But first, remove three of the berries and place them into your mouth. Chew. Swallow. Enjoy. Repeat four times.

Now measure 2 cups of flour…

And dump it into a separate mixing bowl.

Now for the salt…

Go ahead and add about 1/4 teaspoon. Sometimes I like to measure it in my hand because it makes me feel cool, and because I like to pretend I know what I’m doing. And see that scar at the bottom of my index finger? I almost severed my finger in high school and I got grounded because of my shenanigans. The wound is still fresh.

Now measure 1 tablespoon of baking powder.

And dump it in the bowl.

More sugar now: add 1 tablespoon.

Now for the very non-fat Crisco (vegetable shortening). ALSO: Add 4 tablespoons butter. (I used unsalted, but I don’t think that’s utterly important.)

Plop 1/4 cup into the bowl with the flour.

This is a pastry cutter. Mine is bent because my boys use it to fight bad guys.

With a pastry cutter OR two knives OR your fingers, even, begin to work the butter and shortening into the flour. Or is it, work the flour into the butter and shortening? I suppose it depends on your upbringing or what, if any, mood disorders you may have.

Keep working it around until it’s well combined. This can take several minutes.

Keep going until the mixture is coarse, like this.

Now take 1/2 cup milk.

Add 1 egg.

Stir together well.

Now pour this into the flour mixture…

Stirring to combine. If mixture seems overly dry, you can splash in a little milk.

Now butter a baking dish and pour the berries in.

Even the berries out on top…

Then begin to place clumps of dough all over the top of the fruit.

Remember, what you’re going for here is the look of a cobblestone street. Get it?

Keep going until all the fruit is covered…

Then slightly flatten the dough with your fingers, but only slightly.

Sprinkle the top of the dough generously with sugar. I used about 3 teaspoons.
Now bake in a 425-degree oven for 30 minutes.

The top should be golden, but not overly brown or dry-looking.

Mmmmm. See how the juice from the berries made its way into the biscuity topping?

Suddenly I’m hungry for blackberry cobbler. I can’t figure out why.

To serve, stick a big spoon in…

And place in a bowl. The berry juice will be slightly thin, but don’t be afraid. It will gradually soak into the biscuity topping and make your life complete.

And now for the terms: You must…must…MUST eat this cobbler with vanilla ice cream. I could give you all kinds of scientific and culinary explanations of how the creamy sweetness of the ice cream balances the mildness of the biscuity topping and combines with the juice of the blueberries to make a unique sauce, but you’re just going to have to take my word for it.

I repeat: Vanilla ice cream must be served with this cobbler. Oh, you need evidence, you say?

Here you go. Oh, baby. Come to mama.

Recipe: Blackberry Cobbler #2

Prep Time: 20 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 30 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Easy  |  Servings: 8

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Ingredients

• 6 cups Fresh Or Frozen Blackberries
• 1/2 cup Plus 4 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1/2 whole Zest Of Lemon
• 2 cups Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1/4 cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
• 4 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Egg
• 1/2 cup Milk

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine blackberries, ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a mixing bowl. Stir and spread out in a buttered pyrex dish.
In a separate bowl pour flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 tablespoon sugar. Add shortening and butter and work mixture together with a pastry blender (or your fingers) until the mixture is coarse. Measure ½ cup milk, add an egg, and mix together. Pour into flour mixture, stirring as you go. Mixture should be smooth and not dry, but not over stickly.
Take clumps of dough and place them on top of the blackberries. Lightly flatten dough with your fingertips. Sprinkle with 2 to 3 tablespoons of sugar and bake until golden for 30 minutes. Berry juice will be slightly thin, but don’t be afraid. It will gradually soak into the biscuity topping and make your life complete.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.