The Fickle Hobbyist

Where I’m from, blackberries grow on the sides of dirt roads.  The taste of a warm, sun-ripened berry on your tongue signifies the lazy days of summer spent going to the river or the lake to cool off and work on your tan.  Stained, purple fingertips and thorn nicked arms mean you’ve enjoyed your day taking in everything the season has to offer.

My aunts live on a dirt road that is totally lined with plump, juicy blackberries.  Whenever we would visit, we’d go out with a bowl and pick enough berries for my mom to make her grandma’s blackberry cobbler.  To this day, taking a bite of this cobbler brings me straight back to my childhood.

Here’s her recipe:

Fruit Cobbler

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

A couple of hours before you are going to make the batter, set aside at least 2 cups of cleaned fruit.  (berries, peaches, whatever)  Sprinkle sugar over the top and stir.  Let the fruit macerate until there is a noticeable amount of juice.  The more juice, the better the cobbler.  (*side note* I don’t measure the sugar, I just sprinkle enough in to cover all the fruit)

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Combine the rest of the ingredients.  Mix until smooth. Put into greased 2 qt casserole dish. Spoon fruit over batter. Pour fruit juice over top. Bake @ 375 for 40 minutes.

*we always double this recipe and put it in a 4 quart dish.  Last night when I cooked it, it didn’t take as long to finish baking.  I think about 30 minutes.  You’ll smell when it’s ready.  Just be sure to keep an eye on it if you double it*

The batter will bake up and around all the juice and the berries and you will be left with something that looks like this.

What’s interesting to me is that cobbler doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone.  I remember my friend made some that had a pie crust type base instead of a cake base.  It was equally as delicious!  I think it’s cool, having moved from the West Coast to the South, to note the differences in recipes.

I think we also probably eat our cobbler differently than a lot of people.  Don’t get me wrong I love it topped with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla (heaven!)…

but back home,  the way we usually ate it was scooped into a bowl and topped with cream.

What about you?  What type of cobbler is traditional where you are?  And how do you prefer to eat it?  Topped with ice cream, whipped cream, half and half?  Do share!

-Autumn

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