Cobbler Recipes

In this season of fresh fruit and farm stands, when it's too hot for complicated cooking, cobbler comes to mind. It's not always called that - cobblers, grunts, slumps and buckles are probably the old fashioned names. Shortcake is related. Then there are bettys, crumbles, crisps; a modern version, with everything from cookie crumbs to breakfast cereals on top. The late Richard Sax lists eighteen recipes, plus variations for cobblers in his book Classic Home Desserts. He says fruit and sugar with biscuit dough on top is the classic, but we have several variations on a theme to suggest. They include: Blackberry Cobbler and Fresh Peach Cobbler from Southern Living, Inc. We also have a Peach Cobbler recipe from the Country Desserts book and a Blackberry-Rhubarb Cobbler recipe from Dinner at Miss Lady's.
    --- Enjoy!


Blackberry Cobbler
8 cups fresh blackberries
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Pastry, divided
1/4 cup butter or margarine, cut up
Sugar (optional)
Stir together first 4 ingredients; let mixture stand 10 minutes or until sugar dissolves.
Roll half of pastry to 1/4-inch thickness; cut into 1 1/2-inch-wide strips. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Break strips into pieces.
Spoon half of blackberry mixture into a lightly greased 13- x-9 inch baking dish; top with pastry pieces. Spoon remaining blackberry mixture over pastry; dot with butter.
Roll remaining pastry to 1/4-inch thickness, cut into 1-inch strips, and arrange in a lattice design over filling. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Place cobbler on baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream and Blackberry Syrup, if desired.
Yield 8 services. Prep: 25 minutes; Bake; 50 minutes.

Pastry:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup milk

Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; cut shortening with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Add milk, stirring with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened and mixture forms a soft ball.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead 6 to 8 times.
Yield: pastry for 1 (13- x 9-inch) cobbler. Prep: 5 minutes.

This recipe is from Southern Living Magazine and supplied by Carolyn Flournoy, Shreveport, Louisiana. Copyright © Southern Living, Inc.