Two Cobblers That are Lip-Smacking Good and Lightened Up!

 

Tis' the essence of summer...

 

Cobbler!

 

Blackberry Cobbler

 Tell me, what’s your summertime little guilty pleasure?  Share with me ~ I’ll keep it a secret! 

One of mine is fresh homemade Blackberry Cobbler!


The juicy blackberries had my name written on them when I saw them at the farmer’s market yesterday ~ I knew exactly what to do with them ~ cobbler!



The plump bites of tartness sweetened up with a little sprinkling of sugar; depending upon sweetness of berries, plus a touch of lemon zest and cinnamon.  Baked over the berries, is a simple homemade biscuit cobbler topping.   It’s easy to pull together and a perfect little dessert for anyone. 

We enjoy blackberry cobbler warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream ~ it’s oh so delicious!  

Pure bliss…


Blackberry Cobbler

For the berries:

4 cups fresh blackberries
¼ to ⅓ cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1½ tablespoons instant tapioca

For the cobbler topping:

3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Method:

In a 9” x 9” baking dish, combine berries, sugars, lemon zest and juice, cinnamon and cornstarch, combine well.
Let berries set for 30 minutes to macerate.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bow, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. 
Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or 2 knives, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Make a well in the center and stir in milk and beaten egg until just moistened, do not over-stir.
By large spoonfuls, place mounds of dough over the berries in the baking dish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the topping is bubbly and a golden brown.
Serve warm or room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream

ENJOY!

Pork Medallions with Blackberry Chutney

Imagine wearing a long-sleeved shirt tucked into long pants ~ a hot summer day under the scorching sun ~ trudging through the field, with a basket swinging from your hand ~ heading toward the blackberry brambles by the creek…

Photo credit:  JCorblis

We picked baskets full of large, juicy blackberries and carried them back to the kitchen for Mom to bake her mouthwatering blackberry pies.  There was a price to pay though ~ torn clothing, and scratches on our hands from the briars plus, a few bug bites on our necks.  Not to mention, magenta-stained fingers.  It was all worth the effort though ~ because of a slice of fresh blackberry pie later.

Those days, growing up on the farm, are long over.  My blackberries come from the farmers’ markets now ~ not as plentiful, nor as good as fresh-picked, but delicious nonetheless for blackberry cobblers and pies, jam; and even as a snack with a piquant cheese, or a sauce made from the recipe below.

This blackberry chutney, a Martha Stewart recipe, is the perfect accompaniment to pork medallions.  It’s a sweet and fruity sauce, with the sharp tang of sherry vinegar, which enhances the meat.  If you like blackberries and pork, you’ll really like this!

Pork Medallions with Blackberry Chutney

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter, divided

2 large shallots, thinly sliced

¼ cup sherry vinegar

¼ cup dark-brown sugar

1½ cups blackberries

Salt and pepper

1 pork tenderloin (1½ pounds), cut into 1-inch slices and flattened slightly with your palm

Method:

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat.

Sauté shallots until tender.

Add vinegar, brown sugar and blackberries and cook until mixture is syrupy and some of the berries have collapsed, about 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.

Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon butter to skillet.

Season half of pork with salt and pepper and place in skillet. 

Cook until golden brown.

Repeat with remaining pork.

Serve pork medallions topped with chutney.

ENJOY!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind Of Cooking.  She has unique tips on Tuesdays and yummy recipes every Friday!

Easy Easy Berry Cobbler

Berry Cobbler does not get much easier than this…

This recipe is incredibly easy and seemed unreal, when I saw it on Pinterest and was led here.  It uses just 3 ingredients:  frozen fruit, cake mix and Sprite Zero soda.  Plus, it is not so high in calories as is the usual cobbler! 

I used a combo of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries because that is what we like ~ you can use strawberries, peaches, cherries, or any combo you favor.  There has been a box of lemon cake mix in my kitchen cabinet for ages, so I used it.  The recipe calls for a white cake mix and next time, I will try that.  

Layer of frozen berries

Here’s what I learned:

The recipe calls for not stirring the cake mix and soda together.  I followed that and baked it for 45 minutes.  When pulled out of the oven, I saw some of the cake mix laying on top; very dry.  I poured about ¼ cup more soda over it in the dry spots, and stirred the surface around a little with a fork, then baked it for another 10 minutes ~ 55 minutes, total baking time.  

After pouring soda over the top of the cake mix

Some of the reviewers stated that they stirred the cake mix and soda together before baking.  The recipe says that stirring it makes a smooth cake-like topping, instead of a crust like cobbler. 

The way I made it, turned out crumbly and delicious.  It was not runny, like cobblers many times are ~ the consistency was perfect; juicy fruit with a great crust and not too sweet.  It has a sweet/tart thing going on, different and delicious!

We really liked this!  So easy, peasy and good!  I had cool whip on hand, but it would be great with a scoop of ice cream!  If you like cobblers, you have to try this!

Berry Cobbler

Ingredients:

2 (12 ounce) bags frozen mixed berries

1 box white cake mix (NO PUDDING)----I used lemon

1 can diet 7-up or sierra mist (clear soda)---I used Sprite Zero

Method:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Coat a 9” x 13” baking dish with cooking spray.

Place frozen fruit in baking dish.

Add dry cake mix over the top.

Pour soda SLOWLY over cake mix.

DO NOT stir the cake mix and the pop---this will give you a ‘crust.’  If you stir the two you will have a cake-like topping.

Bake 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Serve with ice cream, or not.

I will be making this again very soon and will use a white cake mix and frozen cherries, if I’m lucky enough to find them!!!

Pam's note:  Update June 23rd:  I made it using the white cake mix---it's even better!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog, @My Kind of Cooking for great tips and delicious easy recipes! 

A New Laptop, A Healthier Me and Cornmeal Cake with Macerated Berries for You!

What a week last week was!

I bought a new laptop last Wednesday ~ turned it over to Bubba that evening ~ he had it up and running and returned to me by Friday morning on his way to work.  

In the meantime, I developed a very nasty little cough which seemed to clear up a little when Bill came down with pneumonia out of the blue.  That left me with a good case of bronchitis.  

So, even though I had the laptop working great, cooking and blogging were the last things on my mind.  But, I’m happy to say Bill is doing fine now and I’m just about cured!

Our first computer - 1983
Bubba 14 years old teaching Matt 8 years old

Thanks to Bubba for setting the new one up, it’s great ~ I love it!

A week ago before the old laptop died, I was going to give you a mouthwatering dessert recipe in time for Labor Day weekend.  This recipe was in our local newspaper a while back and made me curious:

I like texture in food ~ you know, the feeling food has in your mouth.  I’m not much for mashed or creamed food with that soft mushy, slushy feeling; except for ice cream and even that I like with bits of fruit or nuts.  I’m not big on mashed potatoes and forget pudding, smoothies and custard.  So I had a feeling I’d like this cake because of the gritty texture of cornmeal.  And I did, it was a hit!

Cornmeal cake has a buttery, very appealing lightly gritty texture and that’s not all it’s about.  It includes a couple of teaspoons of finely grated orange rind that adds a tangy citrus taste to the cornmeal.  The recipe calls for strawberries, blueberries or raspberries; however, our farmer’s market had luscious blackberries so I used them for the sauce along with some Blackberry Brandy for depth. 

 It’s not a heavy hearty cake at all ~ it’s a perfect light, moist cake that is delicious when macerated blackberries are drizzled over a slice.  It’s truly inviting and heavenly! 

Here’s the recipe:

Cornmeal Cake with Macerated Berries

American Profile

Adapted

Cake:

1 cup flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup 2 percent reduced-fat milk

Berries:

1 cup blackberries

¼ cup sugar, or to taste (I used a tablespoon of it)

2 tablespoons Blackberry Brandy

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Combine butter, sugar, orange rind and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until evenly blended.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and cornmeal alternately with milk, beating just until evenly incorporated.

Scrape into prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack.

To prepare berries:

Mash berries in a large bowl.

Add sugar, juice and brandy and mix gently.

Serve drizzled over cake.

We really enjoyed this and I will be making it again!  YUM!!!

And thanks again Bubba! 

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes.  

My Blackberry Buckle and So Forth

There are grunts, cobblers, crumbles, crisps, pandowdy’s, slumps, clafouti’s, betty’s and then there’s my favorite ~ buckles.

All of the above always confuse me so here’s the lowdown:

Grunt:  It is a simple, dumpling-like fruit dessert that is cooked on the stove-top.  Large dollops of biscuit dough are dropped on top of the fruit; the dough is steam cooked through the escaping steam of the fruit.  The name supposedly comes from the sound the fruit makes as it stews.

Slump:  It’s the same as grunt.

Cobbler:  A cobbler is a deep-dish fruit dessert with the fruit filling in the bottom of the dish and topped with thick biscuit dough, usually dropped in spoonfuls.

Crisp:  This dessert is baked with the fruit on the bottom and having a sweet crunchy topping which is crumbled over the top.  The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, breadcrumbs, graham cracker or cookie crumbs, or even cereal and baked until the top is brown and crunchy.  Crisps are the homey, American version of the British crumbles. 

Crumble:  Similar to a crisp except that it is topped with a crumbly pastry mixture.  The dish is of British origin and is not as rich as a crisp.   

Pandowdy:  This is a layer of sweetened fruit with a thick top crust, usually made with piecrust.  As the dessert bakes and the crust hardens, the crust is pushed and broken into the fruit with a fork, which allows the juices of the baking fruit to partially cover the crust.  The name supposedly refers to its rumpled or “dowdy” appearance after baking.  It’s generally made with apples; hence, apple pandowdy.

Clafouti:  This is a French dessert in which the fruit is topped with either a pudding or cake topping.  It’s often considered a baked pudding.  It’s easy to make, has a great presentation and is excellent for a quickie dessert for a dinner party.  It’s perfect for cherries and is usually served warm.

Betty:  This dessert goes back to colonial days and is usually known as Apple Brown Betty.  It’s made with brown sugar and baked between layers of buttered bread crumbs with an assortment of spices such as nutmeg or cinnamon.

Buckle:  A cake layer is on the bottom of the pan, the berries are spread over this and the top layer is a crumble mixture.  The result is a rich, dense cake with a moist crumb which can be compared to coffee cake.  It’s an excellent summer dessert, served hot or cold, dressed with drizzles of sauce, ice cream or plain.  The origin is mysterious ~ it may be colonial.

Like I said earlier, buckle is my favorite and especially if it’s made with blackberries!  This recipe for blackberry buckle is great.  The flavor with the combined cake layer, fruit and topping is to die for!  It keeps very well. 

The day after it is baked, heat a slice in the micro for a few seconds and it is a HEAVENLY thing when slightly warm with maybe a scoop of ice cream or a dab of butter on it as Bill does.  I like it just all by itself.  The aroma while baking is outstanding ~ it is truly delicious!

 Look at those berries ~ almost ready to bake...

Ready for the oven...

Voila!

Blackberry Buckle

Cake ingredients:

1 cup flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter

½ cup sugar

1 egg

5 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons blackberry brandy

2 teaspoons vanilla

2½ cups fresh or frozen blackberries

Method:

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

In a mixer bowl, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy and light with an electric mixer on medium speed.

Add egg.  Beat until smooth.

Combine milk, blackberry brandy and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients and milk alternately to the batter, beating at low speed after each addition.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 1½ quart baking dish.

Spoon berries evenly over batter.

Crumble topping ingredients:

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter

Method:

Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon.

Cut in butter until crumbly.

Sprinkle over blackberries.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Pam’s note:

Here’s a tip:  I use cold or frozen butter and grate it.  If you are in need of room temperature butter quickly, grate your cold or frozen butter!  I do this with butter in most of my baking and it aids the product in baking perfectly.  Cookies will not spread as they do when using room temperature butter.  Plus, if you decide to bake on the spur of the moment you are not concerned with having cold butter! 

This blackberry buckle gets rave reviews every time, bake it and yours will also!!!

Don’t forget to enter my give-away posted on July 20^th!       Here's the link:

http://pamsmidwestkitchenkorner.blogspot.com/2010/07/its-give-away-time.html

Blackberry Cobbler

Growing up on the farm in Ohio, blackberries were in abundance during late summertime.

Ripe and unripe blackberries

Patrick Johns/Corbis

 The area by the creek through the farm was filled with wild blackberry brambles and we spent many hours picking, eating and laughing while getting stabbed with all the thorns.  

Then with our stained hands and clothing, we carried the pails back to the house in anticipation of what delicacy Mom would be baking after first eating a bowl of them with just a sprinkling of sugar. 

Mom made many blackberry pies, cobbler and plenty of jam.  I didn’t realize how lucky I was at the time!  Then she froze a plethora of blackberries and we were treated with them all winter long.  I really miss that!

Now, it is nearly impossible to find fresh blackberries here and when I do, they are very pricey.  So I resort to frozen blackberries and they are wonderful even if they aren’t fresh.

Just the thought of blackberry cobbler starts me drooling.  This cobbler is filled with berry juicy flavor and especially delicious with fresh blackberries.  All it needs are plump ripe blackberries with a beautiful deep color and there you have a rustic blackberry cobbler dessert ~ the perfect ending to a meal!  

Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients:

6 to 8 cups fresh or frozen blackberries

1½ cups sugar

½ cup flour

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons butter

Biscuit topping (see recipe below)

Vanilla ice cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

If using fresh berries: wash, stem and drain

In large bowl, combine sugar, flour, blackberries and lemon juice.

Spread in a 13” x 9” baking dish, dot with butter.

Bake, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.

When mixture is hot, remove from oven and spoon Biscuit Topping mixture onto the top in approximately 10 to 12 spoonfuls. 

Return to oven and bake another 20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.

Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Biscuit topping:

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup butter, chilled, cut into ¼” slices

2/3 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

Method:

In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.

With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture is size of small peas.

Add milk and egg.

Stir with fork until blended.

Love those blackberries!

Enjoy!