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

 

Tis' the essence of summer...

 

Cobbler!

 

Fresh Peach Cobbler

Ripe juicy peaches with spicy cinnamon and a 

buttery cobbler crust,
baked until golden brown and delicious ~
who doesn’t like a sweet treat now and then...

Here, we all like fresh peaches and I was happy to see ripe white peaches at the farmers’ market the other day.  

Easy, But Different, Peach Cobbler

A bushel and a peck ~ that’s how much we love fresh peaches here!

I knew it was time for 'summer-time comfort food' last Saturday when a bounty of great looking Michigan peaches was on display at the farmers’ market!

Ginger-Peach Shortbread Cobbler and ICD!

Woo hoo! 

You cat lovers, 

today is...

 ~ International Cat Day ~

a day to recognize one of humanity's 

oldest and 

most beloved pets!

And here's Bucky stylin' for the occasion:

Bucky, Bubba's proud Tuxedo cat who loved to "dress up!"

Now, on to dessert for any occasion ...

Delicious!!!

First you have to take a whiff to determine if it’s sweetly fragrant, next you give it a little gentle squeeze; it shouldn’t be too hard, best if it’s soft to the squeeze, then remember that the color tells more about what variety it is than its ripeness. 

That’s the way I find the best peaches at the farmers’ market!

We’re in the swing of peach season here in the Midwest now, and they are juicy delicious and fragrant this summer.  

They’re great eaten fresh just as they are with all the sticky juice running down your chin and fingers.

But, when you want to gussy them up, here you go…

Southern Living did it again ~ published a recipe I couldn’t resist!

Any recipe that begins with 2 sticks of butter, and turbinado sugar has to be good!

 

Mom's biscuit cutter, older than dirt and well-used!

Forked Medallions

Turbinado sugar is “sugar in the raw,” made from pure cane sugar extract, very light brown, with a subtle molasses flavor, that's great in baked goods, barbecue sauces,  and in your morning cup of java.  

And, if you've never added fresh ginger to a dish, this is the recipe to start with.  

Peel the yellowish-pink peaches, encase them in gingered-syrup,  let them bubble away with a shortbread topping of unleavened cookies.

Ummm, mmm!

Oven ready goodness...

Just imagine how delicious this is...

You’re gonna’ want seconds!


Ginger-Peach Shortbread Cobbler  
Printable recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened 

½ cup loosely packed light brown sugar
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
2¼ cups, plus 3 tablespoons flour, divided
1 (½-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
¾ cup turbinado sugar, divided
7 to 9 medium-size peaches, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Method:  

Preheat oven to 400˚.
Beat first 3 ingredients and 2¼ cups flour at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer just until combined.
Place dough on a lightly floured surface, roll to ¼” thickness.
Cut about 14 rounds with a 2½” fluted round cutter.
Place rounds in a single layer on a baking sheet; cover and chill until ready to use.
Pulse ginger and ¼ cup turbaned sugar in a food processor 5-6 times or until well combined. 
Stir together ginger mixture and remaining ½ cup turbinado sugar in a large bowl.
Add lemon juice, peaches, and remaining 3 tablespoons flour, toss to coat.
Place peach halves, slightly overlapping in a greased (with butter) 10” cast-iron skillet, and pour any remaining juice over peaches.
Bake at 400˚ for 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, and nestle shortbread dough rounds among peaches.
Brush rounds with egg white, and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or at  room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or scoop of ice cream.


 

Enjoy!

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!

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! 

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!