I've had a cobbler problem. And when visiting my cousins Dan and Carolyn Hale last week in Maine, I realized I'm not the only one. A lot of cobblers call for leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder. Last summer, I made a cobbler that called for four TABLESPOONS of baking powder. The result was acrid, bitter crust. I had to throw the whole thing away. I tracked down the contributor of the recipe to a compendium cookbook from B&B owners and she confirmed that she uses four TBSP. in her recipe and likes it just fine. Blech. Last week, Carolyn's otherwise delicious blueberry cobbler suffered the same fate; dough that wouldn't quite cook through and vaguely fizzy from baking soda. I took a look through six or seven of my cookbooks and found this gem. No leavening required. It's a little more like an upside down pie, but nonetheless perfect.
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| Blackberry picking with Boy #2 |
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| Looking for the tiny crayfish in the creek |
Hyde Farm Blackberry
Cobbler (Adapted from Rob and Suzanne Boas, All Saints Cookbook)
5 cups
blackberries, fresh or frozen
¾ cup
sugar (I used 2/3 cup)
3 Tbsp.
cornstarch
¼ tsp.
salt
2 Tbsp.
butter
Place
berries in bottom of 9” square baking dish. Combine sugar, starch and salt and
sprinkle over berries. Dot with butter. Set aside.
1 c. All Purpose flour
½ tsp.
salt
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| Quite a haul; next week there will be way more |
1/3 cup
shortening
~2 Tbsp.
cold water
1 tsp.
almond extract (my addition for flavor)
1 Tbsp.
milk
1 Tbsp.
sugar
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| The finished product. Perfect! |
Preheat
oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour and salt in bowl. Cut in shortening until
coarse. Sprinkle with water and add almond extract and stir with fork until
mixture holds together. Roll out onto wax paper (I fold wax paper in half and
put the dough in the middle of the “sandwich” before rolling, so both sides of
dough are on wax paper). Place rolled dough over baking dish. Cut slits into
top. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 30 minutes or until
golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
