Blackberry Cobbler

Posted by jenny on 08/21/2009

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‘Cakey or crusty?’ That’s always my first question when people tell me they like to eat or make fruit cobblers. Everyone has an answer, and most of the time it’s different from mine. ‘Crusty,’ they reply, ‘that’s how my grandmother make it.’ To me, that’s a pie without its shell.

My cakey cobbler comes from my dad’s mom Rose – and it seems to be common to Central Texas. Only one other person has ever said she knew exactly what I meant by ‘cakey cobbler’ and she turned out to have grown up in Texas too.

This recipe works well for any berries or stone fruit – peaches, especially. But we get such nice blackberries here in Washington, I couldn’t help but make one when the season was right. Many people serve this with vanilla ice cream, but I prefer just cold heavy cream poured over the top. Makes the crust that much gooeyer.

Blackberry Cobbler
1 stick butter, salted
1 c sugar
1 c flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 c milk
pinch salt
blackberries (amount can vary depending on how much crust you like)
sugar (optional)
9”x12” baking pan

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Toss the blackberries with sugar to sweeten them if they are too tart. Reserve.
Melt 1 stick of butter in the baking pan directly in the oven.
Note: The crust tastes better if you let the butter brown a little bit. Salted butter gives it a nice flavor on the crust, but if you don’t use salted butter, it’s no major loss.
Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, milk and salt quickly and pour into the baking pan with the melted butter.
Spoon the berries in clumps over the batter making islands of berries.
Bake 45 minutes and serve immediately.