Blackberry Cobbler or What to do during an eclipse

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by Karen Schmautz
Blackberry Cobbler

I have been very excited to write about this recipe ever since seeing it on Pioneer Woman (Food Network) this past weekend and then making it that very day. Blackberry Cobbler brings back memories from my childhood.  Growing up in Placerville, CA (which is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas near Tahoe), it was hot and dry in the summer.  Perfect weather for blackberry bushes.  In fact, most people around here consider them a nuisance because they can very quickly take over huge chunks of land.  I have one in my yard that keeps trying to grow and take over and I keep whacking it back.

Bowl of fresh blackberries

Anyway, back to my childhood.  Around July of every year, my brother and I would go down to the blackberry bushes and pick blackberries.  Mostly they got eaten on the spot, but we always brought some home for mom.  She would make this wonderful dessert that she called Blackberry Cobbler.  Now that I look back on the dessert, it was probably more like a blackberry crumble because she would layer blackberries on the bottom of a glass pan and make an oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter concoction that she “crumbled” on the top of the blackberries.  Then she cooked it up in the oven and served it with vanilla ice cream.  Ah…memories of growing up in the hot summer time.

Around the time my oldest son turned 10, we moved from the Los Angeles area back up to Placerville to be closer to my parents.  My youngest was 2 and the middle child was trouble.  We moved into my grandmother’s house because our house in Southern California had not yet sold.  The house was a small 2 bedroom, one bath home next to the house where I had once lived.  Cramming three active children into one bedroom with only a small living room for them to spread out in caused us to spend most of our time outdoors when the weather was good, especially when it got hot because we had no air conditioning.  I remember taking the kids out to the blackberry bushes to pick some berries for my mom’s beloved cobbler.  It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

However, I did not remember to warn my oldest that he shouldn’t go wading into the bushes to get “that huuuuge berry over there.” Nor, did I bring band aids to deal with the thorns and scratches from retrieving the berry. Nor did I remember to tell the children not to wipe their berry stained hands on their white shirts.  And then, there is my youngest, who to this day will not eat any fruit.  So, he picked the fruit, squeezed it in his fingers, licked his fingers, gagged and then wiped his berry fingers on his shirt and pants.  Not quite as idyllic as my childhood memories.  However, we did end up with a small bowl of berries and I was able to make the cobbler.  Everyone loved it except my youngest, who gagged.

Sunlit berries

Although it isn’t even close to being blackberry season here in the mid-Sierras, I watched an episode of Pioneer Woman on Food Network on Sunday and she made a beautiful blackberry cobbler that made my mouth water.  Yes!Chef! was headed downtown to pick up some boards for our deck repair, so I asked him to pick up some berries.  The berries he brought back were big, plump and sweet.  Perfect for the cobbler.

Now, here is the good part.  The cobbler recipe is one of the quickest, easiest dessert recipes I have ever made.  AND it is the most wonderful cobbler you will ever taste in your entire lifetime.  Well, I might exaggerate a bit, but it is durn tasty.

The recipe does call for a cup of “self-rising flour”, which we did not have, but I found a substitute recipe for it on-line.  All you do is take one cup of flour, add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder.  That’s it!  We are trying to watch our pennies lately and trying to make do because of the economy.  This substitute worked just fine.

Mix the flour and sugar together.  Then whisk in the milk.

Batter with flour, sugar and milk mixed together

Then, the butter is melted and stirred in to the batter.

Pouring butter into the batter.

Pour the batter into a buttered pan and then place the berries around inside the batter. (I tried to catch a photo of a berry dropping into the batter, but this was the best I could do.)

Dropping berries into the batter

Next sprinkle the sugar evenly on the top.

Sprinkling sugar

Then, pop it in the oven and cook until it’s golden.

Cobbler cooling by the window

Set it on the counter to cool a bit.

Prettied up with some mint leaves

This looks so good that I just want to dig in.

(During the time I was making this dessert the lunar eclipse began and created a really eerie light, so I decided to use the light in the photos. These photos were taken between 4-5:30 p.m. and the eclipse occurred around 6-6:30.  It was interesting to me to use this very dim sunlight as the main light for my photos.  Like them or not, it does give an interesting look.  I never did get a real good picture of the eclipse mostly because I don’t have a good filter or a welder’s mask to prevent the camera from becoming damaged.)

The sun during the eclipse

Hmmm…well…let’s just move on to the cobbler and the next night.

The next night I fixed up a plate of cobbler for this shot. It was one of the best blackberry cobblers I’ve ever tasted (aside from my mom’s…).  The cake is crispy on the outside with a wonderful cake texture on the inside.  The berries are soft and sweet and very, very berry!  Ice cream (must be vanilla) makes it the perfect summer dessert.  It is super easy and you can use many different kids of fruit…peach, blueberries, strawberries, etc.  I found some raspberries in the freezer that I just might use. Oh, and chop up a little mint and throw it on the top.

Here’s the recipe from Pioneer Woman

Blackberry Cobbler #1

Added by Ree on July 3, 2009 in Desserts, Pies

Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 1 Hour		 Servings 8 Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 stick Butter
  • 1-¼ cup Sugar
  • 1 cup Self-Rising Flour
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 2 cups Blackberries (frozen Or Fresh)

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish.

Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

And in case you are like my youngest who cannot tolerate the look, smell or taste of fruit.  Here’s a little daisy to make you happy.

African Daisy

Published by

Karen Schmautz

Photographer

35 thoughts on “Blackberry Cobbler or What to do during an eclipse”

  1. Sounds absolutely fabulous. I think its something even I can make.
    Terrific photos too, especially the ones that show the sugar crystals.
    I can’t wait till berry season…yum!

  2. I loved hearing about your childhood memory Karen, and I have all the ingredients. I’m going to make it right now!!

  4. Good morning Karen!

    I agree the pictures and recipe look most enticing – dare I ask, how many calories do you think it might have though? My waistline isn’t what it used to be when we went blackberry picking as a child!

    1. Thank you and I’m not sure of the calorie count. I do struggle with my weight, so I try to have smaller portions. That is one of the downfalls of having an excellent cook in the family.

  5. Looks yummy as usual! Oh and BTW… Yay…this is when I jump up and down for you and the chef since you got the WordPress 7 blogs to follow this summer. This is an honor that you both deserve! Again Yay!!

    1. I had no idea what was happening at first. I just noticed a huge jump in views. It took a little sleuthing to find the blog post. I am stunned and honored. Thank you for your support.

  6. your blog is gorgeous..if i may make one suggestion however, it would be to make your picture files smaller mb so that they don’t take forever to load..i have speedy macbook but this page still took a long time to load…thanks!

  8. I love using fresh ingredients in my cooking and those berries look great! We had raspberry and blackberry bushes out back of the house I grew up in too, we loved picking them and giving them daddy, he would makes all sorts of goodies from them! Thanks to your photos, I am now craving and really wanting that pie! 🙂

  10. I just saw this episode of PW this weekend and was thinking about making her blackberry cobbler, glad to see yours turned out so well! Thanks for the tip on the self rising flour, I didn’t want to have to go out and buy that either and now I don’t have to!!

    1. I think you will really like it. I’m glad you can use the tip on self-rising flour. Seems like such a waste to buy a specialty item like that when it’s so easy to re-create at home with stuff I already have around the house.

  12. This looks and sounds amazing! I’m so glad our farmers market starts this weekend so hopefully I can get some berries to make it soon! 🙂

    1. It’s still a little cool and early in the season here. The berry bushes haven’t even bloomed yet. We did luck out and get some good ones at the store. I can’t wait until our FM opens…not till next month.

  15. I made it tonight!! Wonderful recipe – Everyone loved it. Very easy too. At you suggestions about raspberries I did 3 parts blackberries and 1 part raspberries. Delish!!

  16. Boy does that sound good, blackberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream for a hot summer’s night; how comforting! What a great story

    1. Thank you very much. I can assure you that if you like cobbler, it is heavenly. If your berries aren’t quite sweet enough throw a little sugar on top of them in a bowl, stir them around and let them sit on the counter for a little bit…not too long because they will become macerated. Also note that this is a cakey cobbler, but it is divine, IMHO.

    1. It is a very good recipe. The amazing thing is how good it is and how very easy it is. This would be great for a last minute dessert for when company pops in.

  18. Hi Karen & Yes! Cook!- am loving your blog- found it via WordPress 7 food blogs for this summer -congrats- I love your daisy and love the cobbler- also saw the recipe on PW’s show- will make this very soon- will see how 6 oz. butter and 3/4 cuhp sugar works- I try to lighten the desserts I bake -I love to make crisps and also love cakey cobblers -thanks for the tip to convert self-ris. flour will do same.

    1. Let me know how that works out because I’m always interested in lightening things up, I just don’t know how to go about it. Thank you for your kind words.

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