Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Poor Man's Cobbler - (Easy Cobbler)



There's no rolling out cobbler crust for this. I grew up on this marvelous stuff, picking the blackberry seeds out of my teeth for days. You may have eaten a peach version of it at an area restaurant and I actually know the lady who makes it. I think we might be kin since her momma made it the same way. Momma is having a little trouble remembering recipes she once knew in her heart. I need to make a list of ALL the things I want to ask her. I fear there's not enough time to ask & write down everything I want to know. 
Help us Lord.


Momma used to say she didn't have any idea why this was called "poor" man's pie or cobbler because fruit was getting more and more expensive to buy at the orchard. I told her it was probably because people made it, like we did, from whatever fruit we had growing. Blackberries being the most common. Dad, Jana and I would pick the berries and Momma would make a cobbler. The rest she canned by barely covering with water and heating  to boiling, pouring into quart fruit jars, and maybe pressuring, but sometimes I think they were sealed without pressuring by turning them upside down. I DON'T recommend that method. See, it's a wonder we didn't get sick, but they always seemed fine. :) I freeze mine. But, back to the cobbler:
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon, optional
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick butter
  • Aprox. 2 lbs. or almost a of quart fresh, frozen, or canned fruit with part of that being liquid. You can use a large can of store bought peaches, juice and all. (I wanted to say store boughten). Blackberries, blueberries, apricots, cherries...I once did blackberries and peaches. I sometimes add some water and sugar to the fruit depending on how "dry" it is and how tart it is. Don't just throw dry fruit in there, you need some moisture. Make sure fruit is ready before you start the rest of the recipe.


Throw the stick of butter into a 9x13 pan and put on the oven to completely melt and get bubbling.




While that's heating, mix the dry ingredients with a big spoon and pour in the milk and mix. When the butter is melted and bubbly pour the batter over the hot butter. Don't worry about perfection, just get it pretty even and then quickly pour your fruit around on the top. DO NOT MIX. Place back in the oven and bake until done.


I've seen recipes where they try to pour the batter on top. It doesn't matter, it's gonna end up on the bottom anyway, then it slowly rises to the top and browns. You can sprinkle a little sugar on the top when it's almost done if you like.

2 comments:

Life at the Lake said...

This is the kind of cobbler I make. So easy because it uses ingredients readily on hand!

Angelia said...

I made it last week! It's tha best. :)