Nathalie’s Cobblers
By Nathalie Dupree
An excellent cook once said to me, after seeing a classic recipe changed, “Why would anyone change the tried and true?”
In fact, the tried and true is never the same in a recipe. Whenever one thing changes – be it margarine vs. butter, fresh vs. frozen peaches, a national flour like Pillsbury vs. White Lily or Martha White, skim milk vs. whole milk – a recipe changes. Sometimes it is just a variation, and sometimes it enhances it for the better.
Take, for instance, cobblers. Now, when I say cobbler, I don’t mean the lattice topped pies, or the crumbles served as cobblers. I mean the kind of dessert that is full of fruit with a self rising flour batter which magically rises to the top over the fruit, giving crisp, buttery edges on the sides and a lovely brown crust on top. And it is easy, so much that my friend Keri calls it “Lazy Girl Cobbler” because it is so easy. I call it my one cup cobbler, because all the ingredients are one cup except the fruit, which is two cups, and the butter which is a half a cup. At any rate, when it is just too much work to do much of anything for dessert, but you still have to make one that is delicious, everyone will love, and pretty, it is time for cobbler.
The classic one to me is a peach cobbler. I’ve varied it by adding candied ginger, brown sugar, or cinnamon. The same thing is true of apple cobblers – they gobble up cinnamon and brown sugar, and even welcome a bit of grated nutmeg. I’ve added – gasp – chocolate to raspberry cobbler.
But I’ve left the safe altogether and used a combination of fruits – raspberries or strawberries, blueberries and white peaches – to make the tried and true recipe adapt to any patriotic occasion. Of course, if white peaches weren’t available, and one was forced to use white ice cream, well….how bad could that be?
Lazy Girl Peach Cobbler
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup self-rising flour, preferably White Lily or Martha White
1 cup whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups sliced peaches
Melt the butter in a 9″ by 13″ heatproof dish or pan in the oven as it preheats to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour and milk. It can be just a bit lumpy. Sprinkle the sugar over the peaches and let sit while butter melts and oven preheats. When the butter is melted, remove the hot pan and pour the batter in the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry if the side puffs up and browns a bit. Sprinkle the fruit over the top of the batter. Bake 45 minutes, or until batter has risen around the fruit , the top is light brown and the sides are a darker brown.
Variations:
Add 1 Tablespoon chopped candied ginger, and or 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash nutmeg
Substitute brown sugar (light or dark) for the white sugar
Use frozen peaches, in which case add the sugar to the flour mixture while whisking
Apple Cobbler
Put the two cups apples in the pan with the butter to cook slightly while preheating oven. Whisk the sugar in with the flour and milk. Add 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon and grated nutmeg to taste to the apple-butter mixture and stir. Pour the batter on top. Bake 45 minutes or until batter has risen around the fruit, top is light brown and sides are a darker brown.
Variation: Use brown sugar; add chopped candied ginger; remove spices and bake without any.
Red, White and Blue Cobbler
Since berries are liable to pack more densely than peaches and apples, it is important to use less when adding them to a cobbler.
1 cup white peaches
1 cups mixed blueberries, raspberries and quartered strawberries
1 tablespoon chopped candied ginger
Measure the peaches in a two cup measuring cup, add the berries on top until the two together measure two cups. Pour into a bowl and add the ginger and one cup of sugar.
Meanwhile, melt the stick (1/2 cup) butter in a x by x pan in the oven as it preheats to 350 degrees. Whisk together the 1 cup of self-rising flour and 1 cup of all purpose milk, until reasonably smooth. Remove the melted butter from the oven, add the fruit mixture to the oven, top with the batter, and bake until the batter has risen around fruit, top is light brown and sides are a darker brown.
Variation:
White or dark chocolate may be added to the fruit.
Cobblers are best served hot, but may be frozen and reheated, or served at room temperature. A good cobbler never turned down ice cream or whipping cream, but is fine without.