Old Fashioned Cobbler

The one thing I can say about this stuff is that when you say the word "cobbler" everybody visualizes something different. In certain parts of the U.S. people actually argue about it! Some people see one crust, some people see two. To me the two crust variety is called a pie! Some people like a biscuit topping. To be honest with you, I think they all taste wonderful, but this one is my favorite because it is buttery and so easy to make. First you dump the batter on top of the pool of melted butter, now don't you mix it! Next you plop your fruit on top of the batter and then you bake it and the butter and the batter kind of hug the fruit.....OK, OK, I'll stop..the recipe is below, you get the idea....I know you can read. You can make this stuff in "nothing flat" if you want something sweet for yourself and it is homey and wonderful for guests too!

I've made this with all types of cooking apples. They need sauteing first so adding them lengthens the recipe a little bit but don't let that stop you. In the fall the combination of apples, brown sugar, dried cranberries and pecans is unbeatable topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with caramel sauce. I've used blueberries, raspberries, peaches and a bunch of other fruit combinations. Use your imagination! If you mess up, well, don't tell Martha. Nobody else will care! Better yet, send her a letter, I'm sure she will be able to tell you how to fix it.

This is comfort food no matter how you slice it! It can be eaten hot in the winter, with a steaming cup of cider, room temperature and bursting with the flavor of the day's fresh picked blueberries in the summer, and any time of year out of the pan at 2:30 in the morning when everyone else is sleeping. Oh come on, don't tell me I'm the only one who does that?


Old Fashioned Cobbler

¼ lb. butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
½ cup milk

Fruit of your choice

Apple – Sauté 1 ¾ lbs. peeled, cored and sliced apples in 4 tablespoons of butter. Stir in ¼ cup brown sugar, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup pecans and sprinkle with cinnamon if you like.

Blueberry or Raspberry – Mix 1 ½ pints blueberries or raspberries with 1/2 cup sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon.

Peach/Raspberry – Mix 2 or 3 large, cut up, fresh peaches and 1 pint fresh raspberries with ½ cup sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp nutmeg.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and pour into bottom of a 9 x 9 pan. Mix remaining ingredients and dump on top of melted butter. You may have to spread it out a bit but please, do not stir them together. Place fruit in middle of puddle of batter and bake for about 45 -50 minutes, or until the batter has climbed up the sides and enveloped the fruit. The edges will be crispy and buttery and the center will be sweet and fruity.

Got that part down! Trial and error is good! The picture is a little blurry and I don't need to do a new post every time. I can just continue. Here's the rest of the Ricotta and Homemade Blueberry sauce, just in case anyone really is out there! The first picture was just the whole milk and the buttermilk together in the pot with the thermometer. The one thing I have to stress here is NOT to use ultrapasteurized milk products. You won't be a happy camper. I'm not a food chemist, so I can't explain it, but it doesn't work well. The picture below is where we are starting to approach 175 degrees. You can see where the milk is starting to curdle. Remember "little Miss Muffett and her Curds and Whey"? This is the stuff they were talking about. The photo is a little yellow, but that's just my lack of photographic skill. It is actually a creamy white, which you can see from the other photos!
This next photo is the drained ricotta. Looks much better than the stuff out of the plastic tub any day! This stuff is amazing. Technically, this isn't really ricotta at all. Some people might call it the cheaters way out. The real stuff is a by-product of the cheese making process and this is the closest thing that we can make in our own kitchens. It's pretty tasty if you ask me and I'm just too lazy to make real cheese to get real ricotta. This recipe is from Michael Chiarello. If it is good enough for him, it is certainly good enough for me! He puts a Blackberry Topping on his and I twisted mine a little with my Homemade Blueberry Sauce.

Fresh Ricotta (adapted from Michael Chiarello)

1 Gallon Whole Milk
1 Quart Buttermilk
A Candy Thermometer or an Instant Read Thermometer
A Colander lined with dampened cheesecloth

Mix the milk and buttermilk in a large, non-reactive pot and heat over high heat, stirring with a rubber spatula until the mixture is warm. Be sure not to miss any spots on the bottom of the pan or you may scald the milk solids as the curds form.

Watch the thermometer. When the temperature reaches 175 degrees F, the curds and whey will separate. Take the pot off the heat and ladle the solids into the cheesecloth lined colander. Let it sit for a while to drain and don't press on the cloth so you don't push any of your cheese into your cloth. Wouldn't want to do that! Turn the cheese into a container and seal it tight. It will last a week refrigerated, but I'll bet you won't have it around that long!