Fruit cobbler is the delicious little brother of the much beloved pie dessert. The creation of a pie is somewhat more involved, with more that can go wrong, and it’s substantially more time-consuming. Cobbler, on the other hand, is quick and easy and still tastes delicious. So let’s get to it!
First things first, you will need:
Part one (filling)
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1 cup water
– 1 tbsp corn starch
– 4 cups fruit of choice
Part two (crust)
– 2 cups flour
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 3 tsp baking powder
– 1/4 cup shortening
– 1 cup milk
This recipe was originally intended to make rhubarb cobbler, but today I opted for apples. Because of this, I used Granny Smith apples as they are naturally tart, somewhat similar to rhubarb. That said, apples are also far more tedious as you have to peel them, so go ahead and do that first, then slice them fairly thin and put them aside for now.
With the fruit ready, preheat the oven for 425F. You’re better to do this after prepping the fruit because of how time-consuming prepping the apples is.
With the apples (or whichever fruit you chose) prepped, we can start assembling the ingredients from part one of the above list. First, grease an eight-by-eight, oven-safe glass pan with butter or shortening.
Then, mix all of the dry ingredients, add your prepared fruit, mix in the water, and pour the entire mixture into the pan. Place the glass pan in the preheated oven until it bubbles, approximately 8-10 minutes. Place the glass pan on a cookie sheet in case of overflow.
While the filling is baking, move on to part two: making the batter to form our crust. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and two tablespoons of sugar. Once mixed, add the shortening and cut it into the other ingredients. Finally, we add the milk to finish forming our batter. Stir up the batter until it’s fully mixed. It should be somewhat spongy and doughy when done.
Spoon clumps of the batter on top of the filling. Don’t worry about fully covering everything or spreading it evenly; the batter will expand substantially as it bakes. Once done, sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on top, and place it in the oven to cook for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Once done, the crust formed on top should have expanded substantially and turned golden brown. Allow your newly formed concoction to cool, and enjoy! (And I’m serious about the cooling part; the filling is pretty much molten lava when it comes out of the oven.)
Happy baking, everyone, and welcome back to school!