Blackberry Cobbler is one of my favourite desserts, come winter or summer. Rather like its cousins Crumble and Eve’s Pudding, a Cobbler is layered in the same way – cooked fruit on the base of a baking dish is topped with a crispy, spongy or, in this case, a light, sweet, fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside topping, very similar to a very light, buttery scone.
Serves 4 - 6
Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
First make the blackberry base: remove the cinnamon and spices from the blackberries, if necessary. The blackberries will look very plump because they are swollen with gin.
Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer.
Cook for 5 – 15 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.
The blackberries may make a lot of juice when you cook them – strain the juice from the stewed blackberries but save it to pour over the Cobbler when you serve it.
Transfer the blackberries to a baking dish and set them aside to cool.
Make the Cobbler topping: preheat oven to Fan Oven 160°C/180°C/350°F/Gas4
Measure the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a food processor.
Add the cubed butter and pulse until it forms breadcrumbs. Alternatively rub the butter into the flour mixture by hand.
Add the sugar and pulse to mix.
Add the soured cream/yoghurt and pulse until just mixed in.
Add clumps to the top of the fruit. Alternatively use a small ice cream scoop to scoop on top.
Sprinkle on some Demerara sugar.
Cook in the centre of a pre-heated oven for 40 – 45 minutes until golden
Serve with ice cream/custard or fresh cream
Equipment:
Blackberry base:
This cobbler was made with a blackberry fruit base using fruit I had first used to prepare Festive Gin with Blackberries, Cinnamon and Bay. When you strain the gin, save the blackberries, remove the spices ( cinnamon and cloves) and cook them to use in this Cobbler. However, if you haven’t made the gin, you can still make this recipe using fresh or frozen blackberries, or, indeed, any fruit of your choice.