Blackberry Cobbler – A southern “gotta’ have more of it” dessert!

Only a few days until Spring, one of the most beautiful times of the year! My favorite flower, the daffodil, is blooming. As I walk through the gardens, I see tiny buds swelling on tender branches of the magnolias and peach trees. As soon as we have a spurt of warm days, the tiny buds will burst with blooms.

We are watching the blackberry bushes as they prepare for their fruiting season. If all goes as expected (or hoped for), we should have a bumper crop this year. Our harvest from last year was bountiful —we ate a lot of fresh cobblers! There were plenty of berries to freeze whole for future cobblers and we also made pints of blackberry jam.  We enjoy eating the berries fresh as we pick them, but also like other things from our blackberries, including Blackberry Tea (see the recipe HERE), cobblers, pancake syrup, and jams, and jellies. Homemade ice cream topped with fresh blackberries on those hot, southern days is hard to beat! Something new we will try this year is a barbecue sauce made with blackberries.

There are numerous health benefits found in blackberries. They are packed with antioxidants, so consuming just a 1/2 cup of these berries each day gives you health protection from free radicals that destroy vulnerable cells in your body (hold the sugar!). We add 1/2 cup of thawed berries to our Greek yogurt (plain) as a yummy evening snack in the place of ice cream. We sweeten the yogurt with local honey for another added health benefit.

For the last few weeks, I have been making these delicious blackberry cobblers. Most have been given away or my husband has taken them to work, and that to me is the joy of baking, sharing with others. I am using the berries that we put in the freezer from last season. Once thawed and baked in the cobbler, I cannot tell a difference between the frozen berries and the berries picked fresh from the bushes. I have several friends on my list that will be getting a cobbler very soon!

Here is the recipe that my grandmother made. When I shopped at the local grocery store for lard and couldn’t find it, I had a team of store clerks looking on every aisle to help me find it (after I told the young guys what it was!). We looked in the dairy section, then explored the staples before checking in the frozen foods aisle. No lard. Several friends have made suggestions where I might find it to use the next time I make a cobbler but for now, I am using butter. If I find it, I will add the lard as an option in the recipe for those who want to give it a try.

MAKE YOUR DOUGH

2 cups flour, plain (or 2 cups self-rising and skip baking powder and salt)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup of cold butter (no margarine or substitutes, real butter only!)
3/4 cup cold whole milk

Blend flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter. Leave some small clumps of the butter.

Make a well in the middle of the flour/butter mix. Pour the milk in the center of the well, then begin to stir, mixing milk and flour together. Use your hands to form the dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for one hour or until you are ready to use.

PREPARE THE BERRIES

1 quart fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

Stir sugar and water together in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to boil. Add frozen or fresh-washed berries. Reduce to medium heat, cook for 5 minutes. You will notice that a simple syrup begins to form when tested.

While berries are cooking, remove the prepared dough (see recipe below) from the refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap and place the dough on a floured smooth surface. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into strips 1/2″ wide. Take 2 of the 1/2-inch strips and cut them into 1-inch lengths. This will be your dumplings. With my two strips, I had enough for 16 1-inch dumplings. Hang on to those other strips you have cut; we are going to make a lattice top the easy way (Directions Below)!

MAKE THE DUMPLINGS

Bring the berries to a boil, and while boiling, gently but quickly drop the 1-inch pieces of dough into the boiling berries. Remove from heat and pour into a 2-quart oven-proof casserole dish.

While berries are boiling, add the pieces of dough

The dumplings are infused with the flavor of the berries!

Pour the berries with the dumplings in a 2-qt casserole dish

EASY LATTICE TOP

My cobbler is usually warm when I am ready to make the lattice, and folding and moving the strips on top of the warm blackberries makes a messy top. Forming your lattice on the back of a baking sheet, chilling it in the freezer, then sliding it onto the cobbler is much easier and neater!

Roll out the dough into a smooth triangle (or circle if using a round casserole dish). At this point, I gently place my casserole dish on the dough to leave an indention so I know exactly where to cut my strips for the lattice top. Using the back of the baking sheet (or plastic cutting mat is my preference for flexibility), lay out the 5 strips, parallel, about 1/2-inch apart. Beginning in the middle, fold back every other strip. Place another strip of dough perpendicular to the parallel strips, then unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip. (Whew, I am out of breath, that is why I do photos! It is really not complicated!). Repeat the process by taking the parallel strips that are underneath the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the first perpendicular strip. Lay down a second strip next to the first strip, leaving some space between the perpendicular strips. Repeat until you reach the end, then starting in the middle, repeat the process for the opposite side. You have now formed your lattice top on the back of a baking sheet or cutting mat. Place in the freezer for a few minutes until it is slightly stiff. At this point, you can either clean up all the blackberry syrup that is splattered all over your kitchen wall and cabinets or just sit and relax.

When chilled, the dough should be stiff and easy to remove from the baking sheet all in one piece. Slide the chilled lattice onto the cobbler, pressing the edges of each strip to the inside.

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  Lay out 5 strips parallel to one another.

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  Starting in the middle, fold the 2nd and 4th strips to the left as shown.

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  Place a strip perpendicular to the parallel strips, then fold strips 2 and 4 back to the right.

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  Now, fold strips 1, 3, and 5 to the left. Place another strip perpendicular, then fold 1, 3 and 5 back to the right.

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  Continue weaving the lattice until completed. Place in freezer.

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  Chilled lattice is easy to move from the baking sheet to the cobbler

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  Lattice placed on top of cobbler all in one step.

FINISHING THE COBBLER

Evenly place pats of butter (use 1/4 stick) over lattice topping. Sprinkle lightly with white granulated sugar or natural cane turbinado sugar. The turbinado sugar is my preference.

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  Lattice top completed and ready to bake

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Bake at 375 degrees until the top is done and slightly browned.

Delicious served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

You don’t want to miss the video of our 4-yr-old grand rolling out her crust and making her own blackberry cobbler using the instructions we have posted here! Anyone can do it!

Let Make Blackberry Cobbler (Video)