BWW Cooks: Fall Fruit Harvests Mean Fruit Cobbler

Cobbler. It's not just a shoemaker anymore - nor has it been. It's one of the oldest and most fun desserts in history. It's easy, not like making a fine pastry, and it's welcoming, like ripe summer fruits plucked from the earth on a warm day, or from a tree on a crisp autumn day. Virtually any fruit can become the basis of a fruit cobbler, and there are multiple ways of making delicious cobbler toppings. It's not yet fall, not yet time for the classic apple cobbler, but peach cobblers, pear cobblers, ripe berry cobblers, and mixed fruit cobblers are always equally fun. Serve warm with melting vanilla ice cream, or any temperature with whipped cream, vanilla sauce, or a hard sauce with seasonal liqueurs in the flavoring.

Fruit, fruit, fruit. Which fruit to use? Watery fruits aren't the best, so you might want to wait before attempting a mixed melon cobbler. But any berry works perfectly, and so do tree fruits. There are existing pineapple cobbler and orange cobbler recipes. Grape is a bit obscure. Rhubarb fan? Strawberry rhubarb cobbler is perfect. For some of us who adore rhubarb, straight-up rhubarb cobbler would be the ticket. Just be sure you've sweetened it.

Fruit in the form of canned pie filling is ready to go for cobbler. Expect to want two cans of it. Use regular pie filling or sugar-free; either will work. Fresh fruit needs a bit of preparation. Clean, peel, and cut up your fruit. It goes in a saucepan with about half a cup of sugar - or other sweetener - per quart of fruit, and some spice. Cinnamon is common; pumpkin pie spices may work with your chosen fruit, or apple pie spices, if you'd like broader spicing. Always think of cloves and allspice. You'll also need a thickener, since cooking your fruit will make everything wet and thin. This is a case for cornstarch or potato starch. Per quart of fruit, figure on a tablespoon of cornstarch. Mix your dry ingredients first, and then add the fruit. Bring everything to a boil. The mixture that started as fruit slices and dry ingredients will now be a delicious homemade pie filling, and you did it yourself.

The other part of a cobbler is the topping. You've heard of peach cobbler, apple brown betty, blueberry buckle, and various fruit crumbles. Oh, and your school lunch menu used to have something called "fruit crisp." What's the difference? Does it matter what you throw on top?

Well... not so much any more, since people are careless with their terminology, but there is indeed a distinction to each of the toppings (or bottoms). A crumble has an oat streusel on top. A crisp is fruit topped with an oatless streusel. (If you want a gluten-free crisp, however, pulse oats into a flour substitute.) A buckle has a cake layer under the fruit. And a brown betty? A betty has a layer of crisp above the fruit, and one below. Fruit's in the middle.

Cobbler? Real cobbler? Your fruit will have a biscuit topping, usually a sweetened one. You can make biscuits from scratch, or from baking mix, Bisquick, Pioneer, or other. If you're gluten-intolerant, gluten-free baking mixes are now readily available in most grocery stores. Check for Bisquick and for Bob's Red Mill, among other common gluten-free biscuit and baking mixes. Or, for the easiest out, a tube of refrigerator biscuits, cut into four or more pieces per biscuit, also works. If you want sweetened biscuits, coat them in sugar, or use a roll of cinnamon biscuits (you can save the icing to drizzle on top of the cobbler afterwards).

What should you serve with a cobbler? Or a buckle, or a betty? The common sides/toppings are whipped cream and ice cream. Vanilla sauce, double cream if you can find it, and hard sauces are also fine ideas. If you make a hard sauce, you can use brandy or rum, but consider complementary or contrasting fruit liqueurs - just beware of color. Melon liqueur might be delicious in a sauce with a strawberry cobbler, but your sauce will be neon green! Look for the clear liqueurs, including kirsch - cherry - or a deliciously orange triple sec. A clear cinnamon schnapps in the sauce will set off an apple cobbler amazingly. Vanilla ice cream is the classic choice, but with a peach cobbler in deep summer, a fresh peach ice cream is a fine complement. Perhaps a traditional fruit sherbet would work - orange sherbet with peach cobbler or apple cobbler is a marvelous contrast.

Or soften vanilla ice cream and mix in a liquor or liqueur of choice, and re-freeze. Certain fruits, especially peaches, apples and oranges, can be enhanced amazingly by mixing in bourbon, Irish whiskey, or Scotch. The traditional brandy and rum also work, but Compass Box makes a Scotch blended with warm spices. The smoky sweetness of Scotch and spices mixed in with the cold vanilla will be delicious with those fruits... or later in the season with pumpkin pie.

Don't fear the cobbler. It's one of the simplest desserts possible, but it allows for infinite variety of fruits, toppings, and sauces. It's rustic, but can be tailored to suit a sophisticated menu as well. A berry cobbler topped with ice cream in elegant glassware fits with grilled steak or chicken. An orange cobbler with a limoncello sauce can accompany a rustic or fine Italian menu. A raspberry or mixed berry cobbler with a sorbet fits perfectly with many French menus - it's a delicious thought to follow a ratatouille or a chicken dish. (Or consider apple or orange cobbler with the fruit heated with just a touch of fresh thyme, and then accompanying the cobbler with vanilla ice cream swirled with brandy or Calvados.)

After all that, there's only one more decision to make - will you eat it warm or cold? Either choice is bound to be right, so enjoy!

Photo Credits: Freeimages

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