The smell of a homemade cobbler is one of the most delicious and comforting scents to grace our homes. So what exactly is a cobbler and how is it different from a cake? We asked our friends at the Alabama Cooperative Extension System to sort this out for us.
“The key difference between cobbler and pie is really the crust, or lack thereof,” says Elaine Softley, ACES Regional Extension Agent II, Human Nutrition Diet and Health for Northwest Alabama. “A cake, sweet or savory, always has a bottom crust, but a cobbler doesn’t. A cobbler is a baked fruit dessert with no bottom crust and the top crust is a type of cookie dough instead of a traditional pastry or pie dough. While almost all fruit pies require some type of cake pan, you can make a cobbler in any type of baking pan and use almost any type of fruit.”
While some cooks like to prepare their cobblers in an iron skillet, others use a baking pan in the oven. Softley says either will work.
“I’ve made cobblers in an iron pan, in a glass cake pan, and in an aluminum cake pan,” she says. “Everything tasted great and was easy to prepare.”
The following recipes call for a variety of fruits and even an unusual filling – bacon.
Cherry pudding
Vicky Byrd from Andalusia has been making her grandmother’s Cherry Cobbler for more than 30 years. The use of pitted and pitted cherries mixed with lemon juice gives the Cobbler an extra twist that sets it apart from other fruit desserts. She makes it for family gatherings “and everyone enjoys it,” she says. Also, this recipe is just as delicious if you want to use peaches instead of cherries, she notes. And maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, we might add.
ingredients
- 6-8 cups cherries, pitted and hulled
- 1½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1¼ cup yellow cake mix
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 tablespoons butter
instructions
Seed and stem cherries. In a large mixing bowl, combine cherries, lemon juice, cornstarch, white sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix lightly. Pour into a 2 liter casserole dish. For the topping, combine yellow cake mix, brown sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine. Using a pastry knife, cut the butter into coarse crumbs. Put the topping on the cherry mixture. Place in the 425 degree oven for 25-35 minutes until the topping is golden and the juice is bubbling.
Vicky Byrd
Easy peach cobbler
ingredients
- 1 29-ounce can sliced peaches with syrup
- 1 packet Butter Pecan Cake Mix
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
instructions
Heat oven to 325 degrees. In an ungreased 9 x 13 inch skillet, layer the ingredients in the order listed. Bake for 55-60 minutes. Let stand at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or cold with ice, if you like.
Nancy Sites Sizemore
Red, white and blue berry cobbler
ingredients
- 1 stick (½ cup) salted butter
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- pinch of salt
- 1½ cups sugar, divided
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, peeled and halved
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- Vanilla Ice Cream
instructions
In a large bowl, add ½ cup of the sugar and lemon zest to the fruit. Stir gently to cover the fruit. Let the fruit rest for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, melt butter in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish or 15 inch cast iron skillet for a rustic look. Whisk together the flour, 1 cup sugar, milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Pour the mixture over the melted butter. Don’t stir. Pour the fruit and juice over the butter and batter mixture, without stirring. Bake until cobbler crust is lightly golden brown and cobbler is set. This takes about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Cooking time may vary depending on how much juice your fruit produces. Take out of the oven. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Kathy Phillips
Seedless Dewberry Cobbler
ingredients
- 1 quart dewberries, washed and stems removed
- 1½ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons self-raising flour
- ½ stick of margarine
- 1 small tin of puff pastry
- 2 tablespoons sugar combined with ½ teaspoon cinnamon
instructions
Bring dewberries and ¼ cup water to a boil. Remove from heat and pass through a sieve, retaining as much juice as possible. discard seeds. Mix together 1½ cups sugar and 2 tablespoons flour; add juice. Cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from stove. Melt margarine in a casserole dish. Pull the biscuits apart layer by layer. Roll out each layer very thin. Cut into small strips. Place a layer of cookie strips in melted margarine. Pour a small amount of berries and juice over this first layer. Alternately add biscuit strips and berries with juice and finish with biscuit strips. Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake at 350 degrees until cookies are golden brown on top. Serve plain or slightly warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
Diana Jenkins
Strawberry Cobbler
ingredients
- 1 stick of margarine, melted
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla flavor
- 1 pint strawberries, sliced and sprinkled with sugar
instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a casserole dish with cooking spray. Put strawberries in the bowl. Melt margarine in the microwave; put aside. Mix the sugar and flour together. Add milk and mix well. Add melted margarine and vanilla flavoring; mix well. Pour the batter over the fruit in the prepared casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Chef’s Note: This recipe was found in an AREA magazine in the late 1970s or early 1980s. It was my father-in-law’s favorite.
Rebecca McCarter
Apple Bacon Cobbler
ingredients
- 4-5 slices of bacon, reserving bacon fat
- 1 stick of butter
- 5 apples
- 3 cups lemonade
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups biscuit
- 1 cup of milk
instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place bacon in a pie or lasagne pan and bake for 30 minutes. Core, peel and slice the apples, place in a large bowl with the 3 cups lemonade. This will prevent the apple slices from turning brown. In a large skillet, add butter, apple juice, cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg. Drain the liquid from the apple slices; put in the pan and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat. Remove the bacon from the pan, chop and add to the apples. Pour the apple and bacon mixture back into the baking pan and mix in the bacon fat. In a bowl, mix biscuit and milk; Pour over the apple and bacon mixture and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Kirk Vantrease
Crock Pot Blueberry Cobbler
ingredients
- 1 cup self-raising flour
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
- 1 cup of milk
- ½ cup melted butter
- 1 and ¼ cup sugar, divided
instructions
In a large bowl, combine self-raising flour and 1 cup sugar and milk. There will be some lumps. Add melted butter and mix well. Pour into a well-greased liner pot of crock-pot. Brush the berries with 2 tablespoons of sugar and leave to rest.
Scatter blueberries over the cobbler mixture in the crockpot insert. Spread them out evenly so you don’t have to stir them. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar on top. Cover and bake in the crock pot on low for 2 hours or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Brooke Burks, The Buttered Home
This story originally appeared in Alabama Living magazine.