Cobbling together a cobbler: blueberry cobbler

Now, this is a topic which is guaranteed to get reactions.  Cobblers are one of those dishes where EVERYONE has THE definitive recipe.  THE perfect one.  THE best one ever.  Annalena thinks she has tried them all.  She thinks she has made many of them.  And this one may very well be both the simplest, and the best.

"Cobbler" is a very difficult term to define.   See, ragazzi, there is a large family of American desserts (and yes, these are quintessentially American desserts), which involve a base of sweetened fruit, and then dough on the top.  NOT pies, but sometimes, the dough is a pie crust that is cut into the fruit.  Usually, however, the dough is a very wet, soft, biscuity type  of dough or better yet, a batter.  Slumps, grumps, cobblers, pan dowdies, and so on.  They are all in this family.  And if you ask people to define differences, you will find yourself on a slippery slope that simply will get you nowhere.  Except, maybe, to some good eating.  And that's not a bad thing at all.

In eating cobblers in restaurants, Annalena has found herself disappointed, mostly because there's so much "stuff" in them, that she can't taste the fruit.  Just last night, for example, she was served a peach cobbler.  Sweet, well made... clearly filled with peaches.  EXCEPT SHE COULDN'T TASTE THEM.  She did taste vanilla, and cinammon, and nutmeg, and other things, but no peaches. 

On the other hand, a few weeks ago, she had a blueberry cobbler that nearly blew her out of the water.  It was SO good.  Annalena usually does not eat dessert at the end of a restaurant meal, but this one was so good,  she almost ordered a second helping. 

What was so good about it, was that it lacked the standard "accompaniment" to blueberries, which is grated lemon peel.  In fact, she doubts there was anything of any flavor in the filling, except blueberries. So.. she tasted blueberries (and, incidentally, Annalena would like to start a movement where we start naming COOKED fruits differently than we name raw ones.  Think about it:  the fresh blueberries you eat are wonderful, as are the blueberries you eat in a pie.  Do they taste the same?  NO.  Is one better than the other?  NO  They are just different. So, too with figs, peaches, and so on.  Can't we do what the Mexicans do with dried and fresh peppers?)

But, as usual, she digresses.  Let's get to this recipe, and make it.  It is easy.  For the filling, you will need blueberries, sugar and flour.  That is all.    Annalena thinks making them in individual ramekins is best.  So what you need to do is to determine how many servings you want, and then use the number of berries appropriate.  So, pull out your ramekins, and put berries about 3/4 of the way up.  See how many there are, and then multiply. 

For 8-9 servings, Annalena found she needed about 2.5 pints.  Put those in a bowl, with just a third cup of sugar, and two tablespoons of flour.  Stir this up, and leave them alone.  They will give off some juice, but not much.  Preheat your oven to 375, and while it's heating and the berries macerate, make your dough.

Again, easy.  REALLY easy.    Get 1.5 cups of flour, and mix a half teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons more of flour, a scant tablespoon of baking powder  into it.  Now, get 3/4 of a stick of unsalted butter, cut it into bits, and either with your fingers or with a food processor by pulsing, distribute it evenly in the flour.    Now,  add 3/4 cup of heavy cream.

Oh yes, heavy cream.  Stir this all together gently, until you have a mass of dough.    Fill your ramekins with the berries, and then , being as even as possible, divide the dough into the appropriate number of portions.  Flatten them out in your hands, and put them over the berries.  You can seal the ramekin if you like (this is how Annalena does it), or just lay it on the top, like a huge biscuit.  And then put the stuff on a baking sheet, and put it in the oven, for about 40 minutes.  The berries will bubble thickly,  and your house will smell wonderful. 

And then, you're done.  DO NOT eat these right out of the oven. You will burn your mouth, and hot fruit does more damage than just about anything else.  Let them cool.  Try not to refrigerate them if you do not have to, because they lose something on reheating.  But at room temperature, or warm, they are LUSCIOUSLY GOOD.   Especially with the recipe to come:  corn ice cream.

Stay tuned.