Single Serving Cobbler
This is a cake-type cobbler. You can use any fruit, fresh or frozen. My favorites are peaches, berries, and sour cherries. This is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe, but I've made so many changes, about all that's left is part of the technique.
This is a cake-type cobbler. You can use any fruit, fresh or frozen. My favorites are peaches, berries, and sour cherries. This is adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe, but I've made so many changes, about all that's left is part of the technique.
- Carbohydrate 48.8435145655039 g
- Cholesterol 19.0682291715503 mg
- Fat 7.11765729376959 g
- Fiber 2.23599997758865 g
- Protein 3.30418854032145 g
- Saturated Fat 4.344560834669 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (206g)
- Sodium 5310.0325105896 mg
- Sugar 46.6075145879152 g
- Trans Fat 0.577310625154089 g
- Calories 262 calories
Step-by-step
- Mix fruit and sugar in a small bowl and set aside to let the sugar draw out the juices. (If you don't see juice in the bottom after a few minutes, mash a little bit of the fruit and mix again.)
- Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-oz oven-proof baking cup with cooking spray and place the butter in the dish. Heat the dish in the oven until the butter is bubbly.
- Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, and spice together in a small bowl just until blended. Spread the mixture into the HOT baking dish. Place the fruit in the center of the batter, leaving a rim of batter all around the edges.
- Bake 20-40 minutes until batter is golden brown around the edges and center looks set. (Baking time will vary a LOT depending on the shape of the dish and the type of fruit you use.) Serve warm, with a drizzle of cream or a little vanilla yogurt.
Unlike deep-dish traditional pies encased in flaky pastry, the American cake-type cobbler relies on a rich, drop-biscuit or soft batter foundation that absorbs the bubbling juices of the filling from underneath or around the fruit rather than enclosing it completely. This historic colonial variation emerged out of necessity when pioneer cooks lacked the lard or the time required to roll out multi-layered pie crusts, choosing instead to spoon sweet batter directly over stewed seasonal fruits in heavy iron pots. Macerating the fresh fruit with a measured fraction of sugar for ten minutes initiates osmosis, drawing out cellular liquids so the starches can thicken naturally without adding commercial gums or excess thickeners. Because frozen fruit carries a higher percentage of free water upon thawing than fresh varieties, gently pressing the fruit mixture or increasing the bake time toward the outer forty-minute limit ensures the center sets properly without leaving a gummy, undercooked pocket beneath the batter. Heating the eight-ounce baking cup containing half a tablespoon of solid butter inside a preheated three-hundred-and-fifty-degree oven creates a sizzling fat barrier that fries the outer perimeter of the flour mixture, yielding crisp, golden-brown edges that contrast sharply against the tender interior crumb. Spooning the batter into that actively bubbling butter before arranging the macerated fruit directly in the center guarantees that the rising leaveners have adequate thermal energy to expand upward, creating a neat rim of cake that cradles the warm, syrupy fruit without boiling over the sides of the small vessel.
