There are as many styles of cobbler as there are cooks: ones topped with pie crust or biscuits, others dotted with floury dumplings. This old-fashioned blackberry cobbler recipe takes an easier route. To make it, you melt a stick of butter in a cast-iron skillet, pour a quick batter into the hot pan, and then scatter the top with juicy fruit. The recipe comes from cookbook author Virginia Willis, who grew up picking fresh blackberries with her grandmother, Meme, but you can make her easy recipe with store-bought fruit. Fresh berries are best, but if frozen blackberries are all you have, defrost them in a strainer set over a bowl or the sink to catch the excess liquid, and add a pinch of lemon zest to the blackberry mixture to brighten their flavor (boil the juices down to a syrup, accented with a bit of lemon juice, to spoon over the baked cobbler). You can also swap in sliced peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, raspberries, blueberries, or a berry mixture. The only fruit to avoid is strawberries, which will make the top of the batter too soggy.
“To cobble means to hastily throw together,” Willis writes of this summer dessert. When the batter hits the hot pan, it will immediately start to puff, so work quickly. Bake until the cake-like cobbler topping is golden brown, then cool to warm or room temperature before serving. Spoon your homemade blackberry cobbler into bowls with vanilla ice cream, crème fraîche, or whipped cream. Reheat leftovers in a 350° oven for 8–10 minutes, or enjoy them cold, straight from the fridge.
This recipe was adapted for style from ‘Bon Appetit, Y’all’ by Virginia Willis. Buy the full book on Amazon.