Celebrate Cherry Cobbler By Cooking or Baking a Pan Full of Deliciousness: Special Sweets You Will Love

Cherry cobbler is sort of a deconstructed cherry pie that is baked the same way as the latter, minus the frills and bondage of the lattice topping. Cobblers date back to the colonial era and were said to have been born during a time when resources were scarce and the English immigrants were homesick. Just like the pies, cobblers are great with whipped cream and ice cream.

You could call this a makeshift dessert because it was born during the era of migration. Usually, a cobbler is made with any given fruit with a top crust or bottom crust made of dough, biscuits or a kind of pie crust. It’s not crisp because there are no crunchy oats in this but only a batter that gives the cobbler a moist quality.

Where did this delish dessert recipe spring from?

The origins of the homely and comforting cherry cobbler can be traced back to the early British American colonies. This was around the 19th century when they were migrating en masse to the “New World”. As the story goes, the English settlers deeply missed their traditional suet puddings from back home and a foreign land with different weather meant different food. With limited ingredients and cooking equipment available in the colonies, they had to get creative with whatever they had at hand. Using cherries and whatever else they could find, they improvised a new dessert the cherry cobbler.

The humble cobbler recipe was born out of scarcity but has stood the test of time to become a cult favourite treat. One could even go as far as to say it is their gajar ka halwa they love eating when they miss home. Though the exact origin of its quirky name remains a mystery, some suggest "cobbler" evolved from the word "cobeler," referring to wooden bowls used for cooking in those days. Others believe the dessert's cobblestone-like appearance lent it the moniker.

While the 19th century marked the cobbler's advent in the American colonies, the star ingredient has roots going back over two millennia. The first cherry trees were cultivated in ancient Greece around 372 BC. It wasn't until 1639 that Dutch traders brought the first cherry trees to Brooklyn, New York in America, that the beautiful red fruit started to make its way into early colonial-style cooking and baking.

Over the years, the original cobbler recipe has been tweaked and enhanced. Today's versions often use an oat-based biscuit topping instead of flour, topped with ice cream or whipped cream for an extra indulgent finish. Beyond cherries, cobbler fillings now encompass apples, apricots, plums and more, sometimes spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg or the fragrant autumnal pumpkin spice.

Cherry Cobbler Recipe

Ingredients

Cherry filling

• 900 gm cherries (pitted and halved)
• 100 gm sugar (granulated)
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp salt

Batter

• 125 gm all-purpose flour
• 200 gm sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 180 ml milk
• 115 gm butter (unsalted, melted)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C, then work on the cherries, washing, removing stalks and removing their seeds. Slice them into two and put them in a saucepan. Also add the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt. Keep the heat on medium and cook until the mixture bubbles. This should take about 5 minutes. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat and keep aside.
2. Work on the dry ingredients now. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and eggs in a bowl. Add the milk, and mix.
3. Then heat butter in a skillet, to melt it, remove from heat. Then add the batter into the skillet.
4. Pour the cooked cherry over the batter. Turn down to oven heat to 180°C. Then immediately put the skillet into the oven.
5. Bake for 45 minutes until the cobbler is golden brown.

How to celebrate the day?

We highly recommend that you make this recipe with your loved ones around. Or, pester that friend who loves baking or cooking and have a little party over cherry cobbler. Given its origin, the cherry cobbler can be have in a cast iron skiller over stovetop too. In case you have no oven, there is that option too.