Monday, July 7, 2014

Blackberry Pie / Cobbler

Fourth of July in Arkansas means sweet corn, watermelon, and blackberries.  We have great fruit farms here in NW Arkansas and I have been to the blueberry farm this summer. However, we have blackberries growing wild here and so I have a hard time paying $3 or $4 a pint for something I can get for free. A couple of months ago I started keeping my eye out for blooming blackberry bushes as I ran and biked around the trails in our area. This last week I went for my first picking. I am not going to say exactly where because I plan to go back for more. And because I already have someone scoping the same bushes as they didn't have as many as I was expecting and the grass around was trampled down. I am hoping that person got as many as they wanted so that I can get enough to put in the freezer. I only got enough this time for one pie, but it was a good pie. Also, I can't really complain, because they were free!

Wild blackberries are much smaller and quite a bit more tart than cultivated ones. No worries... just a little more Splenda will do the trick. This recipe is a  No Sugar Added  recipe as the blackberries do have natural sugars.

This recipe is for a small pie/cobbler. Now we have had the discussion before about the difference between pie and cobbler. If you want to revisit that discussion you can read it here.

4 cups blackberries
1 cup Splenda
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Cinnamon and nutmeg may seem a strange addition to blackberries, but I add them to any of my fruit pies and cobbler. If it is not your favorite, you can certainly leave it out.


Since I was only making a small pie, I only made a single recipe of pie crust. I used about 2/3 on the bottom and 1/3 on the top.

1 1/4 cups of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of vegetable shortening
3-4 tablespoons water

Add the flour and salt to a bowl.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry cutter or a fork. Add water and stir with a fork to incorporate flour into dough. You may need to work it with your hands at the end.
 Use about 2/3 of dough for the bottom crust. Put a little flour on your counter or board. Roll the dough out fairly thin. Think about the shape of your dish to determine the shape of your dough. Since I was going the cobbler route, I left the edges rustic not worrying about finished edges.
After lining your dish with the dough add in the fruit mixture. Add in three or four pats of butter. Roll out the last part of the dough to top your cobbler. No need for it to reach the edges. You really want some of the fruit peaking out.  Don't forget to cut a few slits in the top crust to allow the steam to escape. I also usually sprinkle the top with just a little more Splenda to make the top sparkle.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Just watch for the crust to begin to turn golden brown.  I don't know about you bit I want to eat my cobbler warm...
... and a little ice cream can only make it better. To keep your sugar down, don't forget to use a no sugar added variety or a low-fat or no sugar frozen yogurt.

Well, that didn't last long, so I will be off in a couple of days to check the bushes again... just hope I beat that other person this time.

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