The Lessons of Cheryl's Kitchen - Dessert Comes First

[UPDATED: Added my Mother's Comments Below.]

I've always considered my mom to be more of a baker. The list of cakes, pies, cookies, breads, and other goodies from the oven are far more prevalent in my mind than the other things she makes. Within these recipes, the highest order of them are the sweets. My mom is definitely a force to be reckoned with when it comes to dessert recipes. From the simple covered dish-style desserts, to rather complex cakes and pies, she's a whiz with things of the sweeter persuasion. Which, I'm sure is why I have such an insatiable sweet tooth.

Now, although I'm sure I'll write about a few of these different desserts over the course of this series, one recipe sticks out as the first one due to its flexibility, simplicity, and irresistibility. Not to mention that I made it just the other day for a picnic, in lieu of my mom making it, and saw exactly how popular it is. (we'll get into this in more detail a bit later.) If you've ever been part of the equation: Cheryl Coalmer + Fruit + Summer|Fall + Oven = _____, you'll know that the best answer is her Cobbler. Not only that, but my brother and I knew it too. If she left one on the counter too long, I'm sure she knew to expect that it would be gone by days end.

For a single mom raising two (often challenging) boys, cobbler was always a good option. It's simple to make, tastes AMAZING, is downright heavenly with Ice Cream, transports well, and is always a crowd pleaser. Because there are so many traditions surrounding food in my family, the opportunity to make this one often presents itself. Thus was the case this summer at my Aunt's annual summer picnic. The only problem was, my mom wasn't able to attend. I guess this meant I was going to need to fill that void.

Although I'm not certain where the origins for my mom's affinity for making cobbler lie, I am certain that it's only grown steadily in popularity. From The blueberry cobbler I made here in the summer, to peach cobbler right before fall, it always seems to be a perfect fit no matter what produce is in season. The simplicity inherent to the batter is perfect for letting the best produce shine through. To top this one off, it's got a crunchy sugar crust that makes you want to break through the beautiful browned goodness.

  

Cheryl Coalmer's Fruit Cobbler:
[note: to simplify, I'm giving the recipe for blueberry cobbler (mine and my Uncle Keith's favorite.) feel free to change up the fruit, but there are certain alterations you'll want to make to the recipe for various fruits.]

To start, prepare a pan for the cobbler.
You'll need:
An 8"x8" pan, medium casserole, or a deep pie pan.
1 to 1 1/2 quart(s) of fresh blueberries washed, dried, and stems removed.
2T fresh lemon juice
2T flour
1T sugar

Place the blueberries in the baking dish and add lemon juice. Coat the blueberries with the juice using your hands. Next sprinkle the flour and sugar evenly over the blueberries and again mix with your hands to coat the blueberries. Set aside.

Next prepare the cobbler batter.
You'll need:
1/2c unsalted butter, melted.
1/2c 2% milk
1 1/2t pure vanilla extract
1/4t kosher salt
1 1/4c all purpose flour
1/2c sugar
1 heaping teaspoon baking powder.

Mix butter, milk, vanilla, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside. In a separate bowl stir flour, sugar, and baking soda together. While stirring add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Continue to stir batter until the flour begins to agglutinate (my mother's recipe card reads: for a few minutes longer than it takes to mix, until the batter gets stretchy)

Next prepare the cobbler for baking.
You'll need:
1c sugar
1/4c water

Take the batter and spread it over the blueberries until all the batter meets he edges of the pan and covers all the blueberries. Next, in a pourable cup, mix the sugar and the water thoroughly. Pour this mixture evenly over the top of the batter. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 mins or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clear. Allow to cool and serve while warm (over vanilla ice cream, yum! Or, allow to completely cool before covering. (note: it's the sugar crust that makes this cobbler so wonderful, and if you cover the cobbler while it's warm, it won't be so crunchy/delicious.)

I hope mom isn't upset at me for sharing her famous cobbler recipe, but I doubt she is. My mother always seems more than happy to share all of her best. Hopefully this will be the case with her stories about this fantastic dessert. (She might be for the photos, though)

Mom's Official Response:
"Firstly,did you get the blog I sent last tues??  

  

I would just like to comment that your dad loved cobbler, so I was always on the lookout for a good cobbler recipe... though I never could get it exactly right for him. He would say "that's really good but I just want you to drop the batter on top and I want it to be firm"  So I think he would have loved this recipe, but unfortunately I found it after he passed in a cookbook that grandma alice bought for me from the Methodist Church (church people can sure cook and eat) so they always have the best recipes

 

Also, at Thanksgiving time I would like you to post my Pumpkin Chiffon Pie recipe that I won the Review cookbook contest with back in 1985 or 1986. I won $25, but spent at least that much making it because eggnog was a seasonal item and was not out in the stores yet. So, I had to make my own Eggnog too!!!!! I have a copy of the paper with my picture holding the pie that you can scan and put on blog also.

 

Talk soon. Love ya

So... perhaps we'll have a photo of my mom from the paper in the 80's soon.

Egg It On!

I'm making this a very short post and for a reason. You CAN make delicious and sophisticated food quickly. I promise.

Yeah, folks, you can totally just go on steaming that asparagus and squeezing a bit of lemon on there if that's your perogative. Just believe me when I tell you that the addition of just a little fat will increase your enjoyment 3.5 fold. Put that asparagus on a broiler pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle some salt, grind some pepper. Cook till done (which means browned, crispy on the tips and oh sooooo good).

Do that. Note how it much better it tastes. Become an envy of all your friends. Write me an email of thanks. And no, I'm not Jesus. Not quite.

If you want to make it really stand out, do what I do and throw (gently place) a perfectly poached egg atop your bed of aspargus (and forget the useless vinegar in the poaching water).

So easy it's sick.

Fall-ing in love again...

As long as I can remember, autumn has been my favorite season. This is for a number of obvious reasons. Spending all day raking leaves in the yard into a HUGE pile so that you can decimate it with so many different ways to jump into it. Good quality time with family (over food of course). Carving pumpkins, a tradition I still continue to this day and one which often will yield some delicious pumpkin puree for later use. But of course, the best part is the baking.



Now, you can tell I've been watching what I eat because it has been such a long time since my last Blog entry. I guess I just don't think many people will find reading about grilled chicken, broccoli, and brown rice to be all that intriguing. But now that summer is over, it's time to reward myself for the hard work... and reward is quite the word for it. There are so many goodies to have, it can be mind boggling. Pumpkin pie, spice cookies, hot cocoa, apple cider(mulled, of course), even on occasion candy corn, and so many more. It's the one season that my neighbors can't complain because I make the whole building smell like my mom's kitchen at Thanksgiving; you would have to be a communist not to love that. Now, when it comes to baking for autumn the primary ingredient of the season is obvious to anyone who grew up anywhere the leaves change... That ingredient: Pumpkin.

In the more than a decade since I've been experimenting with food I've used the pureed gold in so many different ways. Baking is obvious, but I've also used it in pastas, soups, sauces, kebabs... the list can go on and on. I've truly come to know Pumpkin as a delicious, extremely versatile, and wildly popular kitchen staple. But when the equation comes down to Autumn + Pumpkin + Oven, there is only one answer as far as I'm concerned and it isn't pumpkin pie (no hate mail, please). We are, in fact, talking about the uber-delicious, ultra-unhealthy, wholly irresistible Midwest treat... The pumpkin roll.

There's something about the flour and fat, the sugar and spice, the cake-y and the creamy that makes this delicacy downright addictive. Add in a cup of coffee and some good friends... and it's all over. Personally I could eat about a yard of the stuff myself, but I wouldn't recommend this. When you read the recipe, you'll see why.

P.S. If you wish to make your own pumpkin, I'll direct you to this eHow article that shows you how simple and easy it is to make from scratch. How to make pumpkin puree.

Preheat your oven to 375F.
Grease and flour the edges of a large Jelly Roll Pan, then line the bottom of the pan with wax paper.
Then in a mixing bowl stir together 3/4c Flour, 3/4t cinnamon, 1/2t cloves, 1/4t ginger, 1/4t nutmeg, pinch of fine ground black pepper, 1/4t salt, 1/2t baking powder and 1/2t baking soda.
In a large bowl, mix 3 eggs, and 1c sugar together until smooth. Blend in 3/4c pumpkin, and continue to blend until smooth.
Slowly add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mix incrementally until all of the dry is incorporated into the wet mix.
pour out onto the prepared jelly roll pan and bake for 14 to 16 mins. remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before moving ahead. My aunt actually will roll the cake at this point to ensure that it doesn't crack when you roll it later. I've found that this isn't truly necessary if you're careful when rolling later.
Make the filling by creaming together 1/2c softened butter, 1pkg cream cheese, once smooth, slowly sift in 1c powdered sugar and 1 1/2t REAL vanilla. (actually, for mine, I use a vanilla bean) stir until smooth and creamy.
Use the wax paper to help you roll out the cake, peeling it off as you go. Work slowly so as not to break the cake. Once rolled you can wrap in plastic wrap and store the cake or you can plate it, dust it with powdered sugar, and serve it to unsuspecting guests(or eat it all by yourself... choice is yours.)

Feel to experiment with the combination of layouts, you can see above that the last one I made was actually square. I've even been known to make this as a trifle, adding candied walnuts between each layer. You can feel free to do this in as many configurations as you like, just don't blame me if your pants don't fit properly later...