Plum Cobbler

I originally started recipe blogging to preserve and share my family's recipes, and this one is from my childhood. I've never had another cobbler topping that tasted remotely as good as my mother's. This was always my favourite plum dessert.

You can use any kind of fruit you want...plums, peaches, blackberries, rhubarb...just vary the amount of sugar you use in the fruit mixture accordingly. Mom used rhubarb or plums, mostly, as other fruit tended to have different culinary destinations. For Prunica domestica (aka Italian prune plums or Zwetschge), I needed only 1/2 cup of sugar. You can start with the lower amount and adjust for taste before adding the cobbles.

Old Fashioned Plum Cobbler

Serves 6

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F with a rack in the middle.

Fruit base

500 grams (3 to 4 cups) of cleaned, prepared fruit (for plums, quarter them, removing the pits)
1/2 cup sugar (sweeter fruits) 3/4 to 1 cup sugar (rhubarb), depending on taste
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or combined spices, such as 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon allspice)

Toss the fruit with the sugar and spices and place in a dry, medium skillet (there should be no bare spaces in the bottom of the skillet, however, you can layer the fruit thicker or thinner, as you like. Heat the fruit and sugar mixture over medium heat, stirring gently as needed until the fruit softens slightly and the sugar has melted and formed a thick syrup with the juices. Taste the syrup (carefully! it will be extremely hot, so best to let it cool for half a minute on the spoon, than to burn your tongue). If it is not sweet enough, or wants more spice, adjust accordingly. Turn the heat to the lowest setting while you make the cobbles.

Cobbler topping

60 grams (1/4 cup) butter, softened to room temperature
125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar
1 large egg
180 ml (3/4 cup) all purpose flour
8 grams (1 3/4 teaspoons) baking powder
pinch of salt

In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt, stirring well. Add this mixture all at once to the mixing bowl with the butter/sugar/egg mixture, and stir rapidly with a fork to combine into a thick, sticky, dough-like batter.

Use a tablespoon to drop dollops of batter, with a little space between each one, into "cobblestones" on top of the hot fruit syrup mixture in the skillet. You can use big dollops or little ones, and if you want real uniformity of size, you can use a small disher to portion the batter out. Do not try to smooth the batter lumps in any way, it will take care of itself in the oven - the cobblestones will flatten and connect to each other as they bake. Place the skillet, uncovered, in the oven, and bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until the cobbles are golden brown and delicious.

Serve warm or cold, plain or with ice cream, whipped cream, or even just a drizzle of thick cream.