Any Fruit Cobbler

We came home from a trip to find that our pear tree had been generous in our absence, and there was a bunch of fruit that needed to be used. 

Some of them looked rough, and I knew I'd have to cut away a lot of the fruit, but I figured there should still be enough to make some type of pear dessert. The question was, what kind? 

I searched through the recipes in Grandma's box that were still untested, but found nothing that called for pears. Then I noticed this line on a recipe for Peach Cobbler: "Any fruit can be used." Perfect! Pear Cobbler would hit the spot.

As usual, though, I had questions. How much fruit would I need? The recipe didn't say. In fact, out of all the vague recipes I've tested, this one had to be near the top on the vagueness scale. No quantity was listed for the fruit, no pan size either, and the recipe contained sentences like, "Add a little water, if necessary." "Stir in sugar to taste." 

Argh! I almost despaired of testing this recipe, but there were precise measurements for the cobbler topping, which gave me hope that I could wing the rest. 

How to Make Any Fruit Cobbler

This recipe said to cook the fruit before baking, so I decided to start with the fruit so that it could cook while I prepared the topping. 

I peeled the pears and used my chopper to dice them, a process I somehow neglected to take pictures of, and soon realized I was going to come up short. After paring all the bad parts from the bedraggled pears, I only had two and a half cups of diced fruit, which wasn't nearly enough fruit for a cobbler. So, I took two apples from my fridge, diced them, and added them to a saucepan with the pears. This truly would be an "any fruit" kind of cobbler. 

More guesswork came next. It did seem like some water was necessary, so I started with a 1/4 cup. I then added 1/2 cup of sugar to the fruit to offset the tartness of the Granny Smith apples.   

While the fruit was simmering, I turned my attention to the topping. I added flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar to a bowl. 

The next step was to cut the butter (or margarine) into the flour mixture. I first chopped the butter into smaller cubes, added them to the bowl, then used a pastry blender to finish the job. 

It looked like this when I was done. Later, I saw that Grandma had asked for fine particles, but these chunks weren't that. They were more like the unevenly sized pieces I leave in my pie dough to promote flakiness. 

Next, I beat the egg and milk together, then I stirred it into the flour mixture. The resulting dough was fairly stiff, like that of a drop biscuit, which was basically what I was making.

By then, the fruit was tender. 

I had tasted it halfway through and decided it needed another 1/4 cup of sugar. The water, though, had been plenty because the fruit gave off its own liquid. I poured the cooked fruit into a 9-inch round baking dish. 

The recipe then said to drop the dough by tablespoons onto the hot fruit. I decided that my medium scoop would be equal to "tablespoons," so I pulled it out and used it to portion the dough onto the fruit. It worked perfectly. I popped the dish into the oven.

It came out twenty minutes later looking beautiful.

The Verdict on Any Fruit Cobbler

We waited a few minutes for it to cool before spooning it out and adding a scoop of ice cream. 

The first bite was a trip back in time. I remembered this flavor combination: the tender, barely sweet, biscuity topping and the fruity fall filling. The dollop of creaminess on top tipped the scale of this dish into the sublime.    

Okay. Maybe I'm getting a little carried away, because nostalgia definitely played a role in how I felt about this dish. To its credit, though, the rest of the family seemed to enjoy it just as much.  

My feelings were tempered when I later tasted some of the filling on its own, and it was way too sweet for me. Turned out, that last 1/4 cup of sugar had been overkill, something I hadn't noticed when I'd eaten the fruit with the ice cream and cobbler. The pears had brought a lot of natural sweetness to the filling, but if you're using a very tart fruit, such as rhubarb or cranberries, you might need the additional 1/4 cup.  

Another sidenote: Grandma's recipe said this dish served six, but we found that one mound of cobbler and a helping of fruit was the perfect amount. Using my medium scoop, I'd made ten mounds, so I've adjusted the servings on the recipe below accordingly. 

The moral of the story is, if you have fall fruit on hand, such as peaches, apples, pears, or cranberries, this recipe is a simple and delicious way to feature it. I'm also looking forward to trying it with spring fruit, such as strawberries and rhubarb. 

Give it a try and let me know on Instagram what you think!