Any-Fruit Cobbler—Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café

A few years back, before we moved, my good friend Renee found a screaming deal on Craigslist, and being a really good friend, she shared the info with me.  Due to COVID, a local high-end food manufacturer chose to eliminate one of its product lines, one which utilized frozen sweet cherries.  They were selling 40-lb boxes for $8.  I think I bought five boxes, three for us and two for my in-laws. 

I canned a couple dozen quarts of these cherries.  I still have quite a few in the pantry.  Apparently I’m just not into making cherry pies.  Cobblers are a bit less involved.  I came across the following recipe a few months back and immediately fell in love with it.  It’s simple, uses whatever fruit you have on hand (though calling for fresh or frozen fruit, instead of canned) as well as basic food storage ingredients, and is baked in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, making it suitable for outdoor cooking.  What’s not to love?

Any-Fruit Cobbler

1/3 cup coconut oil

1 quart canned fruit, such as blackberries, peaches, raspberries, blueberries, plums, cherries or apricots

1 cup flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ cup dry milk powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch salt

1 cup reserved syrup (add water to make a full cup, if necessary)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the coconut oil in a 10” cast-iron skillet and put it in the oven until the coconut oil melts, about 3 minutes.

Drain the fruit, reserving the syrup.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, milk powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the reserved syrup and vanilla extract, stirring to form a smooth batter.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Carefully pour the oil from the skillet into the batter, stirring to combine, and then pour the batter back into the skillet (it should begin to puff and set around the edges). Add the fruit to the center of the batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center crumb comes out mostly clean. Serve warm, straight from the skillet.

Family reviews:  The family basically scarfed it down.  Truthfully, the taste and texture make it rate only 4 stars out of 5 for me.  But if you’re looking for something easy to assemble with a minimum of dishes, this hits a home run.