An old fashioned Mexican cobble-off

It's nearly August at this point and after having proclaimed a vow to make a variety of different fruit cobblers nearly two months ago, I decided to give a little update. The following have been checked off the list, some more permanently than others, and appear in order of preference.

1. peach blueberry
2. strawberry peach
3. strawberry rhubarb
4. blackberry
5. peach, apple, blueberry
6. blueberry cake
7. raspberry, blueberry, strawberry

I still have a long way to go, but after encountering my new favorite chef, The Pioneer Woman, I have a new angle to explore in the world of cobbler-making. My friend Julie introduced me to her blog and I have been in awe ever since. Her blog website is an amazing work of art and the camera she uses to take pictures of every intricately important step of the cooking process is state of the art. The cooking aspect indexes the recipes visually--genious idea. I've logged many hours scrolling through the thumbnails with an intense longing in my eyes. I aspire to be this woman. She has a family, a hungry husband, and a funny aversion to leaving her farm compound. Her diction and writing style crack me up and bring enjoyment to the basics of food preparation.

One particular post of hers about blackberry cobbler hit a sweet spot in my heart. She did two versions of this cobbler--one more cake like and one more traditional with crumbles baked on top. I have been making all of mine with the same crumbly top, but the pictures of the cake-like one demanded I give that version a try. I have never been a big fan of blackberries, either, because I've never been lucky enough to eat a sweet one--they've always been miserably sour.

This past weekend, I decided I should do a cobble-off with my friend Sheri. She's been my loyal partner-in-crime the past month or so with helping me assemble and sample (tough job) many different cobblers. And this time, since she had raved once about a yellow cake cobbler with peaches that she used to eat as a kid, I decided it was time to try that, too.

Thus begins our Mexican stand-off, err cobble-off. For the title of Best Cobbler, our competitors stand poised and ready. In the left corner, we have the overtly narcissistic Self-Rising Flour (SRF). Poised and ready, this grain prides itself in itself. Baking soda? No need. Eggs? Puhlease. And in the right corner, we have Betty Crocker sponsored Super Moist Yellow Cake (SMYC) mix. Bred from the storied Crocker family, this flashier mix boasts a warm, sunny color and the allure and promise of rich chocolate icing on its brazen uniform.

Well let's see how they match up. SRF's recipe was simple: just add sugar, butter, milk and top with blackberries. SMYC's recipe was simple, too, but involved oil, water and a few eggs for an extra boost.

After piling the blackberries on SRF, the blueberries were scattered onto SMYC. Pretty, aren't they? Let's take a closer look, especially at the sugar dust on top.

And now for the fight! SRF required a half hour longer to bake, so we got our first look at how SMYC turned out. OOoooohh....butter face. Can we put a brown bag over that?


Soon thereafter, SRF made it's grand exit from the oven...the last cobbler standing. Look at that beauty! Brings tears to my eyes. Perfectly cobbled. Blackberry goodness oozing from the cracks.

And now for the taste test! So far, SRF has SMYC beat by a landslide on appearance. I mean, come on. Would you want to be seen in public with SMYC? I didn't think so.

And the title goes to...SRF! The blackberries were perfectly roasted, their juices perfuming the kitchen and melting my taste buds into oblivion. Next time, however, Sheri and I will try to make her yellow cake cobbler by following an actual recipe rather than make it up as we go since I don't think it turned out the way it should have.

I am sad to report that Vanilla Ice Cream (VIC), upon hearing that two cobblers were to be baked in one sitting, mysteriously disappeared from Sheri's freezer before we had a chance to pin it down. Smart, VIC, very smart. You wouldn't have stood a chance.