Welcome to Saturday baking day, where I post recipes from my novels. This is my first recipe post and I’ve started with a personal favorite!
If you’ve read Tracking Tilly, my latest cozy mystery from Barbour Publishing, you are familiar with Aunt Bessie Mae. She’s an amazing older gal–the matriarch of the Hadley family. She’s also an amazing cook!
Bessie Mae is particularly good at making cobbler. I don’t know about you, but I’m crazy about cobbler, myself. If you follow my baking blog (Out of the Box Baking) no doubt you’ve already figured that out.
I have a terrific recipe for cobbler, which is just like Bessie Mae’s. So, I’m happy to share that here. And if you’re in the mood to check out more of my recipes at my baking blog, feel free!
Dewberry Cobbler Ingredients
- FOR THE BERRY MIXTURE:
- 1 pound frozen dewberries or blackberries
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water (more or less)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
- FOR THE CRUST:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- pinch salt
- 1/2 cup Crisco
- 1/8 cup cold water
- egg (for wash)
- sugar (to sprinkle)
How to Make this Dewberry Cobbler
I’ve already shared the particulars on that over on my baking blog, so follow this link to read the post or check out the image below from the book. Or check out the image below, straight from the book!
If you make Bessie Mae’s cobbler, feel free to share in the comments. I’d love to get your thoughts!
I promise, you’re going to love this delicious recipe. And if you’re in a hurry, you can use store-bought pie crust. (Shh! I won’t tell Bessie Mae, I promise!)
Speaking of Bessie Mae. . .
Enjoy this blurb from Tracking Tilly.
As we wrapped up the second round of dumplings, Bessie Mae pushed back her chair and attempted to stand. Poor dear was having a harder time lately getting around. Mason must’ve noticed. He sprang from his seat and helped her up.
“Well, thank you kindly.” She flashed him a warm smile. “And for that you’ll get a double portion of my dewberry cobbler once I get it whipped up.”
“Dewberry cobbler?” He rested his hand on his stomach. “Are you serious?”
“Well, sure. It’s dewberry season, and RaeLyn picked buckets of ’em last week. Our freezers are about to pop with berries. It won’t take me more than a few minutes to fashion up a cobbler, so I hope you’re not in a hurry. Would’ve done it sooner, but my back was giving me fits today.” She rested her hand on her side. “I’m at the age where my back goes out more than I do.” A little chuckle followed. “Now, am I gonna have to wash these berries all by myself, or are you two gonna get over here and help me?”
I guess that was an order to help. I rose and made my way toward them.
“Would you pass me that bowl of dewberries from the fridge, RaeLyn?” My aunt’s eyes twinkled as she offered instruction. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
I reached into the refrigerator for the huge bowl of fresh dewberries and set it on the counter next to her, then watched as she transferred them into a colander, which she placed in the sink. Moments later, the water was running over them.
Mason stuck his hand in the bowl and popped a juicy berry into his mouth. A look of delirium came over him. “How many times did we go dewberry picking together when we were kids, RaeLyn? A thousand?”
“At least.”
“Remember how we used to sneak onto the Jackson property to pick berries in the far back corner, just past that dilapidated old shed? They were the best in the county.”
“You stole berries from Wyatt Jackson?” Mom’s brows arched. “Don’t tell me that’s where you got these.
“Nope. These are all from our own property. Haven’t been to Wyatt’s place in years. And even then, it was on the far edge of his property, right alongside the field next to him.”
“Sure wouldn’t recommend trespassing over there these days,” Bessie Mae said. “He’d probably come after you with a shotgun.”
“No one ever picked his dewberries but us, so they would’ve just rotted on the vine.” I shrugged. “But they’re not worth dying over, so I won’t be going back. No need to worry.”
Enjoy the recipe and the book! Get your copy of Tracking Tilly at Amazon today!
