Cobblers

History

"Cobblers" is written as a general method in Martha McCulloch-Williams's "Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" (1913): make it "from any sort of fruit in season — peaches, apples, cherries, plums or berries." She is specific about what does not work — "Green gooseberries are inadvisable, through being too tart and too tedious" — and about preparation: stone the cherries, pare and thinly slice peaches or apples, halve plums if they are big enough and stone them, and if not, wash, drain well and use them whole. The vessel matters as much as the fruit: a skillet or deep pie pan "must be three inches deep at least," lined liberally with short crust.

The historical record does not document a specific earlier origin for this particular preparation.

"Dishes & Beverages of the Old South" is a mixture of recipes and plantation reminiscence. McCulloch-Williams was a white writer born near Clarksville, Tennessee, who grew up on a plantation before the Civil War, and the book's affection for that world goes unexamined in it: its dedication is "to our Mammys," and its opening holds that being "the best fed people in the world" let "we of the South Country... put up the best fight in history." Much of the cooking it records is the work of enslaved and formerly enslaved Black women the book does not name.

Ingredients

• fruit
• short crust dough
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 lump butter
• 1 spoonful brandy
• nutmeg
• cinnamon
• mace blades
• fruit pits/stones
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoon brandy or whiskey
• thick sweet cream

Instructions

1. Prepare fruit according to type: stone cherries, pare and slice peaches or apples thin, halve large plums and remove stones (or wash and use whole if small), prepare berries by removing stems. Wash and drain all fruit well.
2. Line a skillet or deep pie pan (at least three inches deep) liberally with short crust rolled rather more than a quarter-inch thick. Fit the crust well and prick all over with a blunt fork.
3. Fill with prepared fruit. If desired for additional flavor, cook a few fruit stones (say a dozen cherry pits or some plum stones) with the fruit.
4. Cover with an upper crust rolled quarter-inch thick and large enough to cover generously. Barely press the crust edges together and prick well all over the top with a fork.
5. Bake in a hot oven for half to three-quarters of an hour, depending on size of pie.
6. Remove from oven. Take off the top crust and lay it inverted on another plate. Sweeten the hot fruit liberally, adding if desired a spoonful of brandy and a good lump of butter. Mix well through the fruit.
7. Dip out enough of the sweetened fruit to make a thick layer over the top crust. For apple pies, grate nutmeg over the top, or strew with powdered cinnamon. For cherries, the brandy-soaked fruit is particularly good but use less butter than for peaches or apples. For plums, ensure ample sugar.
8. Serve hot with hard brandy sauce made by creaming together a cup of sugar and a tablespoon of butter, then working in two tablespoonfuls of brandy or good whiskey. Alternatively, serve cold with thick sweet cream, whipped or plain.