FRUIT COBBLER CONUNDRUM
A couple of weeks ago I totally forgot to prepare a dessert for a dear friend’s open house. It was Sunday morning, with zero fun ingredients on hand, and exactly one hour before we needed to leave for sacrament meeting. Never mind that I still had the last minute details to pull together for my Relief Society lesson. Been there? Of course not.
BUT!
Food storage and Teresa’s terrific recipe saved the day! The first step was to get my trusty dehydrated apples softening and the oven preheating to 350 degrees.
Loosely measuring out 3 to 4 cups of apple chips, I poured in boiling water and then covered the bowl with foil to hustle the re-hydration process.
Basic dry ingredients were whisked together in one bowl with wet ingredients in another.
A softened stick of butter was quickly smooshed into the dry ingredients,
and then everything was combined, barely mixed together, and dumped into an oiled 9 x 13 cake pan.
Apples were drained and spooned on top of the batter.
Then I tossed together the streusel topping and spooned it over the apples. 45 minutes in the oven and the fruit cobbler looked like this and we bolted for the door.
This version of Teresa’s fruit cobbler tastes like warm, fluffy, pound cake with a layer of apple pie on top. When I asked Lizzie she said, “That’s intense!” and “I like it!”
FRUIT COBBLER
Fresh Ingredients
1 cup butter, divided
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Storage Ingredients
3-4 cups dehydrated apples *or substitute with 3-4 cups canned or fresh fruit
3 1/2 cups white flour, divided
2 1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Cover dehydrated apples with boiling water. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix 2 cups flour and 1 cup sugar with baking powder and salt. Cut in 1/2 cup butter. Whisk together milk, eggs, vanilla and lightly stir into the dry ingredients and butter mixture. Ignoring all the lumps, pour batter into greased 9 x 13 pan. Drain fruit and layer on top of batter. For streusel, mix remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1 1/2 cups of sugar with 1/2 cup butter and cinnamon until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter and fruit. Bake 45 minutes, until cake layer tests done and top is lightly toasted.
Tags: dehydrated apples to the rescue, last minute dessert in minutes
July 31st, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Now THAT looks extremely tasty and I’m sure it was knowing where it came from. I’ll have to try that one of these days, did it get served with whipped cream or ice cream?
July 31st, 2012 at 9:58 pm
Hey, I’ve got dried fruit! Apples, peaches, cherries….yum! Thanks, Leisa!
August 1st, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Shucks Melanie, you’re making me blush! the cobbler was served straight up at the open house and Samantha reported that it had been a hit. I, of course, have tried it with ice cream…well, you know…because I practically had to. Verdict is that it was great with the ice cream but really didn’t need it. Maybe a dollop of cinnamon whipping cream. Yeah, that sounds real good!
August 1st, 2012 at 5:26 pm
Go for it, Laura! You’ve reminded me of some dehydrated raspberries I’ve had stashed in the misc. FS supplies. This might be the best way to use those gems. I’ve also wondered how fresh peaches would be. My looooves fresh peaches!
August 21st, 2012 at 3:30 pm
This has nothing to do with your original recipe, but I remembered a ‘tip’ that I discovered by accident. If you are making a cobblerish sort of thing and you are using any kind of fruit that’s canned in syrup, mix in some dried apples and they will absorb some of the liquid, effectively thickening the whole fruit layer. I made a cobbler the other day with a jar of home-canned peaches and some dried (tiny) plums from our (tiny) plum tree, and the plums plumped and thickened the fruit at the same time.
August 23rd, 2012 at 10:47 am
Very smart tip, Laura! Thank you for sharing! And this has nothing to do with the original recipe but do you know the name of the little green plums that are bright red inside? I dream of having a tree some day…
August 23rd, 2012 at 3:42 pm
Green Gage maybe? That’s the only green plum I’ve ever heard of (but I don’t get out much).
August 23rd, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Sadly, not Green Gage because these little gems are totally red, red-purple, on the inside. Only the skin is green on the outside. Crazy little yummies! Thanks for trying:)
August 26th, 2012 at 1:33 pm
Elephant heart and mariposa plums are both greenish on the outside and red inside.
August 27th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Thank you Elizabeth!!!!!!!