Cobbler vs. Crumble

“If a crumble is crumbly from being all fallen apart.

Why is a cobbler not looking as if created by an elf cobbler’s heart?

A baker’s mind decides what part topping and fruit play.

While hands diligently portray an artful display.

Mix in spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves.

As desserts bake, wonderful aromas fill the homes.”

Tired, climbing slowly into bed, head lying upon pillow, and then the dread.  The eyes pop open, wheels in the mind whirl. Not only must a poem be written quickly, but also a recipe from inside the head.  Oh yes, I am one of those people who, no matter how tired the body, the mind keeps going with questions and ideas.  …and so, my mind decided to contemplate the difference between a cobbler and a crumble.  I am not surprised by this, as I had been taking stock of what fruits I had “put up” this year in the freezer…apricots, peaches, cherries, plums, cranberries and blueberries.  So, why in the world would they not invade my mind while I was wanting to go to sleep?

Wanting to know the “technical” baking definitions, I found out, oh, it gets worse than just cobbler and crumble.  There is crisp, Betty, and buckle.  Well, who the heck is Betty, was her cobbler too crisp, so it crumbled, and did she have to loosen her buckle from eating too much???

The easiest description were found, would you believe, at the Farmer’s Almanac website (https://www.farmersalmanac.com/crisp-crumble-cobbler-whats-difference-29174).

"Crisp: A crisp is fruit dessert with a topping made of a combination of oats, flour, butter, and sugar (and sometimes nuts). The topping completely covers the fruit and is baked. It is also sometimes called a crumble.

Crumble: Crumbles are very similar to crisps, but the name originated in England. Both contain fresh fruit and are covered with a streusel topping that gets baked. Crumble toppings, however, usually do not contain oats, whereas crisp toppings do.

Cobbler: Cobblers are a fruit dessert baked with biscuit-style topping. It’s called a cobbler because its top crust is not smooth like a pie crust but rather “cobbled” and coarse. It’s usually dropped or spooned over the fruit, then baked.

Betty: A Betty (as in “Apple Brown Betty”) is similar to a crisp, but has no oats in its buttery crumb topping. And rather than having the topping solely on top of the fruit, it’s layered throughout, then baked.

Buckle: A buckle consists of fruit and cake baked together, with a streusel topping. As it bakes the fruit and streusel topping makes the cake “buckle.” It very much resembles a coffee cake."

…and of course, depending on where a recipe is obtained from, what is called a cobbler, could actually be a crisp; or a crisp a buckle; and do not forget about betty.

The recipe I am sharing with you is not a cobbler-cobbler, but a sort of buckle layered like a Betty, and…you get the gist of it, right?  Anyway, I made it with blueberries, served warm with ice cream on the side, and no one complained, even about the name.

 Easy (Any Fruit) Cobbler

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (8 Tbsp.) butter

1 cup 2% milk

1 cup sugar (or equivalent sugar substitute)

1 cup all-purpose flour (add 3 Tbsp. for high elevation baking)

1 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

*1 quart (32 oz.) chopped fruit or whole berries (if thawed from frozen, drain liquid, but keep for smoothies, or another use.)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F.

 

Melt butter and brush against bottom and sides of 9”x12” inch baking pan, or 2-9” square baking pans.

 

Mix together milk, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt until a smooth batter; pour into pan(s).

Cover batter evenly, as possible, with the fruit; do not stir the fruit into the batter.

 

Bake for one hour, or until toothpick comes out clean from cake.  While baking, the batter will rise up, surround the fruit and absorb its flavor.

 

To serve, cut into squares and top with whipped cream, or a scoop of ice cream on the side.

 

Makes 12-18 servings, dependent on square size cut.

 

*Note: if fruit needs sweetening, add 2 Tbsp. sugar and mix thoroughly with fruit.

            :fruit, such as apples, apricots and peaches can be spiced up by mixing with cinnamon, cloves, all spice, nutmeg and/or cardamom before spreading over batter.

The fruit I used was frozen blueberries.  After straining the juice, I froze it for future use.

Mary Cokenour

Another successful attempt with Apricots.

While picking apricots the other day, I spied a very colorful bird in the tree pecking at one of the fruits. It had a yellow underbelly, dark blue top and wings and a bright red head; very tropical looking indeed. One of the outdoor cats began to climb the tree and suddenly a small flock of these unusual looking birds took off to safety. I looked up Utah bird species online and discovered it was a bird that lived in mountainous areas, mostly in evergreen trees, and rarely seen. It is called the "Western Tanager" and here I had a flock of them in the apricot trees; astounding.

But I digress from what this post is actually about...the apricots.  As I had planned, I was able to make an apricot crumble today. Now I am one of those people who doesn't really like cooked fruit. While I will cook and bake with fruit for other people, I will not eat it myself; just call it my little quirk.  I was brave and took of taste of it; sweet and tangy, but still not my cup of tea.  Roy, on the other hand, enjoyed it and praised me for an experiment in baking well done.

So here is my experiment...ummm, recipe and I hope you enjoy it too.

Apricot Crumble

Ingredients:

6 cups quartered apricots (previously washed and pitted)

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

Topping:

½ cup flour

¾ cup oven toasted old fashioned oats

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup plus 1 Tbsp softened salted butter

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease a 4-qt baking dish with the one Tbsp of softened butter.

In a large bowl, mix together the apricots, vanilla, sugar and cornstarch; set aside.  In a medium bowl, use a pastry cutter, fork or hands to mix together all ingredients listed under Topping until it forms a loose crumble.

Spread the apricots into the baking dish; use a rubber spatula to get all the juices that have formed at the bottom of the bowl.  Next, spread the crumble over the apricots and spread as evenly as possible.

Place dish on center rack of oven and bake for 40 minutes; remove from oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before serving with a scoop of ice cream or whipped topping.

Makes 9 servings.

Mary Cokenour