Blackberry Bramble

A summer dessert!! Hooray!!!!

I LOVE cake. And I love crumbles, slumps, buckles, crisps, and cobblers. And I LOVE it when these fine foods collide.

The other night we celebrated our friend Mark's birthday. Though we took him to the Gypsy Den for dinner, I brought along a cake and plates that I hid under the table with a single candle that had no hope of being lit -- lit or unlit, I believe the appearance of a candle is important on a birthday cake.

I found this recipe on felt and honey. I have cut and pasted it below along with her lovely photograph. Enjoy!

Blackberry Cobbler (aka Cake)

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

A few tips and comments before you read on (this is Bronwen again): I didn't have self-rising flour and decided it couldn't be very different from regular flour (but it is, of course, has baking soda and salt in it), so the result was a heavier, gummier cake. Even so, it was divine, which should give you a clue about the recipe. I also didn't read well and put the entire 1 1/8 c sugar in the batter instead of reserving some for the top, and then sprinkled a couple additional tablespoons on top. My berries were tart and the cake was none too sweet. Lastly, I made mine in an 8" cake pan (so it could look like a birthday cake), which *nearly* overflowed. With the proper flour, it would have. But all of that said, the five of us devoured this cake, and Mark, after seconds, took thirds home. Tonight I will quadruple the recipe, use self-rising flour, divided sugar, and boysenberries, and report back. I have high hopes.

From looking at the pictures on The Pioneer Woman, I think Ree used a larger baking dish than I did, although she doesn’t specify size. Using an 8×8 dish and putting the fruit on the bottom gave the dessert a thicker top layer of cake that I loved. I cut down the amount of sugar sprinkled on top to 1/8 cup because of the smaller baking dish.

• 1 stick butter
• 1 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups fresh blackberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 8×8 baking dish.

Melt the butter. In a mixing bowl, combine 1 cup of sugar and the flour. Add the milk whisking ingredients together. Pour in melted butter and continue to whisk until well combined.

Wash and dry the blackberries and layer in the bottom of your 8×8 baking dish. Pour the batter over the berries and sprinkle 1/8 cup sugar on top.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Devour it.

SERVES 8 (or in our case 2)