Blackberry Cobbler and the Fireball

As much as I like to bake, I overlooked the age of my kitchen appliances when I found my otherwise perfect apartment. For the past month my pilot light and I have been fighting. I was trying to bake a pizza a few weeks ago and the pilot light decided to go out. Normally it would be no big deal, but when they made this model back in the 1950’s apparently they thought it was a good idea to put the pilot light at the back of oven so you have to stick your entire arm over the broiler to relight it. Pilot light: 1, Natalie: 0.

You would think this small victory would have been enough for my spiteful oven. Oh no. You’d be mistaken. Yesterday I was preheating my oven for this recipe and smelled no gas (which was a good sign!) until I heard it ignite fully and saw a fireball shoot out the broiler door. Needless to say - Off went the oven. I had to pack up all the ingredients and cart them over to my boyfriend’s to make the cobbler. Good thing there are very few ingredients in this recipe, so it wasn’t as big of a pain in the rear as it could have been. Pilot light: 2, Natalie: 0

It’s time to call in reinforcements…repairman has been scheduled! Take that!

Blackberry Cobbler

(from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl cookbook)

1 cup self-rising flour
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1-1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
2 cups blackberries (you could also use raspberries or peaches)

Preheat the oven at 350 (taking care not to create fireballs). Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and set it aside.

Whisk together the cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar, and the milk. Melt your butter and whisk that in as well.

Rinse the fruit you are using and pat it dry.

Pour the batter into the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle the fruit evenly over the top. Sprinkle ¼ cup of the sugar over the fruit/batter.

Bake the cobbler for 1 hour. When 50 minutes have passed, sprinkle the additional 2 tablespoons of sugar over the top and return it to the oven for the last 10 minutes.

Serve it immediately with vanilla ice cream.