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Cream Cheese and Cherry Skillet Cobbler
I’ve always liked cobblers. To me, it’s down-home country food. It’s part of my pioneer heritage. I love the fruit. I love the sugary, crisp topping.
Maybe thirty years ago, I bought a little cookbook in a gift shop in Yellowstone, “Mormon Pioneer Recipes”. I loved the recipe for peach cobbler. I loved the sugary crust and rich cake topping.
Over the years, we’ve tweaked the recipe and then after we started our business, we made it into a skillet cobbler mix. Now it’s one of our bestselling mixes.
I associate cobblers with summer fruit, but it doesn’t have to be. I read this product review this morning. Here’s the relevant part:
“I’ve been using this mix for a couple of years now, using a variety of fresh, frozen, and canned fruit, and it ALWAYS turns out great! My all-time favorite is cherry cobbler, using canned pie cherries. Another favorite is huckleberry cobbler, using frozen berries (I gather them myself or purchase frozen berries from a local company). Canned peaches or apricots also work well, as does canned pineapple chunks.”
She’s using canned and frozen fruits, winter fruits. And the pineapple is available in the winter, as are other tropical fruits. You can make a great cobbler with apples. You can also use canned pie fillings. We’ll follow with three winter cobbler recipes.
I will always prefer fresh fruit but frozen fruit is not far behind. Canned peaches make a very acceptable cobbler but not to be compared with fresh peaches.
A Few Tips for Winter Cobblers
Consider mixed fruit. Instead of canned peaches, maybe frozen peaches with fresh pineapple or fresh raspberries added. The raspberries are expensive in the winter but it doesn’t take many.
We usually serve our cobblers with fancy whipped cream. Try adding a caramel whipped cream to your peach cobbler or a lemon cloud whipped cream to your blueberry cobbler.
Recipes
Mango Coconut Cream Skillet Cobbler with Coconut Whipped Cream
In the summer, use peaches instead of mangoes. But this makes a very good winter cobbler because mangoes are available.
This is a very, very good skillet cobbler, one of my favorites. We tried it with both coconut whipped cream and brown sugar whipped cream. I liked it better with the coconut whipped cream; Debbie liked it better with brown sugar. Either way, this is worth making.
You can make this cobbler either from scratch or using our mix.
While these are called skillet cobblers, the butter is melted in a pan on the stovetop, the batter is added, and then the cobbler is transferred to the oven to bake. Any oven-proof, 10-inch pan will work. You can also use a two-quart baking dish and melt the butter in the oven.
For the cake: Use our Prepared Pantry Skillet Cobbler Base Mix or the recipe below.
1 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups fresh mangoes, cubed
2/3 cup Bavarian cream pastry filling
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon coconut flavor
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of your stand-type mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer on for less than a minute to mix the ingredients together.
Add the eggs, milk, sour cream, and vanilla. Turn the mixer on again to mix the ingredients stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula. When thoroughly mixed, set aside.
Make the coconut cream by mixing the coconut flavor and Bavarian cream together in a small bowl. Fold in the coconut. Set aside.
Place the butter in the pan over medium heat and melt the butter until it is hot but not scorched. Turn the heat off.
Immediately scrape the batter into the hot pan. Place the mango pieces on top of the batter. Spoon coconut cream filling over the mango pieces.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out fairly clean, with some crumbs clinging. The top should be a light, golden brown.
Note: Different pans may require different baking times.
For the Coconut (or Brown Sugar) Whipped Cream
2 cup whipping cream
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon coconut flavor or brown sugar flavor
Whip the cream with a whip attachment. When peaks start to form, add the sugar and flavor. Continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Notes: Whipped cream will melt as it sits, especially if not refrigerated. A tablespoon of Meringue Powder per cup of whipping cream will help it hold up. Whipped cream can be whipped again to revive it.
Caramel Apple Skillet Cobbler
My friend Butch’s apple and pear trees are always loaded in the fall. He loaded me up with two big bags. We made caramel apple cobblers topped with caramel whipped cream and a caramelly syrup. We used our skillet cobbler mixes so they were quick and easy.
The original recipe calls for the caramel ice cream topping in the filling drizzled over the whipped cream topping. We served it using our buttermilk syrup which is a very yummy caramel flavor.
For the cake
Use our Prepared Pantry Skillet Cobbler Base Mix or the recipe above.
For the filling
2 tablespoons butter (to put in the pan and melt)
2 cups fresh apples, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup Buttermilk Syrup or equal
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place the butter in the pan over medium heat and melt the butter until it is hot but not scorched. Turn the heat off.
Immediately scrape the batter into the hot pan. Place the apple slices on top of the batter. Sprinkle nuts evenly over the apples. Warm the caramel sauce and drizzle it over the nuts and apples.
Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out fairly clean, with some crumbs clinging. The top should be a golden brown and the center spongy-firm to the touch.
Note: Different pans may require different baking times.
For the Caramel Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon caramel flavor
Whip the cream with a whip attachment. When peaks start to form, add the sugar and flavor. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Add an optional tablespoon of meringue so that slow the melting of the whipped cream.
Enjoy this scrumptious dessert in winter or summer. It’s great any time!
About the Author
Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of “How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking” available as an E-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon. Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and six beautiful granddaughters.