Blackberry cobbler: the perfect 4th of July treat

I finally made that blackberry pie I have been talking about in an earlier blog. Actually it is a blackberry cobbler.

And, besides having a little accident (dumping some hot pie in my lap), it was really, really good. Just like I remembered. My dad was born on the 4th of July and blackberry pie was always one of the features at the party we had every year in his honor. We would cook for days and the blackberry pie was the 'piece de resistance'!

The pan I used for baking was handed down from my Granny (dad's mother) to my mother and she recently gave it to me. I felt I had to christen it with a blackberry cobbler which was what the pan was accustomed to over the years.

Was it as good as my mother used to make? Really close. I did use a pate brisee (french for pie dough) which was made using butter and virgin coconut oil. I have been trying not to use trans fats over the years and my old recipe called for vegetable shortening which I no longer use. The old fashioned way would be to use lard and I am not against that, but it can have a flavor I don't care for. I really do like cooking with butter and the coconut oil made it even better. It has the slightest coconut taste.
My pate brisee recipe:
3/4 cup of butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup of ice water

Mix butter and oil. Add flour salt and sugar and mix well with pastry knife. Mixture will clump together and have a grainy appearance. Add 1/4 cup of ice water and mix well. Add more water as needed until the mixture forms a ball. Store in the refrigerator for a few hours. Roll out on a floured board. This will make a generous portion for a 9 x 13 pan. It would also make two 9" pie crusts. (This pie crust doesn't have to be rolled really thin to be good.)

Blackberry Cobbler
(like my mother used to make)
6 to 8 cups of blackberries (mine were frozen)
3/4 cup of sugar
1/3 to 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour (I used the smaller amount)
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
Pate brisee

Spray pan with cooking spray and put the pie dough around the sides. I put the dough in the bottom but you don't have to. It is really good either way. Without the bottom crust is the more traditional way to make a cobbler. Mix the blackberries, sugar and flour in a mixing bowl, until berries are well coated. I like plenty of fruit. If my pie isn't heaping on the top, I add more fruit. Pour mixture into baking pan. Add the pieces of butter over the top of the fruit mixture. Roll out the top crust and place on top of the mixture. Press sides and top of dough together. Cut slits in the top. Bake at 325 degrees for about twenty minutes and turn the oven up to 375 degrees. Bake for forty minutes more or until pie is golden brown. Remove from oven and serve immediately with ice cream.

My family really enjoyed this cobbler. We are now picking more blackberries because we are thinking it would be a great dessert for the 4th of July.