From “The Taste of Country Cooking,” by Edna Lewis. Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
PASTRY
2 cups sifted unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup lard (ask the butcher at your grocery store)
1/3 cup cold water
1 cup crushed cube sugar
1/4 cup light cream
FILLING
5 cups blackberries
4 thin slices butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Directions
Sift the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl. Blend in the lard with a pastry blender or with your fingers. When it is well blended and fine grained, sprinkle all the water in at once, and draw the dough together quickly, shaping it into a ball. Divide in half and let stand for a few minutes.
After it has rested, roll out one piece and line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan. Sprinkle 2 or 3 tablespoons of the crushed sugar over the dough, cover with wax paper, and put in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill it, along with the other piece of dough.
When you are ready to assemble the cobbler, preheat the oven to 450, remove the unrolled dough from the refrigerator and roll out the top crust. Remove the pastry-lined pan from the refrigerator and fill it with berries, distributing the pieces of butter and sprinkling over the granulated sugar mixed with the cornstarch. Wet the rim of the dough in the pan and place the top pastry over, pressing down all around to seal and trimming away excess. With the handle of a dinner knife, make a decorative edge and then cut a few slits in the center to allow steam to escape. Brush the top with a thick brush of cream and sprinkle on the remaining crushed cube sugar. Place in oven and when the door is shut, turn down to 425 and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool a bit before serving.
