How to make an easy dessert cobbler using any fruit you want

• Cobbler is a simple dessert with no prescriptive recipe - use any fruit you have on hand.
• Cobbler has two main components - the filling and the topping - and each one is highly customizable.
• You can keep cobbler at room temperature two days post-baking, and reheat it when you want to eat.

The thicker, deep-dish-style cousin of pie, cobblers offer a refreshing dessert for whatever event you might attend this summer or fall. The simple and clean flavors of fruit and biscuit meld together to make cobblers a versatile treat at any gathering.

But perhaps the biggest appeal to cobblers is that you don't need to be a kitchen connoisseur to make one.

"You cannot mess up a cobbler," says Linda Zimmerman, a James Beard-nominated cookbook author. "It's [a] great homey dessert that you throw together - whatever you've got - and it will work."

Pick your cobbler filling

Traditionally, people use peaches or berries, but the possibilities are truly limitless when it comes to cobbler filling.

"Whatever's in season is going to be your best bet," says Julie Richardson, cookbook author and founder and owner of Baker and Spice Bakery. "That's going to be the freshest and the yummiest option."

You can go the typical fruit route, or maybe get a bit more adventurous by taking it in a savory direction with an unconventional vegetable like zucchini. Add spices, herbs, and vanilla, or even throw in a splash of brandy or whiskey to give your filling another layer of flavor.

Richardson says the type of topping you choose for your cobbler also informs your fruit base. For instance, when making a cobbler with a batter on top, then opt for a fruit - such as pears, apples or cherries - that will stay together more when baking and will give something to bite into when your cake is soft.

How to make cobbler filling

1. Gather ingredients. "Every fruit dessert I ever made has sugar, cornstarch and maybe a little lemon juice," says Zimmerman. For the filling, that's pretty much all you need. You can also add spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and other warm spices to take things in a more autumnal direction. Add herbs like rosemary and thyme for an herbal kick.
2. Combine your ingredients. To your fruit, add 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per cup of fruit, 1 tablespoon of acids such as lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of sugar.
   
   Zimmerman recommends generally starting with less sugar and adding more depending on if you want your filling to taste sweeter or not, but to use about a tablespoon or two of sugar for fruits like apples and pears, and a cup or a cup and a half for soft fruits like peaches, nectarines, and berries. Stir your ingredients in a bowl.
   
   According to Richardson, you don't want your resulting mixture to be jammy or syrupy, but the sugar and cornstarch should be uniformly mixed.
3. Listen to your fruit. The amount of each ingredient you use will vary depending on your fruit and your own personal tastes. For instance, you'll use less sugar if you've picked a sweeter fruit like peaches, and if you're using berries, you'll want more sugar and cornstarch to help the juicy fruit hold together more. "Taste your fruit, because these recipes were invented many years ago where nobody measured," says Zimmerman.

Quick tip: If you're not interested in using sugar, Richardson recommends using maple syrup, honey, or other sweetener alternatives.

Choose your topping

Just as with your filling, you have a wealth of options to choose from for your cobbler topping.

The most common cobbler topping is biscuits, which can be rolled out, cut up, and shingled on top of your fruit filling. This allows you to distribute your dough in a consistent way so it all bakes at the same speed.

On the other hand, a mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, and buttermilk cream can create a batter topping that bakes from the bottom to hug around your fruit filling and produce a cobbler with a cake-like consistency.

"If you want something [that] comes together more, then the batter is best, because it's sort of one uniform dessert," Richardson says. "Whereas the biscuits on the top and fruit on the bottom, that always seems fruitier."

How to prepare a batter cobbler topping

1. Combine your ingredients. According to Zimmerman, for your topping, mix together 1 cup of flour, ¼ cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, a pinch of salt, 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (cut up into pieces), and ½ cup of a liquid, such as cream, half and half, buttermilk, or even yogurt. To give your topping dough a more cakey and sticky consistency, Zimmerman advises lightly beating in an egg.
2. Stir all ingredients together. Ultimately, you don't want your resulting topping to look too smooth. Rather it should appear a bit ragged, according to Richardson, so mix your batter until it holds together when you flip it out of the bowl.
3. Top your filling. Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to gather little balls of dough and distribute them evenly on top of your fruit filling, or spread over your filling like a shaggy cover. Give the dough balls a bit of space. They will expand as they bake.

How to bake your cobbler

Once you've assembled your cobbler topping and filling, combine everything in a greased Pyrex pan or a similar type of baking dish by adding first the filling and then the topping.

Preheat your oven to between 350 to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake the cobbler for 45 to 50 minutes until the biscuits are golden and the fruit is bubbling. Allow the cobbler to cool and thicken for about 20 minutes.

Serving suggestions

Pair your cobbler with ice cream and some balsamic syrup when you serve it. Richardson personally likes to eat her cobbler with maple syrup, and suggests even pairing it with a glass of cherry liqueur.

If you have leftovers, keep your cobbler at room temperature with a tea towel covering it for two days, at most. Reheat your cobbler by individual portions in the microwave whenever you want to eat.

Insider's takeaway

Cobblers can be made by anyone for any sort of occasion, only requiring a few ingredients and a little bit of your time. Despite the ease and simplicity, there are a number of different ways you can customize your cobbler. Explore different fruit fillings like cherry, peach, or blueberry or take it in a unique direction with zucchini. Experiment with different textures of topping from biscuit to batter. While there are set parts to a cobbler and suggestions on how to make the best kind, what makes this dessert special is you can't mess it up.

"The beauty of cobbler is that it comes together really fast," says Richardson. "You have a juicy fruit, and you can put this quick biscuit or batter on top of your fruit, throw it in the oven, and, in 45 minutes, you have a yummy dessert."

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