The cobbler is a fruit dessert cooked in a deep dish, and usually having a thick crust with the interior filled by one or more kinds of fruit. There are numerous variations on the cobbler theme referred to as Bird's Nest Pudding, Brown Betty, Buckles, Crisps, Crumbles, Grunts, Pandowdy, and Slumps. All are based on seasonal berries or fruits, may be found in mixes such as blueberry cobbler mix, and are simple to prepare from home because the recipes rely more on the flavor of fresh fruits and berries than fancy crusts, fillings, or other pastry confections.
The different names refer to the different crusts, shapes, and cooking methods. For example, crisps and crumbles have a crust similar to a biscuit. Slumps and grunts are shaped like dumplings, with an internal consistency more like a pudding. Buckles and crumbles are more like a cake with blueberries added to the batter. The pandowdy is cooked in a deep dish and has a biscuit-like crust that is broken into pieces and sunk into the pie in order to allow the various fruits to come to the top.
Although pies, a distant relative of the cobbler, date back to the Roman Empire, the fruit cobbler and its variants were invented by the American colonists as a dessert utilizing the locally available resources, and which was reminiscent of their favorite English desserts, such as puddings.
Cobblers did not become a dessert until after the era of American colonization. Prior to that, cobblers were often enjoyed as a meal. In Great Britain today, the term "cobbler" often refers to a dish made with meat and vegetables and served as a meal. There are mixes available for these British versions of cobblers, just as there are pre-made mixes available for blueberry, and other fruit, cobblers.
In American the most commonly used contents for stuffing are fruits including apples, cherries, blueberries and peaches. There are many alternative variations to standard recipes for this type of dessert, and many use other fruits as substitutes. If you search online or look through cookbooks you will be able to find many of these.
Cooking is much simpler today than it was in the past because pre-packaged mixes are widely available. Blueberry cobbler mix is available to purchase in stores and is made by a variety of companies, including Gullah Gourmet, a very popular brand in the South.
Blueberry cobbler is one of America's favorite desserts. Other American favorites are peach, apple, blackberry, and cherry cobblers. During America's colonization cobbler was served as a main dish, however, as more and more resources became available, people started considering it more of a dessert.
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