this past weekend i was on somewhat of a mission to cook/bake something new, something i’d thought about but never attempted. i flipped through some cook books, but found nothing, then went to the internet. as always, i found something that both sounded good (it was delicious!) and had good reviews. i wish i could take full credit for it, but i can’t. i’ll leave that to “big daddy,” wherever he may be.

here’s what i started with:

after i (and mom!) peeled those apples, i diced them. i chose to dice them a little chunkier than what i interpret as the definition of “diced” from the recipe because … well, because i wanted to. that’s one of the nice things about cooking: making the executive decisions of what to include, exclude, or add more of.

after mixing some of the other ingredients to make the coating for the apples, i took much pleasure in mixing them together because that was when i was able to see it all start to come together.

while the apples soaked up the cinnamon and assorted other spices, i mixed together what would become the crust. personally, there wasn’t quite enough of the crust for my taste. so, if you like crust, and a lot of it, you should probably consider using 1 1/2 of the topping recipe. regardless of how much you make, ensure that you at least attempt to spread the doughy mixture across the apples after you dollop them in various spots. while they do spread more as the dough bakes, given the amount, it doesn’t cover all of the mixture beneath.

after baking, this is what you can expect:

and before you devour it, this is what you can expect (+vanilla ice cream). it’s advisable that you time the finish of baking with when you plan to eat the cobbler. we waited a couple of hours and the crust was a little soggy, but still good.

there’s also a ginger whipped cream recipe included here, but due to a lack of whipping cream we decided to forgo it in favor of the ice cream.

ingredients:
butter, for dish
6 cups granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt
pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 lemon, juiced
ginger whipped cream, recipe follows

topping:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
pinch ground ginger
1 egg, beaten

directions:
preheat oven to 375 degrees f.

lightly butter a 9 by 9-inch baking dish.

in a large bowl, mix together the apples, sugars, flour, cinnamon, vanilla, salt, nutmeg and lemon. add the mixture to the prepared baking dish.

add all the topping ingredients to a medium bowl and combine well with a wooden spoon, to form a batter. dollop the batter in various spots on top of the apple mixture. the batter will spread as it bakes. put the cobbler in the oven and bake until the apples are tender and the crust is colored, about 30 minutes. remove from the oven and serve with ginger whipped cream.

ginger whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream, chilled
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup candy ginger, minced

add the cream and sugar to a medium bowl. using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the cream until stiff peaks form, about 2 to 3 minutes. fold in the ginger. cover and chill up to 4 hours before serving.

enjoy!