Mamie's Cherry Cobbler

   It's been a while since my last baking attempt, and I think that's because the recipe I decided to tackle next was intimidating.

   It's also the only one I've seen in my Grandmother Hill's collection that was created by my Grandmother Minsker.

   We always knew her as Mamie, but her real name was May - and this recipe is dated 1959.

   It's a Cherry Cobbler recipe, and the reason it's intimidating is that it's mostly just a list of ingredients - it assumes the person baking knows something about the process.

   That person is not me.

   It reminds me of the technical challenges on the Great British Bake-Off TV show, where they intentionally leave out certain instructions to see if the bakers can figure it out.

   How clueless am I? One of the ingredients listed is BAK Powder. I hate to admit how long I sat there, wondering what the heck BAK powder was. (Yes, I finally figured it out - baking powder. Duh.)

   Here's the original card:

   The ingredients listed include:

2 eggs
1 can plain cherries
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs butter
3 tbs tapioca
2 cups flour
2 tsp BAK powder (ha!)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
whipped cream

   So, I freely admit - I cheated and looked up a generic recipe online - but it wasn't much help, either.

   The recipe just says to mix all the ingredients, warm them in a saucepan for 5 minutes, place them in an 8 x 6 x 3 dish (or a 9" round pan) - bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, and it's done!

   As near as I can tell, you're (probably) supposed to make two flour mixtures - one to mix with the cherries and place in the pan, and the other one to mix with the egg whites and the c. of tartar and place over the mixture.

   Well, that's what I did, anyway.

   After the initial bake, it wasn't really brown on top - so on Jeanette's advice, I broiled it on low for 3 minutes, and that did the trick.

   Here's the result:

    So how did it taste? Well....

    It was pretty darn good! Maybe just a little on the sweet side (I think I was a tad generous with the sugar) - but definitely add a dollop of whipped cream on the top!

   When we were sampling this, Jeanette asked if it brought back memories. Sadly, it doesn't - I was at Mamie's house quite a bit when I was very young, but I don't remember any meals or treats she made. By the time I was old enough to remember such things, Mamie had a stroke that took away her speech - I don't remember her doing any cooking after that.

    But I do have fond memories of being at her house, especially for family gatherings - so this was a nice way to reconnect with her!