Fruit Cobbler In Chartres, France
The town of Chartres, located about an hour’s drive out of Paris is dominated by its famous cathedral. With its distinctive mismatched spires, this place has been sacred ground for over two millennia - the same land was previously occupied by a Celtic, then a Roman temple, followed by several churches, all of which perished in wars and fires over the centuries. The present cathedral was built in the 13th century and still looks much like it did when it was first constructed.
In medieval times the cathedral attracted processions of pilgrims who came to view the famous relic it houses - the dress worn by the Virgin Mary at the birth of Christ. Nowadays there are probably more tourists than pilgrims among the visitors, drawn by its stunning architecture, especially the great arches of the facade, covered with sculptures of biblical characters and scenes.
Chartres cathedral is famous for its stained glass windows, most of which are the original ones that were first installed. The deep blue colour of the windows, made by a process that has long been lost, casts an ethereal light on the inside of the cathedral. It is easy to imagine that medieval visitors, most of whom had never been inside a building larger than a hut, would have thought themselves transported to a heavenly realm.
The cathedral was almost destroyed during the Allied invasion of France in 1944, when Chartres was the site of a battle between advancing American troops and the German forces occupying the town. Convinced that Germans were using the cathedral spires as an observation post to direct artillery, American commanders issued orders that they be destroyed. Fortunately the colonel who was asked to carry this out refused and personally confirmed that the cathedral was unoccupied. Only the courage of a single person prevented the destruction of one of the great pieces of the world’s heritage.
The town of Chartres is charming, with an idyllic location on the Eure river. Portions of the old town are still well-preserved, with old half-timbered houses leaning over cobbled streets. The old art of glass-making is still well and alive, with several workshops in the region.
Chartres is located in the Beauce region, which is one of the most productive agricultural regions in France, and the farmers’ markets are a wonderful showcase for local produce. It was the height of produce season when we visited and the markets were brimming with wonderful fruits, vegetables and preserves.
We had some lovely, fruit based desserts in Chartres - Apricot clafoutis as well as a warm, crisp apple tart floating in cool vanilla custard cream were some of the highlights, but fruit cobbler made with summer ripened fruit and a sugar crusted cake topping to soak up all the flavourful juices was the most memorable!
An easy and satisfying dessert to make, a fruit cobbler is all about jammy, cakey deliciousness! It’s a good way to use up whatever really ripe fruit you have on hand or you can even throw in some frozen ones. The jam binds the fruit together while thickening it lightly and adding intensity. For another fruity dessert, try my Blueberry Cake.
Fruit Cobbler
2 each, large, ripe: peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots
2 cups raspberries or blueberries or assorted mixed berries
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 whole cardamom or use 1 inch stick cinnamon, optional
2 tbsp any liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Cointreau or similar, optional
2 tbsp any jam such as strawberry, raspberry or mixed fruit
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
1 tbsp Demerara sugar for sprinkling over top
Vanilla ice cream for serving
Prepare the fruit: Remove pits from fruit and peel if desired (I don’t bother!). Chop into bite sized pieces.
Place fruits, berries, brown sugar and whole cardamom or cinnamon stick (if using) in medium saucepan set over low heat. Cook for about 5 min, just until sugar melts and fruit is juicy and lightly jammy, stirring gently occasionally.
Remove from heat and mix in the liqueur (if using) and jam.
Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly butter or spray an 8 inch square baking dish.
Transfer prepared fruit filling into dish, it should come up about halfway in the dish.
Prepare biscuit topping: Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in large mixing bowl.
Mix in the cream until just combined. Avoid over-mixing it.
Dollop about 2 rounded tablespoonfuls of the batter evenly over top of the fruit in the baking dish, using up all of the batter this way.
Sprinkle biscuit topping evenly with demerara sugar.
Bake for about 50 min until cake topping is golden and cooked through and fruit is bubbling around it.
Cool for 10 min and serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate unused portions.
Serves six
