Muscadines are one of the best reasons for visiting Alabama in early fall. The fruits resemble grapes on the outside, but their flavor and texture are far more complex and satisfying. Think: sweet and tart with a twist of fermented. This muscadine cobbler recipe comes from Petals from the Past, a pick-it-yourself fruit farm outside Birmingham. The unique white bread topping caramelizes beautifully and pairs harmoniously with the softened and sweetened fruit.
For filling
- 4 to 5 cups of fruit
- 1/2 to 1 cup water
- 1/2 to 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
For topping
- Slices of white bread
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 stick butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg
Make filling
Begin by washing muscadines in cold water. Spread fruit on kitchen towels to dry.
Separate the pulp from the hulls.
Place pulp and any liquid from pulp in a pan. Cook for 10-15 minutes and remove from heat. Once cooled, remove seeds from mixture using a combination of fingers and spoons. [This step is not as straightforward as it sounds; we never did manage to devise a perfect technique for seed removal.]
Add hulls to the pulp along with 1/2 to 1 cup water and return to heat. Cook until hulls are tender, approximately one hour. Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and add to hull/pulp mixture. Continue to cook until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is slightly thickened. Place in a greased 9×14 inch dish.
Make topping
Remove crust from the bread and cover the fruit mixture. Combine 2/3 cup sugar, melted butter, beaten egg and vanilla. Pour over bread.
Bake at 325 degrees until golden brown.
Ooh, muscadine cobbler? Never heard of such! My in-laws had muscadines growing in their backyard in South Carolina. They’d make wine occasionally and sometimes eat them raw, but I never saw a cobbler! Wonder if we can get them around here….
Muscadine?! Is that Alabaman?
Boots – Fresh muscadines are awesome, but a muscadine cobbler is evern better! According to Wiki, muscadines are native to the South East US, Texas sorta counts 😉 If you can’t find them in town, perhaps you can bring back a batch the next time you vist.
N – WAY Alabaman. The muscadines speak with a southern accent like Hawkins’.
Bread on top of cobbler? I have never heard of that, but it looks tasty. We put a flaky dough on top of cobbler here in Texas. My favorite is what we locally call dewberries, but I suspect that they are actually a type of wild blackberry plants.
Kacey – I thought it was pretty weird too that the recipe called for slices of plain ol bread, but the sugary topping really transforms it into something great. I made a cherry cobbler a couple summers ago that had little biscuits on top—it looked kind of like cobble stones. A flaky crust sounds wonderful, as do dew berries. I pretty much love any berry 😉
Huh! Straight up and in wine is the only way I’ve had them. Wine not so good; straight up awesome.
Taylor – You’ll love ’em in cobbler form, especially if you like your sweets super-sweet.
I have made this many times, usually increase the muscadines to 6 cups to make it a little more juicy. I have a small tupperware colander/strainer. The holes in the bottom are perfect size to trap seeds. Heat pulp for 10 minutes, pour in collander, take fork and mash and stir. In a couple minutes nothing left but seeds. Easiest step in process.