This Blackberry Cobbler looks so old-fashioned and home-y. It's a wonderful dessert, perfect for any summer holiday or other gathering. I developed the recipe through trial and error, by trying different thickeners, such as flour, cornstarch, tapioca starch, Instant ClearJel, and pectin. In the end, my favorite was Instant ClearJel, and that is what I have stayed with. If you don't know about this thickener, it's definitely worth searching out, even though you have to buy it on-line. Here's two places where you can find it: Amazon and King Arthur. Instant ClearJel is a pre-cooked (called modified) cornstarch, which can be used baked or cooked (as in this cobbler), or unbaked (as in a fresh strawberry pie). It should always be mixed with the sugar in a recipe, which prevents it from clumping when liquids are added. It bakes shiny and clear with no cloudiness. I love it for pies, cobblers, and crisps. King Arthur has a very helpful chart on pie filling thickeners: Pie Thickener Ingredient Guide, which is worth printing out and keeping handy if you like to bake pies and cobblers.

I recommend making the dough for the crust first, so it has time to chill because it"s important to work with cold dough. Here's the link: Cream Cheese Pie & Cobbler Crust.