Ginger Lime Pear Cobbler

Three weeks, approximately, though babies are notoriously unreliable about three-week estimates. Shanice is thirty-seven weeks now, which is full term, which means any day is technically possible, though her doctor says the due date is mid-August and she is carrying well. I have begun leaving my overnight bag by the door. CJ tells me this is excessive. I tell him this is appropriate grandmother behavior and he will understand in twenty-five years.

Juneteenth this week at New Hope AME — the third year of the formal observance, and this year I was asked to give the food demonstration rather than just contribute to the meal. I made the cast iron cornbread again, as I did at the Black History Month demonstration, because the cornbread and its history belong together and they belong specifically to this kind of gathering — the celebration of a particular freedom, the food that carries its own long memory of what it was made in and who made it.

Kezia was my assistant again. She has grown in the year since the first demonstration — more confident in front of an audience, more precise in her movement, quicker with the answers when people ask questions. A girl standing in a church fellowship hall talking about cast iron seasoning and the foodways of a people is doing something larger than she knows, which is usually how the important things work. You do them from the inside, without the full view of what they look like from the outside. Someone else sees the whole shape of it. Someone else writes it in a notebook.

After the cornbread demonstration wrapped and the fellowship hall had filled up with that particular kind of noise — questions and laughter and children running between the tables — I wanted to set something sweet at the end of the meal that had the same unhurried quality as the day itself. This Ginger Lime Pear Cobbler is what I brought: warm, a little unexpected, bright with lime in a way that makes people pause before they ask for seconds. Kezia helped me carry the dish in, and when she set it down she said, “It smells like something good is about to happen,” which is exactly the right thing to say about a cobbler, and about a Juneteenth table.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 55 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

5 medium ripe pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar (for batter)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar, for topping

Instructions

Heat the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Place a 10-inch cast iron skillet (or a 9x13-inch baking dish) in the oven while it preheats.
Prepare the pear filling. In a large bowl, toss the sliced pears with 1/3 cup sugar, lime juice, lime zest, fresh ginger, and cinnamon until well coated. Set aside to macerate for 5 minutes while you make the batter.
Make the batter. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract and stir until just combined — a few small lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
Assemble the cobbler. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven. Pour the batter directly into the skillet — it will sizzle at the edges, which is what you want. Spoon the pear mixture evenly over the top of the batter; do not stir. The batter will rise up and around the fruit as it bakes.
Add topping and bake. Sprinkle the turbinado sugar evenly over the surface. Bake for 38–42 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown, the edges are set and pulling away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the batter (not a piece of fruit) comes out clean.
Rest before serving. Allow the cobbler to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm, directly from the skillet, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of whipped cream if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Ginger Lime Pear Cobbler — The Sweet Offering That Follows the Demonstration