Q: I recently attended a wedding rehearsal dinner catered by Smitty's Family Restaurant in Carnesville. The barbecue and stew were great, but the dessert was amazing. It was called "Chocolate Cobbler" and it was served warm. It was heaven for a chocoholic. I even had some cold the next day and it was still very good. I can't drive three hours round trip for a fix of this wonderful dessert, so I was hoping you could get the recipe so I could make it at home. — Joy Boling, Alpharetta
A: Chuck Smith, owner of Smitty's Family Restaurant, told us he found this recipe while surfing the Internet. "(I) tweaked it to suit my chocolate-lover taste. We offer this cobbler every day and disappoint customers if we run out on a busy night. I cook this in a 12-7/8-x-20-3/4-inch disposable aluminum pan. Customers have tried using other types of pans and cutting recipe (down) with varied results. The good news (about making this large quantity) is it will keep well for up to a week if covered and refrigerated."
This recipe will remind you of chocolate pudding cakes that have been around for several decades. As the dessert bakes, the batter separates to form a moist chocolate cake on top and rich chocolate pudding sauce on the bottom. We cut Smith’s recipe down to half the original quantity and fortunately, it worked just fine.
Smitty’s Chocolate Cobbler
Smith says be sure to get both the cake and the sauce in each serving. He suggests topping it with a scoop of your favorite ice cream. We liked it with whipped cream as well.
3 cups water
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
8 tablespoons cocoa, divided
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-by-13-inch roasting pan at least 2 inches deep. Bring water to a boil.
As water is coming to a boil, in a large bowl, whisk together flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Whisk in milk, butter and vanilla. Pour into prepared pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 2 cups sugar, remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cayenne, if using. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter in the pan. Slowly pour boiling water over everything, evenly wetting the dry ingredients. Carefully move pan to oven and bake 40 minutes or until the cake-like top is set.
Remove from oven and serve hot. Will keep refrigerated up to 4 days. Warm gently when ready to serve. Serves: 16
Per serving: 353 calories (percent of calories from fat, 31), 3 grams protein, 60 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 12 grams fat (8 grams saturated), 33 milligrams cholesterol, 372 milligrams sodium.
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