I bumped into one of Portland’s star chefs the other day at Harbor Fish. I was there to pick up haddock fillets to bake under a dome of buttered bread and cracker crumbs. The chef was looking at the gutted trout, which he said were terrific, local trout farmed in Caribou. He bought the whole fish, which he would bake with herbs.
As we were standing at the checkout counter, I felt compelled to tell him about a dessert I made comprised of canned pie filling and topped with the contents of one of those prepared cake mixes. “Oh, yes,” he said. “My mother used to make that quite often. Delicious. It has a crispy top,” he said as though remembering this homespun dessert from childhood.”
I admit I felt somewhat naughtily guilty using a processed food ingredient such as the packaged cake mix and canned pie filling. I hardly ever use any food that is not farm fresh or or locally derived, much less processed.
I came across the recipe in a cookbook called “At My Grandmother’s Table, Heartwarming Stories and Cherished Recipes from the South“ by Faye Porter.
It sounded so good. How bad can it be I considered before deciding to make it? It was quick and easy to prepare without messing up the kitchen. I make a fresh-baked dessert almost every night. It’s a pleasurable effort.
The recipe, Easy Layered Cobbler, called for canned apple or cherry pie filling, a can of crushed pineapple and 9 ounces of butter-cake mix with 1 stick of melted butter drizzled over the top.
Fresh out of the oven the cherry pie version of the Easy Layered Cobbler was delicious
