Recipe: Berry Cobbler

6 servings

This is the time of year that I get to use all those lovely berries that begin to appear everywhere; blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Although there's certainly nothing wrong with just serving a big bowl of lightly sugared berries on a warm summer evening, a simple berry cobbler that can be put together literally in less than 5 minutes is a favorite dessert to make.

Unlike pie (which requires dough to be made, rolled out, baked, then cooled before slicing) my cobbler is mades with 'drop' biscuits which are roughly formed by dropping from a spoon onto the awaiting fruit. No rolling pins, no messy countertops.You can use any combination of berries that you want, or use some of the combinations that I give below for other summer fruits.

Although I don't necessarily do this every time, you could make an egg wash by lightly beating an egg and brushing it over the biscuits prior to baking. This will give them a shiny brown glow.

For the fruit:

5 cups berries (any combination of raspberries, blackberries, sliced strawberries, blueberries, boysenberries or olallieberries)

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

optional: a splash of kirsch or lemon juice

For the cobbler dough:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, chilled

1 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a 10- to 12-inch glass pie plate (or 2 quart baking dish), mix together the berries, sugar, flour and the kirsch or lemon juice, if using.

3. Bake the berries in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring once during baking.

4. After 30 minutes, remove the berries from the oven and make the biscuits.

5. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the mixture either with a food processor, a mixer or by hand (Tip: Try using the large holes of a cheese grater-it works great!) The butter should be the size of corn kernels.

6. Stir in the buttermilk just until the dry mixture is thoroughly moistened. With a big soup spoon, drop six large mounds of the dough over the fruit in various places. Brush with egg wash, if desired.

7. Bake for 20 minutes.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Note: One good thing about this cobbler is that you can taste the cooked berries for sweetness before adding the biscuits and you can mix in a sprinkle more sugar if the berries need it.

Apricot and Cherry

5 cups quartered apricots
10 cherries, halved and pitted
1 1/2 tablespoons flour
6 tablespoons sugar

Nectarine or Peach

5 cups sliced nectarines, or 5 cups peeled and sliced peaches
2 teaspoons flour
1-2 tablespoons sugar
(of course, you could add a handful of raspberries, blueberries or blackberries too!)