I promise someday I will talk about things unrelated to food, but today is not that day. It's the time of year when gardens and farm stands are quickly filling up and overflowing - so there is a quite a bit of cooking and putting by that is taking place.
I love fruit desserts. Thinking about it, I can't imagine a single fruit dessert I don't love. And berries? Well, seldom was there a more perfect food.
Pies are great fun to make, but in the summer (straight up, fresh fruit aside) I prefer the ease of a quick cobbler or crisp. My pie crusts tend to perform better in the cooler months - do you find this to be true in your kitchen?
A few weeks ago I set out searching for the perfect cobbler recipe. The one I'd name as my go to source for this summer's fruity feasts. I should mention I was drowning in rhubarb at the time. Not a bad problem to have.
My search led me to Mother Earth News. This is definitely a recipe you'll want save.
Let's see... I think the only changes I made were:
- added nutmeg to the topping (a good pinch)
- used sucanat for sweetener
- chose lemon zest
- used milk instead of 1/2 & 1/2
- 425 was too hot for my oven (which runs true), 375-400 was better
Make sure you bake this on a cookie sheet or you will have quite a bubbling mess on the bottom of your oven!
After I made the first cobbler, I remembered a friend told me that she mixes up a bunch of topping and freezes it in individual containers, enough to make one cobbler. I went ahead and copied my wise friend's practice and mixed up a triple batch of the topping portion using this recipe, leaving the milk out. Then I divided it evenly into jars, labeled it (with a quick note about adding 3/4 cup milk or cream when cobbler making commences) and stacked them all in a line in my freezer. I love having food prepared and lined up in my pantry or freezer.
This reminds me, I used to make prepared flavored rice mixes and keep them in the freezer. Similar to the processed kind you buy at the store, only not processed and filled with herbs, spices, good parmesan, brown rice, etc. I should revisit that... not sure why I haven't done it in ages.
Anyway, back to the cobbler.
Now, in the heat of summer, when the berries and peaches are pouring into my kitchen, I won't have to fuss with zesting fruit and cutting in butter.
Hmm... I realize this makes dessert making more convienient. (Sorry!)
