August is filled with luscious, juicy, sun-ripened local fruit in Pennsylvania. Although the cherries, raspberries, and mulberries are gone, now we are seeing the peaches, blackberries, pears, and blueberries. Melons are everywhere. It is a delicious time of the year. The peach orchard down the road is keeping me well stocked, and I've been eating several a day. I think my skin is getting fuzzy...
Last week the family was due at my house for our weekly confab (Maryanne's house, the normal location, is torn up due to construction) and I started thinking about using some of the peaches for a dessert. I looked around for a recipe for a while, and eventually found a good cobbler recipe. A few tweaks here, a little change there, and it was delicious.
The next day at our farmers market, Kharren, in the stand next to us, showed up with the most beautiful blackberries. With visions of another scrumptious cobbler danced in my head. I snagged a pint of those jewels!
The recipe I used is below. I passed it on to my favorite fruit junkie, and he combined peaches AND blackberries, along with nutmeg instead of the crystallized ginger that I used. It must have been good too. He kept sending me instant messages like, "mmmmm", "yummy", and "goooooood." This recipe would work for almost any fruit. Apple might be next on the list for me. There are some herbs that might be good to add. Basil, anise hyssop, and pineapple sage come to mind....
Fruit Cobbler
Batter
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
1/3 cup room temperature milk
1 egg, room temp.
Filling
1 pint fresh fruit, chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. minced crystallized ginger
1 healthy squeeze of lemon juice
Melt butter into an 8" x 8" baking pan. Mix togethr flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and egg. Pour batter evenly over the melted butter.
Combine fruit, sugar, and spices, and spread over the batter. NO STIRRING.
Bake 35 - 40 minutes at 350 degrees until the batter has risen to the top and is a golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream and/or whipped cream.
