Healthy Eating: Summer fruit cobbler

Wow! With all of this hot weather, the berries are ripening fast and furious. This means now is the time to harvest them or pick them up at the Farmers’ Market. This week the weather is cooling off, and you can take those delicious fruits and turn them into an easy, peasy fresh fruit cobbler. 

This recipe comes together quickly and can be adjusted for sweetness. You get to choose your favorite fruit. If you still have fruit that you canned or is in the freezer from last year, use it up in a cobbler. I won’t tell anyone if you eat it for breakfast, too.

Fresh fruit cobbler

Yield: One 9-inch square or 11-inch round cobbler

Ingredients

Topping

– 1 cup (120g) unbleached all-purpose flour

– 1 teaspoon baking powder

– 1/2 teaspoon table salt

– 2 large eggs

– 1 cup (198g) granulated sugar

– 2 tablespoons (28g) butter, softened

– 2 tablespoons (28g) milk

Filling

– 1/2 cup (113g) dry sherry, brandy, bourbon, dessert wine or the fruit juice of your choice

– 1/2 cup (99g) granulated sugar

– about 4 cups (454g) fresh fruit, diced or sliced; or berries

Special note: 

– Any fruit you’d use to make a pie is appropriate for cobblers: Berries of all sorts, stone fruits (cherries, peaches, plums and nectarines), rhubarb and apples and pears are all good candidates.

– Whatever fruit you use should be peeled and cored (if necessary) and cut into bite-sized pieces. 

– Berries should be hulled (their tops removed), but they can remain whole unless they’re mammoth (like some supermarket strawberries).

– Want to cut back on the sugar in the fruit? Taste the fruit: If it’s quite ripe and sweet, dial back the sugar. If not, use the full amount called for in the recipe.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan or 2 1/2-quart casserole dish.

2. To make the topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Then set it aside.

3. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and sugar, then stir in the butter and milk.

4. Add the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine them. There may be some pieces of visible butter; that’s OK.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

6. To make the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, simmer together the liquor or juice and sugar for 3 to 4 minutes.

7. Add the fruit and stir to coat with the liquid. Pour the hot fruit mixture over the batter in the pan.

8. Bake the cobbler for 30 minutes until it’s bubbling and the cake topping is a light, golden brown.

9. Remove the cobbler from the oven and serve warm with whipped cream, ice-cream or yogurt.

10. Store any leftover cobbler, well-wrapped, at room temperature for a day or two. Refrigerate for up to four days; freeze for longer storage.

Deborah Binder lives in Edmonds with her family. She loves to cook from scratch using produce from the gardens she created with her husband. She attended culinary school and worked for restaurants, caterers and culinary schools. Her current interest in food is learning to eat for health and wellness, while at the same time enjoying the pleasures of the table. Deborah loves experimenting and developing new recipes. As Julia Child once said, “Everything in moderation including moderation.” Deborah can be contacted at jaideborah@yahoo.com.