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Any Fruit Cobbler

Tarte des Fruits

We discussed Mardi Gras yesterday, so rest assured that this cobbler recipe is safe to consume during Lent.  No eggs.  No meat.  No chocolate!  It’s also very easy, très simple, and convenient because you can use so many different types of fruit, fresh, frozen, or canned.

We could debate here, about what constitutes a cobbler or a buckle or a crisp or a crumble or a clafoutis.  This dessert does not have the heavy biscuit topping that is often associated with a cobbler.  It’s more of a delicious bite of fruit being held, or cobbled, together with a bit of sweetened dough.  It’s a Mardi Gras party for your taste buds on Ash Wednesday, with no guilt!

I had some blueberries that were not going to last much longer.  Also had some strawberries that were very ripe.  What to do with this fruit?  Make a cobbler!

Gather your fruit.  Use fresh, canned, or frozen fruit, or a combination.  Juicy fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, peaches, plums, blackberries and raspberries work well.

If using frozen fruit, thaw according to package directions.  If using peaches, nectarines, plums, or large strawberries, cut them into bite sized pieces.  Use 2 to 3 cups.  The more fruit you use, the fruitier it will be.

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a 9″ pie plate or 8″ square pan, place 3 Tablespoons of butter.  Place the pan in your pre-heated oven to melt the butter.  Remove from oven as soon as butter is melted.While waiting for the butter to melt…In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add milk and vanilla.

Whisk…

until batter is smooth.

Pour batter into pie plate with melted butter.

Resist the urge to stir.  Leave it alone.

Sprinkle the fruit over the batter.

Keep sprinkling until all of the fruit is added.

Now, if you’re like me, you’ll need to rearrange a few of the fruit pieces because there are too many strawberries on one side.

Sprinkle some sugar on top.  Lots of sprinkling today.

Put it in the oven.

Remove it from the oven.  Let cool a few minutes and serve warm.  It’s great cold, too.  How do I know?  Because I’ve been cutting bite-sized pieces off and eating them all morning.

My favorite topping is a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  If you prefer, use Cool Whip or Reddi-Whip, or make your own whipped cream with 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 tablespoon of sugar.

Easy, Any Fruit Cobbler

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus 1-2 Tablespoons for topping
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 – 3 cups of fruit

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Gather, wash, and cut fruit if necessary.
3. Place 3 tablespoons of butter into 9″ pie dish or 8″ square pan and put in oven to melt.  Remove when butter has melted after a few minutes.
4. Whisk flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
5. Add milk and vanilla.  Whisk together until mostly smooth.
6. Pour batter into pan.
7. Sprinkle fruit over batter.
8. Sprinkle with remaining 1 – 2 Tablespoons of sugar.
9. Bake for 55 minutes, until golden brown around edges and fruit is bubbling.
10. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

~ FTW