It’s definitely berry season here! I found a recipe in Bon Appetit’s desserts baking book for a cherry-lime cobbler with lime biscuits. I didn’t want to stick with just cherries, so I switched it up a bit to include some fresh strawberries, blueberries, and of course, cherries. I had some lemons and sour cream already, so I skipped the creme fraiche idea, and used the sour cream instead, along with lemon juice and zest instead of lime.

This recipe differs from the usual cobbler. The fruit is all prepared in a cast iron pan, and the biscuits are baked separately, and placed atop a bowl of a warm berry mixture. I loved having all the different berries in there, and the lemon definitely cuts the sweetness. The biscuits had a nice lemony tinge, and were fantastic to eat all alone, and even better after they had soaked up all that berry goodness.

This is a quick and easy dish, and perfect for summer and berry season. I’ve also been dolloping the berry mixture on top of the strawberry sour cream ice cream…just wonderful!

Cherry, Blueberry & Strawberry Cobbler with Vanilla-Sour Cream Biscuits
adapted from Bon Appetit

FRUIT MIXTURE
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup water
2 cups whole pitted fresh cherries
2 cups blueberries
1 cup strawberries, halved
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

BISCUITS
1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon milk

FRUIT MIXTURE
Position rack in bottom third of oven; preheat to 400°F.

2. Stir brown sugar, cornstarch, and salt in large clad skillet, then stir in 1/2 cup water. Stir over medium heat until sugar and cornstarch dissolve.

3. Add all the berries and bring to boil, scraping sides of skillet and stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes.

4. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and lime peel. Place in lower third of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until fruit mixture is bubbling.

BISCUITS
1. Whisk flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl.

2. Whisk sour cream, vanilla, and lemon peel in small bowl.

3. Add sour cream mixture to dry ingredients; stir with fork just until dough begins to come together.

4. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead just until dough holds together, about 6 turns. Gather dough into round; pat out to 1/2-inch thickness. Using 3-inch biscuit cutter or cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds. Gather dough scraps together; pat out to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out more dough rounds for a total of 6.

5. Transfer rounds to another rimmed baking sheet; brush tops lightly with milk, then sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

6. Bake in top third of oven at 400 degrees F for about 12-15 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden.

7. Divide warm cherries among 6 bowls; top each with 1 biscuit and serve.

As promised, a seasonally-appropriate dish! When I saw the recipe for a vegetable cobbler on Ezra Pound Cake’s site, I knew I had to make it. I loved its simplicity, as well as the great amount of vegetables in it. What a great vegetarian dish; it’s certainly hearty, and packed with flavour. It’s especially wonderful because you can add pretty much any vegetable you have sitting in your fridge, as well as any spice you tend to like. Versatile, healthy, cheap and comforting – does food get much better than this?

I really loved this. My biscuits were a bit tough, but once they soak up all that vegetable gravy, they were perfect. I liked the tang of the yogurt in them, and the fresh thyme over the top added a lot. This also makes a lot of food, and served us well for at least two lunches each and one dinner. It’s the ideal winter comfort food and makes for a filling main course or a good choice for a side dish.

Hearty Vegetable Cobbler
adapted from Ezra Pound Cake (original from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics)
Printable Recipe

Feel free to substitute the vegetables in the recipe for your favorites – the recipe below lists the veggies I used, but really, any veggie you can chop up can easily find its place in this dish. sliced celery, cut-up asparagus spears, diced red bell pepper, diced butternut squash, cut-up green beans, etc.

VEGETABLE FILLING
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or butter)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 teaspoons dried savory (or thyme)
1 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (I like my stuff with a bit of heat!)
4 to 5 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash (or sweet potatoes)
2 cups chopped potatoes
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots (or parsnips)
1 cup sliced celery
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (the original also includes 1 cup of frozen peas, but I hate those things)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of hot sauce (optional, but I added it)

BISCUIT TOPPING
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or any herb you have on hand)

VEGETABLE FILLING
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 X 13-inch baking dish.

2. Warm the oil in a Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the onions and garlic, cover, and cook on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the salt, savory, crushed red pepper flakes, mushrooms and mustard. Cook until the mushrooms start to release their juices, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the squash, white potato, carrot, celery, black pepper and stock, and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the vegetables are just tender.

5. Stir the dissolved cornstarch mixture into the simmering vegetables, stirring constantly. When the liquid starts to thicken, mix in the corn, soy sauce and salt. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed (I had to add more salt and pepper then called for). Add dash of hot sauce.

6. Pour the vegetables into the prepared baking dish, and set aside.

BISCUIT TOPPING

1. In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix together the melted butter and buttermilk or yogurt. Combine the wet and dry ingredients with as few strokes as possible to make a soft dough (I think I overstirred, or didn’t have quite enough liquid…my biscuits were a little tough)

2. Drop the biscuit batter over the vegetables in the dish in six equal mounds. Sprinkle the thyme over the dough.

9. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of a biscuit comes out clean. Serve immediately.

Last weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving, and when deciding what I wanted to contribute to the meal, I decided on the dessert and bread. I had big plans for the dessert – big, delicious, decadent plans. These plans fell apart, just like they do every year. I procrastinate and procrastinate, and when I finally head out to buy my pureed pumpkin (on the night I have to make my dessert), all of the stores are sold out. I biked to four different grocery stores in frigid windy weather in search of the elusive pumpkin, but to no avail.

After sadly making my way back home, I panicked slightly and tried to take stock of the ingredients I did have. Luckily, I had bought a big bag of apples the night before, and frozen cranberries had been on sale the week before…and that’s when this Thanksgiving’s somewhat lame dessert was born. I followed this basic recipe, making some changes along the way.

Not that this Apple-Cranberry Maple Crisp with Rum-Soaked Raisins was bad…it’s just that Thanksgiving is all about eating like a gigantic pig and loading up on starches, carbs, fats and big platefuls of rich desserts! A fruit crisp is hardly Thanksgiving-worthy, even though it might be tasty.

This crisp wasn’t my favourite crisp, but it was a good alternative. I really appreciated the juicy tartness of the cranberries – a welcome change from the usual dried cranberries. I couldn’t really taste the rum in the raisins, so I may leave that step out next time. It had a lot of cinnamon flavour, but I’m definitely including some other spices next time…perhaps some ginger and cardamom. The maple didn’t really stand out either, so I may try making a maple whipped cream instead of the plain whipped cream I made to go with it (which I think is an important element).

Overall, it’s a fine fall dessert and a good way to use up all those in-season apples and cranberries here in Quebec. Quick, easy, and filled with sweet and tart fruits. However, it’s not what I would call an appropriate Thanksgiving dessert (but I will make my original plan still!).

Apple-Cranberry Crisp with Rum-Soaked Raisins

8 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 1/4 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
3/4 cup raisins
2 oz rum
1 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups rolled or quick oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold butter, cut in small pieces

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 X 13 inch baking pan or casserole dish with vegetable spray.

2. Combine rum and raisins in a small bowl. Microwave on high until boiling. Stir and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix apple slices, cranberries, raisins, maple syrup, 1/4 cup flour and 1 tablespoon cinnamon together. Spread in prepared pan, and set aside.

3. Combine rolled oats, brown sugar, 3/4 cup flour and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly, or it resembles very small peas. This step can also be done in a food processor. Spread evenly over fruit.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until fruit is bubbly and crisp topping is lightly browned. Let cool slightly before serving.

Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Whipped Cream Recipe

2 cups cold heavy cream
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Using a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer with a whisk attachment, whip cream until almost stiff.

2. Add confectioners’ sugar and extract, and beat until stiff.

3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

If you like this, you might also like:

Apple and Cranberry Crisp with Ginger-Pecan Topping
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Happy Canada Day, fellow Canadians (and 4th of July for all the American readers out there) – I’m posting this right in the middle of the two holidays so that it celebrates both holidays…a little too late for some and a little too early for others.

Rhubarb is just on its way out of season here in Quebec, and strawberries are just on their way in. So, of course, what better dessert than one that combines the two (in the spirit of combining the two holidays as well) than a good strawberry rhubarb crisp?

I had trouble finding a complete recipe that I thought would be perfect, so I combined a bit of a bunch of recipes, and ended up with this, a tart and still sweet crisp. It smells wonderful baking, and tastes even better than it smells. I made a few adjustments with the recipes I found and ended up with a perfect summer dessert – rife with berries, nuts and oats. I love the cinnamon and nutmeg in this dish.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Printable Recipe

FILLING
adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

5 stalks rhubarb, diced
4 c strawberries, quartered
juice of one small lemon
1/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

TOPPING
adapted from Sweet Charity Pie

1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter softened
2/3 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 375F. (I used a 9×13 glass baking dish, but a casserole dish would work for a deeper type of crisp.)

2. Add the rhubarb and strawberries to a large bowl, tossing with the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Squeeze in lemon juice and stir to combine. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl combine all the topping ingredients, except pecans. Using a wooden spoon, stir everything until clumps form. Use your hands to scatter the topping evenly over the fruit. Sprinkle top with walnuts. Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and the fruit have created a bubbly sauce. Cool slightly and serve with ice cream.