Archive for Dessert

Cherry Cobbler

June 30, 2009 · Filed under Baked Goods, Dessert, Summer

Posted by Lisa

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Fruit has recently been consuming much of my time. Picking, cleaning, freezing, making jam, drying, using some in smoothies and baked goods, all in a race to use up the fruit before it rots. Strawberry season is behind us and we are in the midst of cherry season.  I’ve been drying the larger ones, and using the smaller ones for cherry preserves, cherry clafouti and now cherry cobbler.  I will also save the pits for ice cream.IMG_2430

I found this cherry cobbler recipe on  101 Cookbooks and made some minor modifications and doubled the recipe.  It turned out really lovely.  It had lots off cobbler, which is actually my favorite part.

Cherry Cobbler

from 101 Cookbooks

2 1/2 cups sweet cherries, pitted
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup fine-grain natural cane sugar

1 1/4 whole wheat pastry flour (I used unbleached all-purpose)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup fine-grain natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1/4+ teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup toasted nuts (optional)  (I didn’t use nuts)
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled a bit

Preheat oven to 425F degrees, racks in the top third. Butter a 9 – 10-inch round tart pan (or equivalent); a 13″ x 9″ worked well for a double batch.

In a small bowl gently toss the cherries with the cornstarch and sugar. Set aside.

To make the cobbler topping, combine the flour, baking powder, and sugar, salt, and nuts in a large bowl. In another separate, smaller bowl whisk together the egg and the buttermilk, whisk in the butter. Fold the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture until it’s barely combined.

Pour the fruit into the prepared pan. Now top the cherries with the buttermilk dough by dropping dollops into the pan a scant tablespoon each – not too big or they won’t cook throughout.

Bake for 15 -20 minutes or until the top is golden and cooked through.

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Clafouti

June 29, 2009 · Filed under Baked Goods, Dessert, Summer · Tagged

Posted by Lisa
Clafouti

Clafouti

It’s cherry season!  And we are lucky to have friends who let us come and pick from their cherry trees (and apples later in the season).  Yesterday we picked between 30 and 40 pounds.  Many of those will be dehydrated and frozen, but some of them are of a variety that are dark, but not as sweet as Bings and much smaller too, which makes pitting them somewhat of a challenge.  I decided to make a cherry clafouti with the first of those smaller ones and I may make some cherry preserves and cherry syrup today.

A clafouti is a dessert, which is halfway between a cake and a custard.  The batter has about the same amount of flour as eggs and milk, so it’s not cakey, however since it has such a large ratio of flour it’s not really custard-y either.  Traditionally the cherry pits are left in, to impart a subtle almond flavor and prevent the cherries from getting to watery.  Another bonus is that the pits slow you down and force you to savor your piece of clafouti.

I got the recipe from Garlic Breath.  I’ve also seen a couple of recipes that lean more toward the custard spectrum and I’d like to try one of those later this week.

Clafouti

from Riana at Garlic Breath

3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup sugar or honey or natural sweetener of your choice
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Let batter rest while you prepare fruit.

1 pound fresh sweet cherries— leave the pits in
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Butter a 9″ x 13″ baking dish and pour the cherries into your dish in a single layer.  Pour the batter over the cherries and bake at 400°F for about 55 minutes.

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Apple-Blueberry Crisp

February 18, 2009 · Filed under Autumn, Baked Goods, Dessert, Winter · Tagged , ,

Posted by Lisa

Our local raw milk, chicken and egg farm had stacks of the magazine, Edible Portland, out so my husband snagged one and brought it home for me.  It had some great information in it like how to make bacon at home and a recipe for Apple-Blueberry Crisp, using preserved berries among other things.  I happen to have at least five pounds of blueberries in my freezer from our u-pick expeditions in July and August, so this was a great opportunity to use some preserved food with some in season apples.

Apple-Blueberry Crisp

Apple-Blueberry Crisp

Apple-Blueberry Crisp

adapted from Edible Portland

  • 2 pounds apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/4″  thick slices
  • 1 pint frozen blueberries
  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, if you are using unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter

Butter a 3-quart dish and add the apples and blueberries.

In a food processor or bowl with pastry blender, combine sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, flour and butter until they form pea-sized crumbs.  Sprinkle the mixture over the fruit and cover with foil.

Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes, until the apples are tender and the crust is golden brown.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

*This recipe was very good as I have it above, but when I try it again, I am going to decrease the sugar to 1/2 cup and maybe add 1/4-1/2 cup of rolled oats.  The crisp part was a bit too sweet for our tastes.

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