it's 9 pm. do you know where your dessert is?
Today did not have an auspicious start. Cramps are never a good sign. Coffee was in order; my first pot was a dud. Pot number two was better, but after I put the rest in my travel mug to bring along, I forgot it on the counter. Sigh. Did I mention that I was running late, too?
There were ups and downs all day. Dinner time rolled around and I was happy that we managed to plan our meals through Wednesday this week. Tonight's menu: sesame tofu! Last time had gone quite well, so I had decided to be daring and change it up a little. I added veggies (sauteed red bell pepper, carrots, and bok choy) on the side, which was better received than I had hoped (yay!). However, I didn't follow my sauce formula from last time and it ended up too thin. Sigh. It was ok, just disappointing.
Hubby was pretty worn out, so I told him I would take care of the dishes, too. The guilt was too much after I managed to make such a mess for a mediocre meal. Oh hi alliteration! Woo.
But around eight o'clock, I decided that I needed dessert. Enter some old friends:
Hey, remember these guys? The gorgeous summer strawberries we picked ourselves, then froze several pounds worth for later?
It's later.
I have a pretty reasonable cookbook collection. Not a ton of classics, but enough hefty reference tomes plus some specialty books, too. After combing through most of them, I decided that strawberries are just meant to be eaten fresh and ripe! So many recipes were for frozen desserts or sauces, neither of which bore any resemblance to the warm, fruity confection I needed. So I made one up. Or should I say... four?
Making and/or rolling out crust was out. Cobbler it is! But I didn't want too much "crust," just enough to balance out the delicious fruit. And what spices even go with strawberry? There is also no way I'm using up several cups of these berries in one shot, either, not for a made up recipe!
So I grabbed four wide-mouthed half-pint mason jars and filled them with strawberries!
They were still partially frozen, but that's ok. About 1/3 cup of berries went into each jar, just about 3/4 full. Then I sprinkled them with about 1/2 tsp. of sugar, each, then sprinkled a little orange zest on top! Those sat and got extra super juicy while I mixed up the "cobble" part of the cobbler.
Mix up 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 flour, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. orange zest and a pinch of salt. I also tossed in a heaping tablespoon of cornmeal. That makes it rustic, right? Now with a food processor or a pastry blender (I did this by hand), cut in 3-4 tablespoons of cold butter. When it's decently combined, add in an egg, 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, and stir by hand. Drop spoonfuls of the thick batter over the strawberries. Don't smooth it out, just plop it on. I'm impressed by how yellow that batter gets from the butter, egg, and touch of corn meal.
In a pan, the batter is supposed to look like cobblestone streets. I'll settle for it looking delicious. Check out how juicy they got from the sugar!
Can't wait! As an afterthought, I sprinkled a little turbinado sugar on the top for sparkle and crunch. Pop them in the oven at 375F for 30-40 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. My oven isn't very even, so I put them on a big pie plate so I could turn the tray partway through baking. The tops actually expanded above the edge of the jar, but settled down when I removed them from the oven.
Yum. Eat them warm! The ratio of soft fruit to golden cake was just lovely.
You could probably add whipped cream or ice cream if you're fancy like that. This filled four jars, so I ate two (shhhhh!) and saved the others for breakfast. The storage is brilliant:
Of the two left, one is for the hubby. The other one is to see if they're still good the next day. That sounds convincing, right? Or I could add blueberries (also from this summer) for a red-white-and-blue inaugural snack!
Mini Berry Cobbler
Makes 4 mini cobblers. Double approximately for an 8x8 baking pan.
1-1.5 cups strawberries, at least partially thawed
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-2 T corn meal
1 tsp orange zest (optional)
3-4 T butter, cold and cut in small pieces
1 egg (only use one egg even if doubling recipe)
1/2 tsp vanilla
turbinado sugar for sprinkling (optional)
1.) Preheat oven to 375F. Scoop berries into jars/baking dish. Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of sugar and set aside while mixing batter.
2.) In a medium mixing bowl or food processor, combine sugar, flour, corn meal, baking powder, and orange zest. Add butter, cutting into dry ingredients with a pastry blender (or pulsing in food processor until distributed evenly). When there are no large pools of dry ingredients, add the egg and vanilla, mixing gently by hand. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto strawberries until gone. Do not spread out or smooth. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar if using.
3.) Place jars on a tray and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Rotate halfway through to ensure even baking. The top should be golden brown. Allow to cool slightly. Serve warm.
That's it! The amount of sugar can vary depending on how sweet the berries are. The corn meal can be omitted if desired, as can the orange zest (or try lemon instead). It definitely satisfied my hankering for dessert, and I am looking forward to a delicious start to tomorrow!
There were ups and downs all day. Dinner time rolled around and I was happy that we managed to plan our meals through Wednesday this week. Tonight's menu: sesame tofu! Last time had gone quite well, so I had decided to be daring and change it up a little. I added veggies (sauteed red bell pepper, carrots, and bok choy) on the side, which was better received than I had hoped (yay!). However, I didn't follow my sauce formula from last time and it ended up too thin. Sigh. It was ok, just disappointing.
Hubby was pretty worn out, so I told him I would take care of the dishes, too. The guilt was too much after I managed to make such a mess for a mediocre meal. Oh hi alliteration! Woo.
But around eight o'clock, I decided that I needed dessert. Enter some old friends:
Hey, remember these guys? The gorgeous summer strawberries we picked ourselves, then froze several pounds worth for later?
It's later.
I have a pretty reasonable cookbook collection. Not a ton of classics, but enough hefty reference tomes plus some specialty books, too. After combing through most of them, I decided that strawberries are just meant to be eaten fresh and ripe! So many recipes were for frozen desserts or sauces, neither of which bore any resemblance to the warm, fruity confection I needed. So I made one up. Or should I say... four?
Making and/or rolling out crust was out. Cobbler it is! But I didn't want too much "crust," just enough to balance out the delicious fruit. And what spices even go with strawberry? There is also no way I'm using up several cups of these berries in one shot, either, not for a made up recipe!
So I grabbed four wide-mouthed half-pint mason jars and filled them with strawberries!
They were still partially frozen, but that's ok. About 1/3 cup of berries went into each jar, just about 3/4 full. Then I sprinkled them with about 1/2 tsp. of sugar, each, then sprinkled a little orange zest on top! Those sat and got extra super juicy while I mixed up the "cobble" part of the cobbler.
Mix up 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 flour, 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp. orange zest and a pinch of salt. I also tossed in a heaping tablespoon of cornmeal. That makes it rustic, right? Now with a food processor or a pastry blender (I did this by hand), cut in 3-4 tablespoons of cold butter. When it's decently combined, add in an egg, 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, and stir by hand. Drop spoonfuls of the thick batter over the strawberries. Don't smooth it out, just plop it on. I'm impressed by how yellow that batter gets from the butter, egg, and touch of corn meal.
In a pan, the batter is supposed to look like cobblestone streets. I'll settle for it looking delicious. Check out how juicy they got from the sugar!
Can't wait! As an afterthought, I sprinkled a little turbinado sugar on the top for sparkle and crunch. Pop them in the oven at 375F for 30-40 minutes, until the tops are golden brown. My oven isn't very even, so I put them on a big pie plate so I could turn the tray partway through baking. The tops actually expanded above the edge of the jar, but settled down when I removed them from the oven.
Yum. Eat them warm! The ratio of soft fruit to golden cake was just lovely.
You could probably add whipped cream or ice cream if you're fancy like that. This filled four jars, so I ate two (shhhhh!) and saved the others for breakfast. The storage is brilliant:
Of the two left, one is for the hubby. The other one is to see if they're still good the next day. That sounds convincing, right? Or I could add blueberries (also from this summer) for a red-white-and-blue inaugural snack!
Mini Berry Cobbler
Makes 4 mini cobblers. Double approximately for an 8x8 baking pan.
1-1.5 cups strawberries, at least partially thawed
1/3-1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1-2 T corn meal
1 tsp orange zest (optional)
3-4 T butter, cold and cut in small pieces
1 egg (only use one egg even if doubling recipe)
1/2 tsp vanilla
turbinado sugar for sprinkling (optional)
1.) Preheat oven to 375F. Scoop berries into jars/baking dish. Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of sugar and set aside while mixing batter.
2.) In a medium mixing bowl or food processor, combine sugar, flour, corn meal, baking powder, and orange zest. Add butter, cutting into dry ingredients with a pastry blender (or pulsing in food processor until distributed evenly). When there are no large pools of dry ingredients, add the egg and vanilla, mixing gently by hand. Drop spoonfuls of batter onto strawberries until gone. Do not spread out or smooth. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar if using.
3.) Place jars on a tray and bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Rotate halfway through to ensure even baking. The top should be golden brown. Allow to cool slightly. Serve warm.
That's it! The amount of sugar can vary depending on how sweet the berries are. The corn meal can be omitted if desired, as can the orange zest (or try lemon instead). It definitely satisfied my hankering for dessert, and I am looking forward to a delicious start to tomorrow!