by Malia Kirby L.Ac.
Yesterday, as Shawn and I were walking into Whole Foods, it would have been difficult to miss the huge stands covered in pint after pint after pint of fresh blackberries. “Oh yeah,” I thought. “It’s midsummer, isn’t it? It IS blackberry season right now.” So, wouldn’t you know it, four packages of them came home with us, with full intentions of going into a double crust pie…until we arrived home after work.
We’re short on butter, the dog’s running around the house with his favorite chew toy like he’s Groucho Marx with a cigar, the bird’s throwing his food at the dog and simultaneously begging for a blackberry snack in the kitchen…so much for my best laid schemes. And, wouldn’t you know it, I just didn’t really even give a crap about rolling out two pie crusts. It just didn’t seem to be worth the effort, but here I was with all these blackberries, and there was no way in hell I was making spur of the moment jam. Not at night, and certainly not in the middle of the work week. Besides, I wanted some sort of dessert, so cobbler it was.
What follows from here isn’t your typical biscuit cobbler, but what is referred to as a dump cobbler. It’s a little more cake-like instead of scone-ish, and it’s also ridiculously easy to make in a short amount of time.
Blackberry Cobbler
Serves 6-8
Butter, for baking dish
5-6 c fresh blackberries
¾ c sugar, divided
½ t vanilla extract
Splash of merlot or pinot noir (optional)
1 t lemon zest
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
½ t ground cinnamon
½ t ground cloves
1 egg
¾ c milk
Butter (but do not flour) a 9 x 9” baking dish and preheat the oven to 375°F.
Rinse and drain the blackberries, then sprinkle with ¼ c of the sugar, the vanilla, the wine (if using) and the lemon zest to macerate for 15 minutes or until the berries begin to release their juices and the sugar has dissolved.
Place the flour, remaining ½ c of sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl and stir to mix, then whisk the egg and the milk together in a separate bowl. Add the egg and milk mixture to the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.
Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish, then sprinkle the macerated blackberries over the batter. Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream sweetened with honey and vanilla.
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