Fresh Cherry Blueberry Cobbler

A colorful and comforting dessert combining fresh cherries and blueberries under a sweet dough crust. Serve this with vanilla ice cream for a naturally red, white, and blue treat!

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Introspection. 

According to dictionary.com it means observation or examination of one's own emotional or mental state, mental processes, etc. To me, it's something that everyone should do periodically. Think about who you are, where you are in life, where you want to be, what your values are. Taking time to check in with yourself and think about your next steps means that you're not going to be blindly lurching from one thing/place/gig/person to another. What does this have to do with a dessert made with fresh cherries and blueberries? Simple. As much as I love seeing the fantastic patriotic desserts on Pinterest, I know that artificial colorings are not for me. This type of dessert, using seasonal fruits that are plentiful this time of year, is more my speed. Thinking about myself, what matters to me, how I want to feed my family makes me delighted to share this recipe with you.

For other naturally colored patriotic red white and blue recipes we're talking beets. My Red, White, and Blue Muffins feature cherries, blueberries, beets and white chocolate chips. My Savory Red, White, and Blue Appetizer has roasted beet puree topped with fresh blueberries and goat cheese. It's really yummy.

Are you celebrating Canada Day? May I suggest my Fresh Strawberry Sundae Ice Cream Pie? No pesky blue color to mess up the red & white.

Typically I don't care to use my oven on hot days. I happened to have a coolish morning last July 4th and took advantage of the opportunity to bake up this dessert. I had both fresh cherries and fresh blueberries in the crisper and I'd made vanilla ice cream so I thought it would be a fun way to celebrate Independence Day. [I'm no Little Red Hen constantly cooking from scratch, however. I buy plenty of ice cream from Graeter's and I've got a cherry pie on the counter from Irons Fruit Farm that I picked up at the farmer's market the other day. It's delicious.]

I used the cobbler recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook for this dessert. I changed up the filling to accommodate my desire for red & blue fruit, but otherwise that's it. I love this cookbook--when my copy was lost in my move back to the US from Japan (along with about 40% of my cookbooks and the folder of recipes I'd collected from friends and magazines :( big loss, that) it was my first purchase. You (or your helper, in this case my daughter) cook the fruit until it's thickened. You make a batter for the dough. Then you combine the two and bake. Easy--and pie crust scares me so you know this is just straight up cooking.

You could make this in the morning, cool it on the counter, and set it next to the grill to warm up a bit if you wanted to serve it warm. We had it both warm and room temp and I liked it both ways. Ice cream is kind of mandatory, though you could substitute whipped cream if you prefer.

For more recipes using blueberries, please see my Blueberry Recipes Collection. For more recipes using cherries (dried or fresh) please see my Cherry Recipes Collection. They are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me eating from the farm share, the farmer's market, the garden, the neighbor's garden, and great deals on ugly produce at the grocery store.

I'm sharing more recipes on my Pinterest boards, follow me there. If you like a good peek behind the scenes like I do, follow me on Instagram. Need a good read? I'm sharing articles of interest on my Facebook page, follow me there. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Fresh Cherry and Blueberry Cobbler
By Kirsten Madaus, adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook

A colorful and comforting dessert combining fresh cherries and blueberries under a sweet dough crust. Serve this with vanilla ice cream for a naturally red, white, and blue treat!

Prep time: 00:45
Cook time: 00:25
Total time: 01:10

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh cherries, pitted
3 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
¼ cup (2 ounces by volume) water
1 cup (4¼ ounces by weight) unbleached all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon or baking spice blend
¼ cup (4 Tablespoons, half a stick) butter
1 egg
¼ cup (2 ounces) milk
optional, to serve: vanilla ice cream
optional, to serve: whipped cream

Instructions:

To make the filling, combine fruit with 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and water in a medium saucepan. Set aside for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter an 8 to 10 inch square baking dish.

To make the topping, in a food processor (alternatively, in a bowl with a pastry blender) combine 2 Tablespoons sugar with flour, baking powder, and spice. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (a couple of pulses on the food processor). Add egg and milk until just moistened (a couple more pulses on the food processor). Set aside.

Over medium heat, cook the berries until thickened and bubbling. Transfer the thickened filling to the prepared pan.

Top the hot filling with the topping, dropping spoonfuls evenly across the pan. 

Bake for 20 (10 inch) to 25 (8 inch) minutes, depending on the size of your pan. The topping will be browned and the filling even more thick. Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream or whipped cream.