One of my biggest time-wasting, guilty pleasures is looking at food blogs. I drool over recipes and photographs alike, using the excuse, “I’m getting inspired”. There are some incredibly talented people out there. I have noticed something, however. There seems to be some sort of unspoken rule when it comes to posting recipes. It seems you have to post recipes that go along with the season we are in. You make pumpkin recipes starting in October, ice cream and fruit desserts begin in May, and endless cookie recipes get posted in December. Sometimes that rule makes sense; you do want people to have access to the ingredients you’re using. But, there are times I want to just throw caution to the wind and make what I want. Just the other day I found some cans of pumpkin at the grocery store on clearance which I snapped up, knowing that I love pumpkin at all times of the year, not just the fall. And does ice cream have to only be for the summer? I don’t think so. That’s why, when I found some leftover blackberries from my ice cream ebook, chill, in the freezer the other day, I decided to make a blackberry cobbler. It’s warm and delicious and the colors from the blackberries would make beautiful photos. It’s not a typical winter recipe, but when you use frozen berries it can be made any time. And, who knows, there may be a pumpkin recipe coming up in the near future.
Blackberry Cobbler
[adapted from The Pioneer Woman]
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 cup self-rising flour*
1 cup milk
2 cups frozen or fresh blackberries
Preheat the oven to 350°.
Melt the butter in the microwave. Whisk together 1 cup of the sugar, salt, and flour. Add the milk gradually and mix well. Pour in the butter and mix together until well-blended. Grease a baking dish with butter (I used a 10-inch round casserole dish).
Pour the batter into the baking dish. Pat the blackberries with paper towels to dry and sprinkle them over the top of the batter evenly. Spread the 1/4 cup sugar over the top. Bake for one hour or until golden.
*If you don’t have self-rising flour, just try this: whisk together 3/4 cup flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Adjust the amounts for what the recipe calls for. I doubled it for this recipe and then put the rest in a plastic container for the next time.
