One of my fondest memories of growing up is visiting my grandparents and aunts in upstate New York on weekends and holidays. There was always something sweet on the table. Fruit cobbler was a mainstay – peach cobbler was the one that circulated most frequently. I’ve always found cobbler a happy food – the way it bubbles away in the oven, a bite of the sweet, salty, buttery biscuit topping to compliment the fruity tartness. Serve with vanilla ice cream for a sublime flavour/texture combination. This one is from the New York Times Cooking – credit to Chez Panisse.

Ingredients:
4½ cups fresh blueberries
⅓ cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour.

1 tablespoon cinnamon

THE DOUGH:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1½ tablespoons sugar
2¼ teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
¾ cup heavy cream, plus additional for serving, if desired

Directions:

Combine berries with flour, 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon. Place into a baking dish or cast iron frying pan.

Make dough by combining dry ingredients then cutting in butter into pea sized pieces. Then add cream – do not overwork- the idea is to keep large clumps of butter in the dough so they melt and create flakiness in the dough.

Form dough into thick patties – about 3/4 inch thick – and then “cobble it together” (as James Beard points out) – there should be spaces where the biscuit topping does not cover fruit fully.

Bake at 350 oven until top is browned- about 35 minutes.