Strawberry Blueberry Magic Cobbler

There have been so many wonderful posts and recipes going around the blogosphere for various ways to transform lovely blueberries into heavenly concoctions that I can’t resist!  Leaving aside the Nightmare in My Closet, I am throwing caution to the wind, putting my foot down, taking a stand (and other similar cliches).  I love sweets, I love blueberries and, damn it, I’m eating the wonderful bounty that nature, careful genetic breeding and copious quantities of sugar provides.

I had wonderful success with the Blueberry and Strawberry Buttermilk Cake from Pinch My Salt.  It was a key element in my Unplanned Dinner.  I don’t think that post really did it justice.  It is a very simple cake to put together.  And the quantities called for make a small cake which is nice when there’s just two of us.  With great restraint we finished it off over two days (rather than just eating it all at one sitting which is what I really wanted to do).  Each mouthful was delicious.  It’s hard to beat the combination of blueberries and strawberries and the cake was not at all sweet which really let the berries shine.

Now that I had tasted this creation I was eager to see what else I could make.  I have a weakness for cobblers and crumbles (buckles, trifles and fools as well).  While this may be sacriligious to say, I often much prefer fruit based desserts to chocolate ones.  I know, I know… heretical.  But there it is.  So, after surveying the territory of blueberry creations and finding LOTS of fabulous sounding ones, I opted for one that sounded very simple to put together and emphasized the berries.  The title of it,  Strawberry-Blueberry Magic Cobbler on the Eating Out Loud blog appealed to me because, well, it has ‘Magic’ in the name so it must be good!  Plus the author gave lots of kudos to his mom which I always think is important.

Like the Buttermilk Cake, this dish went together VERY easily.  It really was magical.  I’ve come to really like recipes that don’t require using heavy equipment.  In some ways, it’s just a lot more fun to mix the stuff by hand.  I’ve been finding the same thing with my bread making.  I prefer to knead the dough by hand.  I get a much better feel for what’s going on and things don’t get away from me so easily.

Blueberry Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

This cobbler, which is really more like a buckle/crumble but let’s not be too technical, came together literally in minutes.  Cutting up the strawberries took longer than mixing up the batter.  The author suggested just melting the butter in the pan as the oven heated, so I did.  Quickly mixed together the usual suspects: flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon with milk to form a very loose batter.  Pour (literally…it’s really soupy) the batter into the pan with the melted butter.  Evenly spread the berries on top of the batter, followed by sprinkling brown sugar and walnuts (the recipe called for pecans…I had walnuts…worked fine).  Pop it in the oven for 45 minutes or so.  And that’s it!

I must admit I was a little dubious when I saw how watery the batter was.  But I figured I couldn’t go that far wrong with all the fruit and sugar!  And, boy, was I right.  After 45 minutes, maybe a smidge less, the gloop had turned into a beautifully browned cobbler (buckle, crumble).  It looked amazing.  Smelled amazing.  Had to restrain myself from digging in right then.  Instead, served up dinner for me and the hubby while it cooled.

Dinner behind us it was time to give it a try.  I served it up with whipped cream (from my handy nitrogen-charged canister I keep in the frig for any whipped cream emergencies).  As you may have already guessed, it was fabulous.  Similar in taste to the Blueberry and Strawberry Buttermilk Cake (after all, it had the sam berries) but the brown sugar and walnut crumb on top really added a nice dimension.  My husband, the house food critic, gave it a gleeful thumbs up.

Both these recipes were really excellent and we loved the results.  The cake is a little more substantial feeling in the mouth.  The cobbler is more light and heavily fruited.  I will be making both again.  And again.  And again.