Friday, March 19, 2010

Ree To The Rescue

Post-pregnancy I've been trying to cut down the calories by cutting down on dessert in my life. Where before I would indulge my sweet tooth on a daily basis, (you better believe I made the most of those 9 months of being pregnant!) now I have to seriously discipline myself. It's an uphill battle, to say the least. I was a good girl for a few days, but then I went ahead and bought some french vanilla gelato from my grocery store. Big. Mistake. Because then I started thinking of all kinds of sinful ways to incorporate the gelato into my every day meals. For days it was stashed at the very back of my freezer on purpose. I swear I could hear it beckoning me each time I opened the door to the freezer, enticing me in a dulcet tone ... "Come away wiz moi, mon cher". Yes, my gelato has a french accent. It's french vanilla after all. Duh.

Still, my breaking point did not come till early this morning. I was looking through PW's cookbook to see what I could make for the FFPW - Desserts round-up. And instantly I knew that her Blackberry Cobbler would be the perfect Fred Astaire to my gelato's Ginger Rogers. Not only that, but I knew I could count on Ree to make it easy and quick for me. Two extremely important factors, especially on a day when your baby has been crying all damn day without any fathomable reason (do you moms out there know what I mean? Please say 'yes' and tell me I'm not going crazy!). Oh, one other thing - I was absolutely craving raspberries, so I decided to make it a mostly raspberry cobbler, with a few blackberries thrown in for fun.
My little raspberry, I want to squeeeeeeeeze you! Oh, erm, please ignore my dry, cracked skin - I think it's a casualty of breastfeeding.


PW's Favorite Berry Cobbler (find the original recipe in her cookbook or on her website)
Serves 6

Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick of unsalted butter, melted
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries/blackberries

Method:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Butter a baking dish.

2. Whisk together the flour and 1/2 cup of sugar in a bowl. Pour in the milk and whisk till combined. Then add in the melted butter and keep whisking until fully incorporated.

3. Pour batter into baking dish and sprinkle berries all over it, distributing evenly. Sprinkle 2 tbsp of sugar over the whole thing.
Oh man, look at those insane raspberries. I could eat this as is.

But I'll throw in a few blackberries too, and now it looks even better!

4. Bake in the oven for 40-45 mins, or until golden and bubbly. 10 mins before the end, take out the dish and sprinkle the last 1 tbsp of sugar over the top - this just gives it that extra crunch. Once it's done, let it cool for 15-20 mins before serving with mandatory scoop of vanilla ice-cream/gelato. Stores well in the fridge, covered in foil, for quite a few days.

Verdict: *Smacking lips* I was licking that very spoon before sitting down to write this post. The aroma as it was baking in the oven was divine - strong enough to counter B's diaper smell! *Sigh* Feels good to have my raspberry craving satisfied. And my lovely french vanilla gelato paired sublimely with it. You've got to make this, dear readers. Cobblers are now my no-fail, go-to desserts. And this one is so easy, it's ridiculous. And yet it will bring out moans of delight in even the most crotchety of people, the manliest of men, the pickiest of kids. But listen, and listen well. You must have it warm, and you must have it with vanilla ice-cream. Don't try to separate the two - it would be a tragedy. It'll make me cry.

19 comments:

Hari Chandana P said...

Looks Yummm!!

Joanne said...

Ree is always coming to the rescue, don't you think? She is my knight in shining armor. This cobbler looks delicious! I need to find this recipe in my PW book. And make it. Soon.

Okay so maybe having a daily indulgence won't help with the baby weight - but a weekly one? Definitely doable.

Also, I know the theme for this week is desserts, but do you think I could submit the pasta recipe I made just after the last round-up? If not, I totally understand!

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Hey,
First time here. Love the name of your blog. And certainly love the berry-berry cobbler. Well, you are not crazy. Babies cry cause that it is the only way they know to communicate. I was in your position about 2 years ago. This too shall pass.
In 2-3 months time it would be a lot of fun.
Hey, would you be interested in participating in a giveaway? check my latest post when you get a chance. :).

Unknown said...

Daaaahling, you cant try to avoid sweets ALL the time or you will become super cranky (... trust me, i know), just have less sweets. Awesome looking cobbler.
*kisses* HH

Kerstin said...

Gelato is dangerous to have around, especially vanilla which is so versatile! The fresh berry cobbler looks incredible!

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Hey,
I forgot to mention that I could be your next door neighbor. :)

Parita said...

Wow now that is certainly low fat cobbler! 1/2 stick butter would be 1/4 cup right?

Mona said...

Yummy yumm, I could have some of that right now!

Foodiewife said...

Your blog is going to be like "Where's Waldo"? Only it's "Where's the baby?" Love how cleverly you got you sweet boy in the background. These are gorgeous. I just posted my reduced-calorie dessert by Ree, if that's possible. I was going to make this, but you beat me to it!

Memória said...

This seems to be a very common Southern recipe for cobbler. I know if I would call it Ree's recipe, but it is a good recipe. Your cobbler looks fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful looking cobbler, I love all the berries, yum!

Deeba PAB said...

For moi, Muneeba to the rescue!! I rue the lack of raspberries here! Love how easy this is. Will try it with peaches or cherries once stone fruit get here! Just beautiful Muneeba! LOVE IT!!

Lara said...

That looks so yummy! All I can think of is what would it taste like with cranberries???

Tay said...

The way to eat sweets and still drop the weight is to do it in moderation. Maybe a small piece a day would work too.

Kim said...

Raspberries are my favorite so I'm glad to see you used them in this cobbler! It looks delicious.

Maria said...

That does look good! I have a bunch of berries in the fridge just waiting to be used in a cobbler ... if I could get the kids to stop eating them just as is.

Anonymous said...

What a delicious looking cobbler! It's going to be on my must do list.

Kathy said...

I really love the combination of raspberries and blackberries on your pictures. They look so gorgeous! The smacking lips part was really thought provoking - I got to make this one! My weakness is the aroma, if this one has some sort of divine-strong aroma, then you got me! Okay fine, I really got to be committed on making this! :D

And Oh, congratulations on being a mom! YOu rock!

Barbara said...

This recipes sounds great - what size baking dish did you use?? Thanks, Barbara