Cobble together a delicious end-of-summer dessert

Every year as the summer months draw to an end, I find myself trying to make the most out of all this delicious ripe fruit. My dinner tables are graced with fresh fruit tarts, pies, cobblers, and crumbles. I recently made this Mixed Berry Cobbler and my guests were thoroughly pleased, but they were also very curious about the difference between a crumble and a cobbler. Here’s what there is to know: crumbles and crisps are very similar. Both contain fresh fruit and are covered with a streusel topping that gets baked. Crumble toppings, however, usually do not contain oats, whereas crisp toppings do. Cobblers are a fruit dessert baked with a fluffy biscuit-style topping.  This recipe can be made with just one berry type or as many varieties as you choose.

The berries:

4 ½ cups fresh (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

The dough:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 ½  teaspoons baking powder

6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces

¾ cup heavy cream, plus additional for serving 

Instructions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. To prepare the berries, place in a bowl and toss with the sugar

and flour. Set aside.

To make the dough, mix the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder in a food processor and pulse in the butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Remove from processor and place in a bowl, add the cream and mix lightly, just until the dry ingredients are moistened; set aside.

Put the berries in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish. Make 9 balls out of the dough and press into 2-3 inch patties. Arrange them over the top of the berries, almost completely covering the surface of the pan. Bake until the topping is brown and the juices bubble up around the crust, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.