Full Moon Recipe for September: Frozen Cherry Cobbler

It’s time for another recipe! First, the recipe. Then, me blathering onward about my occasionally questionable culinary capabilities and the memories this particular treat holds for me.

• The Ingredients
  • For the Cherry Filling:
    • 6 cups of frozen cherries, slightly thawed
    • 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
    • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
    • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon or lime juice
    • 1 tablespoon corn starch
  • For the Topping:
    • 1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
    • 1/3 cup white granulated sugar
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
    • 1/3 cup boiling apple juice or water
• The Way of Preparing
  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F/190°C/gas mark 5.
  2. Butter or non-stick spray a 3 quart baking dish; set aside for now.
  3. Prepare the filling thus: to a large mixing bowl, add the cherries, lemon/lime juice, and corn starch. Stir vigorously.
  4. Sprinkle both the white and brown sugars over the cherry mixture, stirring again.
  5. Let rest for at least five minutes, then stir vigorously again.
  6. For the crumble topping: whisk together the sugars, flour, salt, and baking powder.
  7. Using either a pastry blender, a food processor, or a pair of knives, cut the butter into the flour-sugar mix until crumbly in texture.
  8. Pour your boiling apple juice into the flour-sugar mixture and whisk until combined.
  9. Pour the cherries into the prepared quart baking dish.
  10. Carefully spoon the crumble mixture over the top of the fruit.
  11. If desired, sprinkle coarse sugar over the top of the batter for a little extra caramelization/crunch/yumminess.
  12. Bake, uncovered, in the center rack of your oven for forty five to fifty-two minutes or until the topping is cooked through and has started to brown.
  13. Cool outside the oven for at least five minutes before serving with ice cream.
      
• Notes
  • How to make better:
    • Add the guts of half a vanilla bean into your cherry mixture
    • Alternatively, add half a teaspoon of vanilla extract into your apple juice (water) for the crumble.
    • Use frozen peaches rather than cherries.
    • Use three cups of frozen cherries and three cups of frozen peaches for a nice end-of-summer treat!

I made this back in my freshman year of high school. (That’s circa 1998-1999 for those counting.) It was delicious, but I always wondered why we used frozen cherries. It was because cherries, in Illinois, are only in season from about April to August.

And since this is the full moon just before the Autumnal Equinox, I thought it proper for a good end-of-summer treat for this particular month.

Keep an eye out for next month’s Pear Cake!!

Image from: Jessica Gavin’s website.