FRUIT COBBLER

When our local Sprouts had fresh cherries from California on special, I bought a big package. I had seen this recipe for Fruit Cobbler in my cookbook, from Amish and Mennonite kitchens. A note at the bottom of the page said "blueberries, peaches, cherries, or raspberries all work well in this cobbler". When we lived in Ventura, one year my younger son Patrick and I went with a Korean congregation that was using our church to a pick - it - yourself farm to pick cherries. Those were the best cherries. They allowed you to eat as you picked. The farm had some recipes to make with the cherries, but the only one I tried was for cherry jam. It was okay, but not the best. The recipe was a little incomplete with directions.

Since then when we buy cherries in the grocery store, we just enjoy eating them fresh. Until now. I must confess that I have made this recipe twice in the last week. The first time I made it I used a smaller baking dish than the directions called for and the water boiled over in the oven and made a mess. The second time I measured to make sure I was using a dish the right size.

I love the "cake" portion of the recipe. I think the first time I used stevia for the portion of sugar, but I couldn't remember for sure. Today I used a sugar/stevia blend and cut the amount in half. Both were delicious.

FRUIT COBBLER

1 1/4        cups flour, sifted
1 1/2        teaspoons baking powder
1/2          teaspoon salt
1/2          cup sugar
1/2          cup milk
2             tablespoons shortening, melted (I used 2 tablespoon canola oil)
1 3/4       cups fruit (or enough to cover the batter)
2             cups hot water or fruit juice (I did use water)
3/4         cups sugar (I used 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons stevia/sugar blend)
2             tablespoons margarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a baking dish about 12 x 8 - inches. (Since my dish was glass I reduced the temperature to 350 degrees F.)

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and 1/2 cup sugar together.

Add milk and shortening (or oil) and stir only until smooth.

Spread dough evenly in baking dish. Tip! When batter is too thick to pour, I empty spoonfuls around the bottom of the dish and then take a spatula to spread them together to cover the bottom.

Arrange fruit over top.

Combine hot water or juice, 3/4 cup sugar and margarine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over the fruit.

Bake immediately for 45 minutes.

Serve warm.

This recipes works well with blueberries, peaches, cherries, or raspberries.

I used cherries for my cobbler. I cut them in half to remove the pit. I probably had more like 2 cups. I wanted to make sure I had enough to cover the batter.