It's the berries...



I'm a big fan of berries. Strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and especially blueberries. (Cherries too, but they're not actually berries. Actually now that I think about it, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries aren't berries either, but green and red peppers and eggplant are.)

Anyway.

I like berries, but neither Brian nor I are ever that interested in making desserts. We like to cook, yes. But baking requires time and patience and the magic of yeast and a totally different group of skills. Or so I thought, until I began to explore the American heritage of berry desserts. Buckles, grunts, crisps, cobblers ... these are how dessert should work: mix, stir, bake, eat. They're a piece of cake to make -- actually easier because cake requires much more work. This is baking for an organic chemist: mix, stir, and eat (well, except for the eating part, which we don't do in the lab.)

Last night I made a blueberry crisp. I got nervous about baking it too long and took it out before it set, so now it's more of a pudding, but a tasty pudding nonetheless, a tasty pudding because I was hasty. Here's my recipe, cobbled (heh) together from several others:

Preheat oven to 350 ˚F. Lube up an 8" X 8" baking vessel. (I use shortening for its superior lubing properties. But butter would work too.)

Berries:
1 pint berries, washed and picked over for stems and seeds
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp lime zest (this is key)
2 tbsp cornstarch

Mix. Don't smoosh the berries, you brute.

Crisp:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold (ie in the freezer for a few mins) unsalted butter

Throw ingredients into a bowl and cut with a pastry cutter (or two knives) until you get a breadcrumb-like texture that packs together easily.

Half crisp mixture goes into the bottom of the baking vessel, packed loosely. Pour berry mixture on top. Cover with remaining crisp mixture and pack loosely. Bake for 50-60 mins. (This is where I got nervous and took it out at about 35 mins because it was already golden brown. I was worried it might burn. Because of the dark brown sugar, it's really hard to tell how brown it's getting. I should have followed my nose instead of my eyes.) Cool for 20 mins. Eat.

Posted: Tue - July 15, 2008 at 10:33 AM        

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