June 18, 2010
If I could have just one fruit-bearing tree or bush in our yard, it would be a mulberry bush.
The mulberry bush is an incredible mix of function and form. In the winter, it is beautiful and sculptural, with its stark cascading branches. And when it fruits in the summer, its delicious berries are somehow sweet, yet tart and provides a seemingly endless abundance of fruit.
Also, it houses a sacred hiding and play space for our giggling girls. These warm months when I can’t find them in the yard, they’re most always picking berries from our mulberry bush. Their berry-stained hands and faces are a symbol that summer is here. With that old nursery rhyme humming in my head, I am filled with happiness — isn’t it wonderful how a simple bush can cause so much elation? Oh, please don’t go there.
Most of the time, the berries don’t end up in the house because they disappear into little bellies. If they do manage to make it into my kitchen, I spill them on my oatmeal or make a granola cobbler. Today, we gathered a big trove of berries and I was able to do both.
This cobbler recipe was adapted from Jacques Pepin’s Fast Food My Way, a cookbook that is a great resource for easy and quick entertaining.
Feel free to use any combination of summer fruit
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
3 cups mulberries
3 cups peaches or apricots
½ cup sugar (divided)
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (divided)
24 +/- fresh peppermint leaves (optional)
1 cup granola
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
Vanilla ice cream or crème fraiche
Put the stone fruit and berries in a bowl with ¼ cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons of the flour, and the mint leaves (if using). Mix well and transfer to a 6-cup-capacity gratin dish or glass baking dish.
Put the remaining ¼ cup sugar and 2 tablespoons flour, the granola and the butter in a small bowl and combine with your fingers until well mixed. Sprinkle over the fruit.
Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned. Serve with the sour cream or crème fraiche.
