Cobbler

Dessert really isn't my thing. I don't crave it, like cooking it, or eat it very often. My heart doesn't swell at the sight of melting chocolate or spongy cake - give me a nice glass of dessert wine and a cheese plate, please. But tomorrow I'm going to a friend's house for dinner and offered to bring dessert. She has young children so it has to be something gooey enough for them, but sophisticated enough for us, and this unconventional cobbler recipe always wins over taste buds. I think my mother got it out of the British School Cookbook in Ankara, Turkey back in 1981. It was a slim volume of collected recipes from the students' parents, published at the end of each school year. Unfortunately, I can't offer credit to it's original author, but suffice to say, it's 30 years on and when I get a sweet tooth it goes down a real treat. I don't think I've EVER used fresh fruit. Frozen peaches or canned sour cherries are my favorite ingredients to use. But you can be creative and mix and match to your hearts' content (maybe add a drop of liqueur, or grated citrus zest to the batter to give it some extra zing). What's so fantastic about it is that most everyone has the ingredients on hand at any given time, so when that urge hits, a homemade delight within an hour. Some vanilla ice cream or heavy cream on top. Voila! My perfect dessert.

1/4 pound butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 cups fruit (fresh, frozen or canned)
Melt the butter in an ovenproof casserole. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir in the milk. Pour the batter over the melted butter. Do not stir!! Sprinkle the fruit on top and again Do Not Stir!! Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the batter covers the fruit and the crust browns.
Note: You can sprinkle goodies on the top before baking: cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg - whatever. Also a 1/2 teaspoon of almond or vanilla extract is always a nice touch.