After calling every store in the vicinity the past two days, I finally found the freezer jam pectin I like. It's in a little envelope. If you have never made freezer jam, it is SO EASY. Just put four cups of cut up fruit in bowl, mash it with a potato masher, and then in separate bowl, mix the pectin with the sugar (my recipe uses 1 1/2 c. sugar to one package pectin to 4 cups fruit) stir the whole bunch together until dissolved, then ladle into 8 oz. freezer jars. Let sit 30 min. Voila! Freezer Jam! NO cooking needed!
I had enough of last year's blueberries in the freezer to do a cobbler recipe I found in the newspaper.
The topping is actually more like a crumbly shortbread mixture rather than your typical doughy cobbler.
Therefore the name:
A TECHNICALLY INCORRECT BUT VERY GOOD SUMMER FRUIT COBBLER
(That really was the name)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Filling:
6 c. diced fruit
1 1/2 c. sugar (depending on the sweetness of your fruit, may decrease sugar)
4 T. cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
lemon juice, optional (I threw in a tsp.)
pinch salt
Place in a sprayed, or greased 7 c. baking dish
Blend topping:
10 T. butter, room temperature (Blend butter and sugars, vanilla together first)
1/3 c. white sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4. tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
Add 2 c. flour
Blend until crumbly. Spoon over filling lightly.
Bake 45-55 min. until bubbling and thick. Topping should be a rich golden brown.
Serve with ice cream, of course! We are going to break out the Donvier Ice Cream maker tonight.
You mix 4 c. of light cream or 1/2 and 1/2, vanilla and sugar (Yes, very fattening!) and put it into the frozen cylinder and crank it for a few min. and there you have it, homemade ice cream!
Now we'll need a jog around the block!
This is called a .5 (1/2 flat) of raspberries. They are pricey, so this is all I got.
The freezer's getting full of jam. I will watch out for blackberries to come into season though.
It's hot weather here again this week. But I'll try to keep workin' on my sleeves!
