David Says: This is the time of year that I get to use all those lovely berries that begin to appear everywhere; blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. Although there's certainly nothing wrong with just serving a big bowl of lightly sugared berries on a warm summer evening, a simple berry cobbler that can be put together literally in less than 5 minutes is a favorite dessert to make.

Unlike pie (which requires dough to be made, rolled out, baked, then cooled before slicing) my cobbler is mades with 'drop' biscuits which are roughly formed by dropping from a spoon onto the awaiting fruit. No rolling pins, no messy countertops.You can use any combination of berries that you want, or use some of the combinations that I give below for other summer fruits.

Although I don't necessarily do this every time, you could make an egg wash by lightly beating an egg and brushing it over the biscuits prior to baking. This will give them a shiny brown glow.

Ingredients

• For the fruit:
• 5 cups berries (any combination of raspberries, blackberries, sliced strawberries, blueberries, boysenberries or olallieberries)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tbs flour
• A splash of kirsch or lemon juice (optional)

• For the cobbler dough:
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 Tbs (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, chilled

Directions

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a 10- to 12-inch glass pie plate (or 2 quart baking dish), mix together the berries, sugar, flour and the kirsch or lemon juice, if using. Bake the berries in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring once during baking. After 30 minutes, remove the berries from the oven and make the biscuits.

Step 2
In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt and sugar. Cut the butter into the mixture either with a food processor, a mixer or by hand (Tip: Try using the large holes of a cheese grater-it works great!) The butter should be the size of corn kernels.Stir in the buttermilk just until the dry mixture is thoroughly moistened.

Step 3
With a big soup spoon, drop six large mounds of the dough over the fruit in various places. Brush with egg wash, if desired. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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