Fruit Cobbler

Fruit Cobbler is a perfect summer dessert, and made best with whichever fruit is in season. Here, we used a combination of strawberry, rhubarb, and raspberry- you can confidently use any fruit combination for cobblers, rest assured knowing it will be delicious.

Ingredients (makes 6 ramekins) :

For the topping:

⅔ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

1½ cup flour 
⅓ cup sugar 
1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp group cinnamon

6 tbs cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For the filling:

5 cups fresh fruit

1 tbs citrus juice

citrus zest

3 tablespoons sugar (or to taste, depending on fruit used)

Directions: 

1.   In a large bowl, combine your fruit, citrus juice/zest, and sugar until well mixed. Divide the fruit among your ramekins, and bake at 375 for 10 minutes while you prepare the topping. 

2. In a large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid mixer) combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Once mixed, add the butter pieces- using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed until the mixture forms large crumbs (about 30 seconds). 

3. Slowly pour in the buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until just combined and a soft, sticky dough forms. 

4. Drop the dough into the fruit filled ramekins, spacing it evenly. Sprinkle with sugar. The dough will not cover the top entirely at first, but will spread to become an even layer once it is baked. 

5. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browned. 

6. Let cool slightly. Be patient, lest you burn your mouth. I know it's hard.

This is one of my favorite quick summer desserts, and I suggest eating it with milk and vanilla bean ice cream.

I used this recipe as inspiration. 

  

-Oksana

Date, Almond Butter, and Oat Truffles

I got the urge to make these truffles after I tried them at Whole Foods. They are made by employees right at the store, and one day, they were giving them out as free samples. I was pretty impressed after I found out they contain no sugar or dairy, as they are still sweet and delicious. Truffles are also super easy to make, especially during the summer when you don't want to get the stove going, since they require no baking. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup finely chopped pitted dates
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• pinch grated nutmeg
• pinch ground cinnamon
• water

Directions:

1. Process oats in the food processor until finely ground. 

2. Add dates, and continue processing until ground. 

3. Add the almond butter, half the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, nutmeg, and cinnamon and pulse until incorporated. 

4. The mixture will be fairly dry, so you will need to add water to make it moist and easy to shape into balls. 

5. Roll each truffle in the remaining cocoa powder.

6. Refrigerate to set, and enjoy! 

The original recipe can be found here, but Oksana and I found that it asks for too much oatmeal, making the mixture drier than it needs to be. Also, it omits water for some reason, even though when I looked at the ingredient list on the package at the store, water was listed. 

-Yana