Cherry Plum Cobbler with Ricotta Cream

Part of eating healthy is of course eating seasonal, ripe, fresh, and local. If you want fruit in Sicily at a decent price, actually at ridiculously low prices, eat seasonal, fresh, ripe, and local. For example, the cherries and plums I bought for this were either free or $1.35 per kilo (2.2 lbs)!  The cherries are from Etnas 10,000 feet of mountain. So so good. 

So anyway, I'm teaching them a little about southern cooking. They LOVE cobbler. I don't get why their cuisine doesn't have this, but it doesn't. Lots of crostatas, which can be dry, and dry isn't nice in summer like cobbler with ice cream, now is it! 

I made two of these, in two 9" cake pans. One for each of my sisters in law. One upstairs and one down. They were a huge hit, as I adapted them a bit to their taste. My family here doesn't like vanilla ice cream. Yes it's weird. And I about died when they put chocolate ice cream on my peach cobbler, since they don't like vanilla. Ugh. So I adapted. You'll love it. You can do this in a 13x9 pan as well for a larger or hungrier group. Just don't divide anything!

Cherry Plum Cobbler with Ricotta Cream

1/2 c butter, divided 

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

Pinch salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg beaten

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract 

1/4 c strawberry or other jam

1/3 c sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

Two cups pitted fresh cherries

Two cups sliced plums. I used the slightly mushy yellow ones and it came out gorgeous and yummy. 

1 c ricotta cheese, the wetter the better

3-4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2-3 tbsp milk

Lemon zest optional. 

Mix the cherries and plum pieces in a bowl. Add 1/3 c sugar and 2 tsp cornstarch and mix. Add the jam and mix. Set aside 30 min to macerate and make all those wonderful juices. Add lemon zest if desired. 

When time is up, heat oven to 350. 

Put 1/4 c butter in each pan and place in oven as it heats. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients for the cobbler in a bowl, then add the milk, extract and egg, and mix. Set aside. 

Your butter should be just melted. Take the pans out when it's melted and pour half of the batter in each pan on top of the butter. Yum. 

Now spoon the fruit evenly over the top of the batter. DON'T STIR PLEASE. The batter will rise up and make a pretty and tasty treat. Lastly spoon the juices over the two pans. 

Place in oven and bake 50-60 min, rotating the pans halfway through to bake evenly. They're done when the edges pull away from the sides. 

To serve, mix the ricotta, sugar and vanilla in a bowl well. Get the lumps out. You can even whisk it. Then add a bit of milk and stir in till the consistency of homemade whipped cream. Kind of plops when you dollop it. 

Serve each wedge with a dollop of ricotta cream. It's as good cooled as warm. This would be great with ice cream, but as I said, it would have to be vanilla. Can't get the Sicilians to eat vanilla ice cream, but put ricotta in and everyone is on board!  Buon appetito!

Peach Cobbler a la italiana

Ok ok so peach cobbler isn't Italian. It should be. It has all the required characteristics of an Italian dessert. Not too sweet. Fresh fruit. A lemon. Oh and gelato. I made some last night. And now all my sisters in law are making it. 

This cobbler was really easy and I eyeballed most of the ingredients. So here's the eyeball method. 

Preheat oven to 425F or 200C. 

Take a round 9" cake pan and fill it with chunked up fresh peaches. Here, if you want fruit, it had better be in season. Besides bananas and pineapples, the only fruit around is in season and local. Right now it's cherries, fist sized figs, and peaches. The flat ones. I had never used them since in the states they're unripened and smell nasty where I live. Here they're perfect. Of course, because they're in season. 

I filled the pan with about 8 large flat peaches. I just cut them in wedges about 1/2" or less thick. 

Add 1/3 cup sugar

A heaping teaspoon cornstarch

The zest of one large lemon and its juice 

1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract. Or none if you don't have any. No big deal. 

By the way, I have a new zest theory. We waste so much wonderful lemon zest using that little zesting tool. I use a sharp knife and just cut off the yellow. Make sure what comes off is yellow on both sides. Then cut in tiny zester looking strips. You get a TON of lemon zest, and because its cooked in sugar, it's a pleasure to find a piece now and then. Just my two euros worth of opinion. 

Ok so put this pan in the oven for 12 minutes. Or 15. Doesn't matter. Meanwhile make your dough. So easy. 

Mix a cup flour

Half a cup sugar

A heaping tsp baking powder

Two BIG pinches salt. Blend a little with your fingers. 

Add a stick of cold butter that you've cut in little pieces. Smoosh now into the flour over and over bit by bit until its all flaky. 

Now this is the weird part. Heat some water till really hot. Drizzle it into the flour, about a tbsp at a time, and fluff with a fork. Keep adding just until the dough comes together. Stir a tad to

Wet everything, and then dollop on top of the hot peaches. It'll probably cover it but don't worry if it doesn't. 

Pop back in the oven about 30 minutes or until brown and bubbly. Done!  This needs to be warm or hot even when served. And must be with ice cream. Over here vanilla is rare so we use fior di latte (the flower of the milk I.e. cream), or panna (cream). Any which way it works. Last night the little ones were asking for seconds. Should've know better than to make one pan for 11 people...