Vegan Black Raspberry Cobbler with Biscuit Thick Crust (Heirloom Amish Recipe. . . and your mother was right: Always. Wear. Sunscreen!)

This week: bake, eat, bake some more, run, garden, pet the dogs and bake again--oh and attend a medical procedure for DH. This cobbler is a result of what happens with a black raspberry patch that's gone amok and a whole lot of stress on the side. The cobbler is an old recipe from one of my mother's Amish cookbooks. Growing up in Indiana, many of our summer trips involved a visit to Amish country. Mom was into the Amish. Though I don't think she'd trade her modern conveniences like electricity (powering her sunlamps!) for the whole "Amish" way. Ever. 

A huge black raspberry crop showed up in our yard this summer. (I have the remnants from the thorns all over my upper arm to prove it--a small price to pay for enjoying these delicious fruits.) We had no trouble devouring them. On my last trip down the hill, I had harvested about four cups of berries. I knew immediately they'd be made into a cobbler (one of DH's favorites). Problem was, I didn't know which recipe I'd use. About ten years ago, I had used this same Amish recipe, but with the traditional butter/fat/and a TON of sugar--the recipe called for. Not this time. I whole-grained the crust up and then cut back on the sugar and of course, used vegan butter. The result was pure heaven. You should check to be sure you have some vegan ice cream on hand. Pretty much mandatory for finishing this dish.

One school of thought in baking with black raspberries is that there needs to be A LOT of sugar to offset the bitter taste the berries leave after baking. That's not my school of thought. Black raspberries are very full of seeds and bake up a bit on the tart side. I like the tartness offset by the super-thick, yummy crust.

A very simple way to throw a cobbler together--only one bowl is needed to combine the ingredients for the crust. Meantime, place your black raspberries in the baking dish.

Make the cobbler crust--using a very light hand--don't over mix this. 

At this stage, it's ready to be formed into a disc and placed in the fridge for about 45 minutes to chill. While the dough chills, prepare the berries and preheat your oven to 350.

Be sure to toss some lemon zest or orange zest in with your raspberries--a flavor enhancer.

No rolling pin is needed for the dough--just lightly shape and place it as evenly as possible over the fruit mixture.

Slash across the dough, sprinkle sugar over it and bake! *Notice how thick the pastry is? You want it just like this. It's not a pie, it's a cobbler! The full recipe is below.

So a couple of months back, Dr. Thyme had a "spot" removed on his hand. The spot came back as a type of skin cancer--not the worst type, but a middle-of-the-road type. Still. The word: cancer. Well, given he is not one iota Mediterranean--he sunburns easily, one could surmise that eventually something like this might show up. He's never been a sun person. 

(I'm the sun person, or was: lifeguard, beach hound--for heaven's sake--grew up on Lake Michigan, plus trips to Florida with family.) Both of my parents, my mom and step dad were tan, tan, tan--so tan. Dad of German heritage--loved the sun, mom of we-have-no-idea-but-boy-did-she-turn-copper-fast--she loved the sun, too (and when no sun, she paid homage to her tanning lamps). Me, a tow head blonde, I inherited some of the olive skin genes from my mother--but only some. I suffered the most from the vicious sun's rays--while the rest of the family could spend all day in full sun on exposure, slathered in some concoction of baby oil and iodine (oh the horrors!). Not me--I never smelled of baby oil. Half the time I'd be bobbing in the water with my dad's big white t-shirt on to keep from getting third degree sun burns, zinc oxide smothered over my face, chest and shoulders, appearing as some inflatable Stay-Puft Marshmallow kid--mom screaming after me to come back in from the water and get "more sunscreen on those burnt shoulders!". 

After about thirty-five and a big dose of common sense--I try not to ever allow even a speck of sunlight hit my skin without a 100 level sunscreen on my body and face and a hat is not optional. 

With age comes much wisdom.

Well, this week we had what was thought to be the follow-up to the first skin thingy Dr. Thyme had: a look-see, double check "small" surgery after the first "snip" as I like to call it. The first "snip" healed beautifully and for all intents and purposes, we thought things looked really good. On this, the second follow-up visit, of course, I accompanied him. No biggie.

Neither one of us was prepared for what happened next. 

First of all, they call his name and escort us BOTH into the room where said procedure was to take place. 

I said, Whoa! Do I need to be here? I brought my knitting. I can wait outside.

Oh no, it's fine that you're here. We have chairs in the room for family.  

Really?. . . Because I might get "ill". 

(Because I am NOT a nurse, have NO stomach for such things as procedures and what have you.) 

But "stay" I did. For DH. 

But I wasn't quiet about it.

Five hours later and a four inch scar on my husband's hand, all was done. While I was sitting there in the office--curiosity got the best of me. (*Might as well get a bang for a buck--the nurse was chatty, so the inquisitive side of me emerged.) What I came away with was a way better understanding on the dangers of the sun, best sunscreens to use (came home with some "doctor approved" face protection), what to look for on labels and. . . oh, and a lesson on "wound dressing" too. Ew. 

My first day of "wound dressing"--well, I wasn't quite as adept at it as I thought I'd be and my scream sort of scared the dogs. To say I got squeamish would be an understatement. I didn't think I'd be able to manage "it". I panicked. Then Dr. Thyme reassured me that I was doing "such a great job"--and that it didn't matter that the tape was crooked and all knotted together in some spots--I'd done "a really fine job". 

Awwww. He's been such a trooper. 

You could use any summer berry for this recipe. Combine several different berries, if you'd like. Either way, you'll love this.

Vegan Black Raspberry Cobbler with Biscuit Thick Crust

*Adapted from, Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams  

For the dough

3/4 cup spelt flour

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 T. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 stick vegan butter

1/3 cup coconut milk

For the filling

4 cups berries

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 T. unbleached all-purpose flour

4 T. vegan butter

zest of 1 small orange (*optional)

OR

zest of 1 lemon (*optional)

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/4 t. ground cinnamon

2 T. sugar (for sprinkling over crust before baking)

Preheat oven to 350. Make the dough first. Place flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium mixing bowl--whisk together. Add small pieces of butter to flour mixture and with a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until pea-sized pieces appear. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time and mix with a fork--very lightly mix--until all of milk has been used. Form dough into a round disc and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. While dough chills, prepare filling. Place berries in 1 1/2 qt. baking dish--add remaining filling ingredients and toss lightly. After dough has chilled, place it on a lightly floured counter top and gently shape by hand to cover your berries in their baking dish. Slash the dough three times and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve with your favorite vegan ice cream!