Strawberry Dumplings!

  

These strawberry dumplings are an old, old recipe that my grandmother and aunt made when my mother was just a little girl.  My grandparents were farmers raising 11 children and times were hard for a lot of folks back then, but they always had plenty of butter and cream and they grew strawberries, so this was a special treat that was fairly easy for them to have.

This would definitely be a recipe Julia Child would approve of since it uses her two favorite ingredients.  There are no substitutions for the butter and cream either.  You can  make these with other fruit...blackberries, peaches, blueberries, even apple slices would be good.  This is what you will need for these: 

2  1/2 cups biscuit mix (like Bisquick)

3/4 cup cold water

4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

8 Tbs. butter, divided

1  1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

                Mix the biscuit mix and water and roll into a ball. Place on a floured surface.



Divide the ball into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a circle.  Place 1/ 2 cup strawberries, 1 Tbs. butter and 2 Tbs. sugar on top of the berries.

Wet the dough around the edges just a little and pinch each 'dumpling' up into a  little purse.  Place seam side up in a greased 9"x13" baking dish. 

Pour the 2 cups of cream over  and around the dumplings.  Sprinkle each with 1 more tablespoon of sugar.  Place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour uncovered.  Half way through the baking time, remove from the oven and dip some of the cream up and pour back over the tops of each dumpling.  This keeps them from drying out and makes the tops nice and brown.

Remove from oven and serve with ice cream, whipped cream or just like this!  These are just delicious! 

Strawberry Dumplings!

Easy Peasy Cobbler Cake!

This is one of the easiest recipes you will ever make.  There is no mixing, beating or stirring and very little measuring!   It's so easy it makes a perfect recipe to get the children involved in.  They can do this one, pretty much by themselves, with the exception of taking it in and out of the oven.  

 Some call this a "Dump Cake", but my family advised me to call it something a little more appetizing for you all!   The word "dump" has so many connotations in our language and none of them are really appetizing!   Therefore, I have made it one of my easy peasy recipes!   This is a cake that has a cobbler like consistency and it's absolutely delicious with a scoop of ice cream on it!   Here is what you will need for this:

1  (20 oz.) can of crushed pineapple, do not drain

1 (21 oz.) can of cherry pie filling (can use whatever other flavor you like also)

1 (18.5 oz.) box yellow cake mix

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup butter (2 sticks) cut in thin slices, about 12 pats each stick

1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray a 9"x13" baking pan with nonstick spray.

Pour the crushed pineapple in the bottom.  Do not drain it.

Spoon the pie filling evenly over the pineapple.

Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the pie filling.

Sprinkle with the cinnamon.

Cover the cake mix with the pats of butter.

Sprinkle with the chopped nuts. 

Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour.

This is best served warm with ice cream!





Easy Peasy Peach Cobbler!

We are getting into peach season here in southern Kentucky and there is nothing better in the fruit category, to me, than a juicy ripe peach right off of the tree.  I am actually not much of a fruit lover, mainly because so many fruits don't love me back or the acid in them doesn't, but peaches are just one of my favorites if they are in season.  Also, there are so many delicious things you make with peaches.  Peach cobbler is a huge favorite in our house and I actually have several different ways I make it depending on how much time I have when I make it.   This is one of the easiest ways to make any type of cobbler.  Here is what you need:

***4 cups of fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and diced

1  1/2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)

1 cup of self rising flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, divided

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

***You can substitute 2 (15 oz.) cans of sliced peaches, undrained for the fresh peaches

Place the peeled and diced peaches in bowl with 1/2 cup of sugar.  Peaches are sweet naturally and don't require much sweetening. 

In a 9"x13" baking pan, melt the butter.

Mix together the milk, self rising flour,  1 cup sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla and 1 tsp. cinnamon until smooth.  Pour over the melted butter in the baking pan.  DO NOT STIR.

Lay the peaches over the batter and DO NOT STIR.   Sprinkle the top with the other 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon.  Place in the oven and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the top is brown.

This is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream! 





Crazy Mixed Up Berry Cobbler!

There is a bed and breakfast in our area that serves what they call a 'Bumbleberry Cobbler' as one of their featured desserts.  It's a cobbler with an assortment of berries in it and it's delicious.  Most of their cooks are Mennonite women who live in that community and those ladies can definitely cook.  This recipe is a variation on that idea for a cobbler.  I don't have their recipe, so one day I decided to make my own. 

 Of course, I added a few things, but this is a good variation and it is the easiest cobbler you can make.  No rolling out crust or making the lattice top.  Although, I think that is very pretty and probably makes for a better presentation, this cobbler takes a lot less time and tastes every bit as good.  You can also use this basic cobbler recipe and use any sort of filling you like or have on hand.

First, melt 1 stick of butter in a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Mix together milk, self rising flour, sugar and cinnamon until smooth.

It will look like this when blended.  Pour this mixture over the butter.  Do not stir.

Mix one bag of frozen mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries) and one can of sliced peaches with 1 cup sugar.   Thaw the berries slightly by leaving them out for about an hour or so.  Don't drain the peaches, use the juice they are canned in.   You can use fresh berries instead of frozen and if you don't want to use the peaches just use 6 cups of berries and add 1/2 cup of water to the berry/sugar mixture.   The peaches do balance the berries out nicely though.

I sliced the peach slices in half.

Pour fruit mixture evenly over the batter.  Do not mix.  Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top is nice and brown.  Ovens vary so set the timer for 50 minutes and if it hasn't browned enough leave it for 5 to 10 more minutes.

This is how it will look when browned.  The crust rises to the top and the berries form a delicious filling. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream! 

Ingredients:

4 cups mixed berries, fresh or frozen (use a mixture of any you like)

1 15 oz. can sliced peaches in syrup (do not drain)

1 stick butter (can use margarine)

2 cups sugar (1 for batter, 1 for sweetening berries)

1 cup self rising flour

1 cup milk

1 tsp cinnamon

OPTIONS:  You can substitute any fruit you like in this. For example use 2 cans of peaches with their juice for a peach cobbler.