Recipe: Individual Cherry Cobblers

(adapted from Marcia Adams' Cooking From Quilt Country: Hearty Recipes from Amish and Mennonite Kitchens)  

Each of us has our own summer traditions. Other people go camping or have family reunions. I sit outside and remove the stones from hundreds of cherries with my late grandmother's cherry pitter. It's relaxing — almost meditative. And there is supreme satisfaction in baking with cherries that one has prepared oneself, rather than merely opening an inferior can of pie filling.

Cherries:

• 2 cups pitted sour cherries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Topping:

• 3/4 cup unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Grease two 1-1/4 cup ramekins, and place onto a baking sheet.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the cherries; divide among the ramekins.

In the same bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; with a fork, mix in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the egg and the half-and-half until well combined; divide among the ramekins and spread the batter to the edges of the ramekins (but the cherries don't need to be fully covered).

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon brown sugar over each ramekin.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden and a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream as an accompaniment.

Serves 2.

This recipe was adapted by Mary Bilyeu and originally posted on AnnArbor.com on July 26, 2011.