With fresh rhubarb ready for harvesting and summer berries in full tilt, I turned to a trusted source for an easy dessert recipe to showcase them both.

I can’t believe it was last weekend that I made this delectable dessert and it has taken me over a week to get the recipe to you.  I suppose we have been doing our best to milk the last of summer, which means as little time in front of a computer as possible.  Hopefully many of you are doing the same!

This past spring, I had high hopes for my edible garden.  I few things here and there this summer kept me from the bountiful harvest I had seen in my crystal ball. Luckily, I did manage to get a rhubarb plant into my perennial patch. As it grew, the leaves were perforated by some creepy crawly garden inhabitants but no matter… it was the precious stalks I awaited.

There is such deep satisfaction in harvesting something from your own yard and bringing it directly into your kitchen.  In honor of a visit from some good friends, who are gardener’s themselves, I cut the stalks and planned to showcase them in a simple, summer dessert.  At first, I considered a pie but thought better of rolling out a crust (my summer laziness strikes again.)  Instead, I turned to Simply Recipes for a strawberry rhubarb cobbler recipe. Due to lack of ingredients, I omitted the orange zest and substituted cornstarch for the quick cooking tapioca. We savored our warm cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  This dessert alone is worth a few more rhubarb plants in garden next year.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler Recipe
from Simply Recipes

Fruit mixture:
4 1/2 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1-inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks; make sure to trim away any and discard of the leaves which are poisonous; trim ends.)
1 1/2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca
1 teaspoon of grated orange peel

Cobbler crust:

2 Tbsp white sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a bowl, mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, and orange zest. Let sit to macerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 Tablespoons of sugar, the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened.

Pour fruit into a 2-quart casserole dish. Drop the batter on the fruit. Bake in a 350°F oven for 35 minutes until cobbler crust is golden brown.

Serves 4-6. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.