Mixed Berry Cobbler – and other ways to serve all those berries you picked

It’s berry season where we are!  When Anna said she was going to write a post about all she learned while berry picking with her family at River Ridge Farm, it reminded me that we haven’t been berry picking in a LONG time. What do you do with all of your u-pick berries? Her post also reminded me of all the ways I serve berries in my house. My favorite way is to make mixed berry cobbler! 

Mixed Berry Cobbler

Cobbler is relatively simple to make and it offers an easy opportunity for kids to help in the kitchen: rinsing berries, mixing them with sugar and lemon juice and zest, mixing the cobbler and adding the cobbler on top of the berries.  

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Serve the cobbler warm from the oven with either a scoop of ice cream or a good amount of cream poured over. It also tastes great the next morning at breakfast, warmed a bit and with cream.

How to rinse berries

I don’t rinse delicate berries, like raspberries and black raspberries, until shortly before I’m going to use them. Otherwise, they start to go bad. However, other more sturdy berries, such as strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, I rinse shortly after buying them.

To rinse berries, place the berries in a colander. Then, fill a bowl big enough to hold the colander with tap water. Set the colander containing the berries in the bowl of water and move it around just a bit. Then, let the berries soak in the water for a minute or two. Remove the colander from the water.  (Do this a couple more times with strawberries). 

Place the berries on a paper towel-lined baking sheet or dish and store them in the refrigerator. They’ll stay fresher longer if you store them in a single layer. You can also transfer them to a paper towel-lined container and place a lid on it.

Simple steps to freeze berries

Anna brought their extra blueberries home and froze them. It’s really simple. You just have to create a little space in your freezer.

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1. Rinse the berries and then spread them on a sheet pan in a single layer. (No paper towel this time. You can use parchment paper or just place them directly on the pan).
2. Place the pan with the berries in the freezer. Leave them there for a few hours or even overnight.
3. Lable freezer bags with the date so you’ll know how long the berries have been in the freezer. (Most sources will say use them within six months. But I have used frozen fruits and veggies that I’ve had for a year and they’ve been fine).
4. Remove the pan from the freezer and scoop the berries with a large serving spoon into quart-sized freezer bags.
5. Seal the bags and place them back in the freezer until you’re ready to use the berries.

More ways to serve berries

• Add berries to salads, cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles
• Sprinkle with sugar and pour cream over them.  My grandmother used to serve this for dessert in the summer
• Add berries to toast with nut butter or sun butter
• Serve them on their own 
• Freeze them and use them later in smoothies, muffins, cakes, and other baked goods
• Make freezer jam
• Make sauces (my mother-in-law makes a simple blackberry mustard sauce for roast pork)
• Fruit leather (I’ve never made this, but am going to give it a try)
• Popsicles and sorbet

What’s your favorite way to serve berries?

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