There are few summer treats I welcome with more enthusiasm than a fruit dessert. With the fruit at its peak, even the simplest of them will please the family any night or guests invited for a weekend lunch or dinner.
As for recipes, the past decade has seen a dramatic increase in the number of restaurant pastry chefs in the Chicago area and in the quality of their work. Here are desserts I requested from two pastry chefs whose work I particularly admire.
Audrey Craig, an experienced line chef as well as pastry chef, has caught the fancy of customers at the hit restaurant Marche, 833 W. Randolph St., with her uncomplicated but distinctive renditions of classic preparations. Equally comfortable cooking in French and American, some of her signature desserts are poppyseed cake, homemade ice cream and coconut Bavarian. Here is her rendition of a New England favorite-a berry cobbler featuring blackberries. The amount of berries may seem exaggerated, but they will cook down considerably.
AUDREY CRAIG’S FRESH-BERRY COBBLER
Eight to 10 servings
For the batter:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
7 ounces milk (1 cup less 2 tablespoons)
1 large egg
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
1 1/2 pints blackberries
3 pints blueberries or loganberries
1 1/2 pints raspberries
3/4 cup brown or white granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon flour
Grated peel of 1 orange (colored portion only)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon butter
Ice cream or whipped cream, optional topping
1. Prepare batter by pouring flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into the bowl of a mixer. Combine on slow speed, then add milk. Shift speed to high to beat out any lumps. Reduce speed to slow and add egg, melted butter and vanilla. Batter will be of a pourable consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.
2. Prepare the berry filling by pouring blackberries, blueberries and raspberries into a large bowl. Add sugar, cinnamon, ginger, flour, orange zest and vanilla. Toss well.
3. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Butter the interior of a 3- to 4-inch-deep, 10-inch baking dish. Spoon in berry filling until dish is heaping full. Pour the batter mixture over the berry mixture, leaving a 1-inch border at the edge of the dish.
4. Bake until top is brown and berry mixture in bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
Gale Gand, co-owner and pastry chef of Trio, a restaurant located at 1625 Hinman Ave., Evanston, and rated four stars by the Tribune, mastered the traditional English summer pudding while cooking for nearly two years in Stapleford Park, a country house hotel in Leicestershire, England. In this low-calorie version, she substitutes reduced apple juice for sugar.
GALE GAND’S SUMMER PUDDING
10 servings
10 ounces apple juice
20 slices white bread
1 pint blueberries
1 1/2 pint raspberries
1/2 pint red currants, stems removed
2 pints strawberries, hulled and cut in half if large
1. Pour apple juice into a small saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce to 1/4 cup. Set aside to cool.
2. Line a 3-quart bowl with plastic wrap. Cut away crusts and line the bowl with bread pressed against the plastic lining, reserving enough to cover the top of the bowl. Trim bread as needed to fit.
3. Pour reduced apple juice into a large saucepan. Add blueberries, raspberries, currants and strawberries, stirring to mix berries. Bring liquid to a boil, then immediately remove from the heat.
4. Pour berries and juice into the bread-lined bowl. Cover fruit with reserved bread slices, trimming as needed to fit.
5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. To serve, remove plastic from top, then place a serving tray over the bowl and invert it. Lift away bowl, peel off plastic wrap and serve as is or with the addition of whipped cream, fruit sauce, fruit sorbet or vanilla or almond ice cream.
