I know that I am the one who is always telling you to eat seasonally, and to eat locally. But, there are times when I am weak and cave into a sale at the grocery store on some fantastic produce that looks just too good to be true! (Or, as Mark would say, “Too true to be good!”)

This happens most often with berries. I have a hard time resisting big, plump raspberries or blackberries, blueberries and strawberries. Happily, fresh, farm-raised strawberries just came into the Tucson farmers market in the past couple of weeks. While not from Arizona, they are from just across the border in California and, for me, that denotes local. The farmer drove them here, and it was she who tempted me to try one and, thus, buy a couple of pints. But, I digress…

This post today is about being bad. This is about the day that I went to my local Safeway (fill in the name of your local grocery store here) and they had the most beautiful, plump, juicy-looking blackberries I had ever seen. And they were 2 pints for $3.00! Normally, they would be around $4.00 per pint – or even half pint!

Forgive me, dear readers, for I sinned. I bought 4 pints without the slightest guilt – nor with any idea what I would make with them.

So, there I was in my kitchen – mid-winter – with a summer’s bounty in front of me. Jam? Pie? Tart? I wish I had seen Anna’s post for Blackberry and Lime Yoghurt Cake on The Littlest Anchovy that day, as it would have been perfect. But I decided to make a Blackberry Swirl Cobbler, which was also pretty darned perfect!

This is an easy recipe to pull together, although the rolling of the berries in the dough can be somewhat messy. The first time I made it, I balked at the thought of pouring all the liquid over top. But it works, and it works well. The recipe here is the basic version, but from time to time I have replaced the simple syrup with juices (apricot or peach nectar, mostly) and it has been successful, although the sweetness and texture are somewhat different.

Every once in a while, we need to be bad. And, if you are going to be bad, it might as well taste good!

– David

Blackberry Swirl Cobbler

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
16 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup whole milk
3 cups fresh blackberries
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons coarse sugar, or granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Make simple syrup. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water to a boil, reduce heat and simmer till all sugar is dissolved. Let cool.

Melt 8 tablespoons butter in 10-inch round or oval baking dish; set aside.

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and baking powder. Add remaining 8 tablespoons chilled butter (in 8 pieces) and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and pulse just until a dough forms. Turn out on floured board and pull together into a mass of dough; knead 3 or 4 times. Roll out to 11-inch by 9-inch by ¼-inch thick rectangle.

Sprinkle the dough with cinnamon and use a brush to distribute it evenly. Spread berries over dough and roll up like a jellyroll. Cut into 1 1/4 -inch thick slices.

Carefully place swirls in the prepared pan on top of the melted butter. (Berries will fall out – just replace them!) Pour simple syrup carefully over and around swirls. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over crust and bake 15 minutes more. Serve warm or cold with a dollop of ice cream.

Makes 6-8 servings. (…or 7 servings, if everyone gets their own swirl!)