I love making cobblers for dessert in the summer with seasonal fresh fruit. Cobblers are quick and easy, but can be dressed up with ice cream or homemade whip cream. I usually make peach or pear cobblers, but this time I tried to create something new for dessert: Chocolate Cherry Cayenne Cobbler.

I couldn’t resist the beautiful red cherries at the Boulder Farmers’ Market. And when I found myself craving dessert on Saturday night, a chocolate cherry cobbler was the answer.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 tsp (or more) of cayenne
• 1/3 cups sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1 TB walnut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 3-4 cups cherries, split in half and pitted

Put the cherries and chocolate chips in a pie pan or any other glass baking dish. Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside in one bowl, and mix together the wet ingredients in another. Pour the wet into the dry, mix well, and pour over the cherries. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or so, until the top is baked all the way through. Ovens definitely vary, so check it after 20 or 25 minutes to be sure it isn’t over-cooking.

Since I recently made a rhubarb cobbler, I wanted to make this one a little different to avoid being boring. I basically followed the recipe from my last Rhubarb Cobbler, but changed it a bit.

I cooked 6 stalks of rhubarb that I chopped into manageable chunks with 1/4 cup maple syrup on medium high heat until the syrup started to boil. I dropped it down to medium low and stirred it frequently until it looked like the mixture in the photo below. I added some freshly ground black pepper and transferred it to a pie pan.

For the topping, combine in one bowl:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger (I buy mine from Savory Spice Shop)
• a pinch of sea salt

• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 TB plain rice milk (I make homemade rice milk)
• 1 TB walnut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until it looks like this.

I served it with some Ginger Cream Ice Cream from Boulder Ice Cream and enjoyed every last bite!

Rhubarb is in season, which means I am serving rhubarb for dessert. I spiced-up my Peach Cobbler recipe slightly and came up with a very satisfying treat.

I started with 6-8 stalks of rhubarb (tops cut off) and coarsely chopped them into bite-sized chunks. I added these to a sauce pan on medium heat and cooked them down with 1/4 cup maple syrup until they were softened. I did not cook this until it was a completely mushy mess because it needed to be baked. I just got it started and incorporated some maple into it.

I poured it into a Pyrex pie pan and topped it with a mixture from my peach Cobbler Recipe.

Then I baked it at 350 for approximately 30 minutes until it looked ready to eat. I let it cool a bit… patiently.

I served it with homemade maple whipped cream.