Posted on: Wednesday, May 25, 2005
RECIPE DOCTOR
Whipped butter lightens hot apple blueberry cobbler
By Elaine Magee
You know when restaurants purposely bring the dessert tray to your table for all to view and drool over? Well, Elephant Bar's apple blueberry cobbler with walnut butter streusel (served a la mode) is pretty hard to resist.
I put together a similar dessert using whipped butter and less of it for the topping, with some light pancake syrup instead of sugar (to make up the difference in lost moisture from decreasing the butter). Instead of liquid whipping cream, as some cobbler topping recipes call for, I used fat-free half-and-half.
The filling was made with thinly sliced apples and frozen blueberries, 1/2 cup of sugar (other cobbler recipes call for twice that amount), and ground cinnamon and some starch to thicken the juices. I didn't dot anything with more butter (filling or topping), and I kept the added whipped butter to the smallest amount I could get away with and still be able to call this a cobbler. If you are in the "a la mode" mood, serve each dessert with a small scoop (1/8 cup to 1/4 cup) of light vanilla ice cream. Regular cobbler recipe contains 400 calories, 19 grams fat, and 9 grams of saturated fat per serving.
HOT APPLE BLUEBERRY COBBLER WITH WALNUT BUTTER STREUSEL
Filling:
Topping:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Add filling ingredients to a large bowl and toss gently to blend well. Transfer fruit mixture to 9-inch deep square or round baking dish coated with canola cooking spray.
Bake until fruit is tender and juices bubble, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, add flour, walnuts, pancake syrup, baking powder, salt, whipped butter (adding in tablespoons) to food processor bowl and pulse briefly until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour mixture into medium-size bowl and gradually add the fat-free half-and-half, up to 1/2 cup, depending upon whether you want a firmer or softer topping, mixing with fork until moist clumps form. Add topping in small spoonfuls to mostly cover the hot filling. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of sugar if desired. Bake cobbler until the top is golden brown (about 30 minutes). Spoon warm cobbler in deep serving bowls and top with a small scoop of light vanilla ice cream if desired.
Makes 6 servings.
• Per serving (with 1/2 cup half-and-half): 280 calories, 6 g protein, 49 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 2.8 g saturated fat, 2.1 g monounsaturated fat, 3.1 g polyunsaturated fat, 11 mg cholesterol, 4 g fiber, 320 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 26 percent. Omega-3 fatty acids, .4 g. Weight Watchers points, 5. Omega-6 fatty acids, 2.9 g. Elaine Magee's new book is "Fry Light, Fry Right." Reach her at doctor@recipedoctor.com.
