"James Beard's Berry Grunt"

By RoketJSquerl

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds berries or fruit of choice
• 3/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons sugar, separate
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream, whipped lightly

Details

Adapted from eclecticfaerie.wordpress.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375F {or 350F convection}
Grease a 9-inch square brownie pan
Place the fruit evenly in the pan, then sprinkle with 3/4 cup of the sugar; toss to coat
Dot the surface of fruit with the butter cubes
Whip the cream, not too stiff
Sift the flour, the 3 tablespoons of sugar and the salt into a mixing bowl; gently stir in the whipped cream until it becomes a really sticky dough
Use a big spoon {and your finger} to scoop and drop the dough over the fruit; spread gently to cover as much as possible
Place pan on a lined baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes until lightly brown & bubbly
You can cut back a bit on the 3/4 cup sugar if you’re not using rhubarb, but the sugar is what makes the juice thicken. It also works fine in any shallow pan or dish of comparable size.