Is there anything better on a summer evening than the smell and taste of hot blackberry cobbler? What about fresh hot cobbler on a cold winter day? You can make that cold weather cobbler by freezing fresh berries during the summer.

Step 1: Picking Berries

Picking Berries

Whether you're picking your blackberries from a field, a farmer's market, or your neighborhood supermarket, look for fruit that is uniformly black and firm. Stains on your hands or containers mean that some of the berries are damaged.

Step 2: Preparing the Berries

Preparing Berries

When you're ready to freeze the berries, rinse them gently in a bowl of water. Remove any damaged or soft fruit. Pinch off the circle of small leaves at the top of each berry, and spread the berries out on a towel until you have rinsed them all.

Step 3: Preparation for Freezing Your Fresh Berries

Freezing Berries

There are two ways to process blackberries for freezing. (Note: make sure you label the containers with contents and date.)

Freeze them together. If you know that you'll be using an entire container of frozen berries at once - in cobbler, for example - you can simply fill a freezer bag or carton with berries and place them in the freezer. If you'd like to add sugar to the berries before you freeze them, use 1 Tbsp to 1 cup of sugar for each quart of berries. Stir gently and pour the berries into a freezer bag or carton.

Freeze them individually. With this method, you'll be able to remove as many or as few frozen berries as you need. Spread the dry berries in a thin layer on the bottom of a pan. Place the pan in the freezer until the berries are frozen. Place the frozen berries into freezer bags or cartons.

Enjoy your blackberries and stop by again soon for our cobbler recipe!

Step 4: Remove to Use When Desired

When you open a bag of frozen berries, it's amazing how plump and firm they will be. Freezing has its own way of preserving the berries. They are now ready to be used in cobblers, pies, and smoothies!

Step 5: Blackberry Recipe (For Frozen Berries)

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Sugar

4 Cups Frozen Blackberries

1/2 Stick of butter

Mix flour milk in a bowl, stir until the flour becomes smooth. Pour in the bottom of a baking dish. Mix berries and sugar in a bowl, stir gently to mix. Pour berry and sugar mixture on top of the flour and milk mixture. Top with butter slices and bake 450 for 45-55 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Allow to cool, top with ice cream. An excellent and fast homemade Ice cream recipe below:

Step 6: Quart Jar Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS

1 c. heavy cream

3 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS Pour cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt into a mason jar and secure tightly with a lid. Shake the mason jar until the cream thickens and almost doubles in size, 4 to 5 minutes. It should be opaque and easily coat the back of a wooden spoon.Freeze for 3 hours, or until hardened. Scoop out ice cream with a spoon and serve with your favorite ice cream toppings.