A seasonal dessert is bittersweet. You crave it in December but know you have to wait till July. Kind of like when you want to wear that cute new sweater but it’s still early September and you know it deserves a better debut than sweating in it all day.

Waiting all year for the month or two of blueberry season is a constant battle in my family.  Yes, you can get blueberries all year round. But we choose to wait till the hot, dry Colorado sun is beating down, water restrictions are tight and the smell of sunscreen follows you around.

Walking into the grocery store to the sight of large packages of blueberries for half their usual price is such an event it makes it into the group family text.

My mom pushing the grocery cart next to me, my cousin down the street- we all congratulate ourselves for waiting till this point. Everyone will buy lots of blueberries, plan a family dinner and I will make this blueberry cobbler. And then we revel in what is about to come out of the oven and we savor what we know will be fleeting summer perfection.

This recipe produces such incredible flavor for such little effort it is hard not to make it less than twice a week. To be hyperbolic- it is the greatest of all time. The warm, lemony, blueberry filling begs to be paired with cold vanilla ice cream. If the unreal purply blue swirling into the melting ice cream doesn’t convince you this is a work of art then the first bite will.

This recipe was the first to really demonstrate the importance of lemon in a fruit dish. And the cornmeal and slight hint of cinnamon turns simple drop biscuits into perfection.

My mom would vouch that this is best the next day with her morning coffee and I vouch that is best every minute of the day.

Make it in fall or winter with the blueberries (even frozen) available if you must, but remember that gifts on Christmas morning are not nearly as sweet if you know what they are in August.

Blueberry Cobbler

Filling

6 cups blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

pinch of cinnamon

pinch of salt

zest of a lemon

lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

Biscuit

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/3 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

For Filling

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees with oven rack at lower-middle rack. Place a 9-inch pie plate on a cooking sheet.
2. Gently mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch cinnamon, salt, zest and juice together in small bowl.
3. Pour blueberry mixture in to pie plate and bake until bubbling, 25 minutes.

For Biscuits

1. While filling is baking, whisk dry ingredients in a small bowl to combine.
2. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
3. When there is a minute left on the filling baking time, add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients.
4. Stir with the broad side of a rubber spatula until the dough just come together.
5. Take the filling out of the oven and raise the baking temperature to 425 degrees.
6. Drop the biscuit dough over the filling in 5 or 6 biscuits.
7. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until the biscuits are golden. Remove, let cool and serve with ice cream.