Back home on Canada's east coast, our fruit and vegetables aren't as tasty as they are here. There are only a few ingredients that I can honestly say are better there.

One of those ingredients is blueberries. This time of year, we walk along the sides of the road, looking for wild blueberry bushes.

There are a few things to be aware of, when picking wild blueberries. We go off-road for the berries, as well, into the woods and down isolated forest paths, and these delicious orbs of sweetness are also favourite snacks for the neighbourhood black bears.

These guys are usually as scared of us as we are of them; so we just make lots of noise to avoid coming across a bear and startling it. Once, my cousin, who was never particularly known for his smarts, saw a bear and climbed a tree to escape.

Afterwards, my father asked him why he climbed the tree - did he not know black bears are also adept climbers? He was fine, anyway.

After picking berries, we would keep some for baking and save more for freezing. Blueberries freeze really well and are great for making sauces (like the one in this cobbler).

A dense fruity base with a soft, slightly crunchy scone topping - what's not to love?

I love a good cobbler in the summer. A dense fruity base with a soft, slightly crunchy scone topping - what's not to love? Cobblers are best served warm, with ice cream. If you cover the lid before baking, the scones will steam instead of baking. It will no longer be a blueberry cobbler then - it will be a blueberry grunt! That's another recipe for another time.

Maple blueberry cobbler

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

500g fresh or frozen blueberries (wild are nicer but hard to find)

200ml good-quality maple syrup

1tbsp cornflour, mixed with 60ml water

250g plain flour

2tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

50g dark brown sugar

60g cold, cubed butter

1 large egg

200ml buttermilk

Directions

1 Make the blueberry base: in a saucepan, add the blueberries and maple syrup. Bring to a simmer. Add the cornflour mixed with the water and stir until thickened. Remove from the heat.

2 Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. In a large bowl, add the flour, salt, brown sugar and baking powder. Add the butter and rub it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

3 Make a well in the centre and add the egg and buttermilk. Mix until just combined; do not over mix.

4 Place the blueberries in a shallow, oven-safe dish and carefully spoon the cobbler batter over the top, in large dollops. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

5 Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. While still warm, spoon the cobbler into bowls and top with vanilla ice cream.