What's For Dessert: Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

As I mentioned yesterday, at the Headhouse farmers' market this past Sunday I spied a pile of ruby-red rhubarb for sale by Culton Organics, and I just couldn't resist buying a half-pound of the stuff. Since I have used most of the rhubarb I've had on hand this spring in bread recipes (see here, here, and here), I decided this time around I'd head back to dessert territory. I wasn't in the mood to fuss with a crust, so pies and tarts were out. I already posted a crumble recipe on the blog, and crisps aren't that much different, so I opted to try my hand at a cobbler recipe. I scoured the web for a recipe to use, and ended up cobbling (ha ha!) together the following recipe using this strawberry-rhubarb crumble recipe I posted last year and this "best berry cobbler" recipe from Martha Stewart, along with a few additional tweaks here and there.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler (printer-friendly version)

makes 9 servings

For the filling:

6 stalks rhubarb, rinsed and cut into 1/2" slices

2 C organic strawberries, rinsed, hulled, halved, and quartered

2 T cornstarch

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t lavender vanilla bean sugar [optional]

1/2 C sugar

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 t lemon zest

1. Combine the sliced rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl. Stir in the cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

2. Let the fruit mixture sit for at least 15 minutes before putting together the whole dish.

For the cobbler biscuit topping:

3/4 C whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

4 ounces (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 C cold organic half and half, plus more for brushing

turbinado sugar for sprinkling

1. Add the flours, baking powder, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined.

2. Add in the small pieces of cold unsalted butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

3. Dump the contents of the food processor into a large bowl.

4. Pour in the cold half and half while stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon. Continue stirring until the dough begins to come together.

5. Form the dough into a large ball. Make nine small dough balls out of the large dough ball. Set the dough balls aside.

To make the cobbler:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Pour the fruit mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish. Make sure to spoon in any juices remaining in the bowl.

3. Place the dough balls onto the fruit mixture, spacing them evenly.

4. Brush each dough ball with half and half. Then sprinkle each ball with turbinado sugar.

5. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. (In order to prevent a potential mess in your oven, place the baking dish on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil to catch any spillage.)

6. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

7. Serve with a small (or large!) scoop of homemade or high-quality vanilla ice cream.