Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Tuesdays With Dorie~ Mixed Berry Cobbler



Hooray!! It is my week to choose the recipe for the dynamic baking group,TUESDAYS WITH DORIE, and I (with Nate's help) picked the Mixed Berry Cobbler out of Baking; From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. This recipe is so summery, so delicious and SO EASY!



I have been having a wonderful time baking the recipes from this book, and can't believe that the less than thirty folks baking together when I joined has blossomed into more than TWO HUNDRED!! So, about a month ago, I explained to Nate that my pick was coming up and we went through the book together and marked our top (it was going to be 10 but ended up being like 25) recipes. Since life has been bustling lately, and I know summer is a big change of pace for a lot of people, I wanted to choose something that was basic, easy, classic and something you could make with kids. YAY SUMMER!
It came down between the banana cream pie and this cobbler. Considering I had everything on hand for the cobbler, it won out.

One of the great things about being part of this group is the creativity, ideas, support and tips that come from a group all trying the same recipe at the same time.
So you have to go around and check out all the different, fabulous cobblers!



Nate has always told me how much he loves cobbler, with the biscuit crust baked INTO the fruit. I've never made it this way before so I mixed up the dough, prepped the fruit filling and let him put it together.





We just made a few lil'changes...
Since it is my week, I am posting this recipe for anyone who wants to give it a whirl~ but that said, if you haven't already, get your tushy out and BUY THIS BOOK!
I am also not writing it EXACTLY as it is in the book, just paraphrasing...



Dough/"Topping"
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder I used a heaping tablespoon
3 tablespoons sugar I used 2 T. white sugar, 1 T. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter, cut into little bits
3/4 c cold heavy cream
I added 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Filling
5 cups mixed berries (Dorie suggests going light on the strawberries because they can be too watery for cobbler). Frozen, not is syrup, no need to defrost (WOOHOO!) or frh We used frozen peaches, blackberries & blueberries, and more like 6-8 cups since the dough was going to be mixed in and soaking up lots of juice...
4-5 tablespoons sugar used 4
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon or lime I used the zest of 1/4 of an orange
(optional) 1/4 tsp (or to taste) freshly ground black pepper.

Vanilla ice cream of course, for serving.



Preheat the oven to 375, butter a 9-inch, deep-dish pie pan (or other similar sized baking dish, we used a large round cornningwear dish).

In a large bowl whisk together all the dry "topping" ingredients. Toss in the butter and working quickly with your fingers mix the butter into the dry ingredients. When you've got pieces the size of oatmeal, and the size of cornflakes and in between, it's good to go.
Pour cream in the the bowl and toss ingredients until you have a soft dough. When it comes together use your hand to incorporate everything, but don't over do it, you don't want to "overwork" the dough.
(the dough will be soft & sticky.)
We switched it up here by not pressing the dough into a 9-inch circle to set atop the fruit filling before baking, as per the recipe- but set aside the dough to make the filling.

Making the filling:
Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.
The recipe calls for the fruit to be added to the bowl and topped with the 9 inch circle pressed out of the dough..Nate assembled it by taking hand fulls of the dough and putting them around in the pan first. Then adding some fruit, then more dough, then more fruit. Then I put some cut-outs (circles) of dough on top and we baked it for 70 minutes. (the recipe calls for 60-75 minutes)
Because of the dough IN the cobbler it was not yet done at 70 minutes, so we put in back in for another 30 minutes, then it was good to go.
Let sit 30-45 minutes before serving.
Serve warm or at room temp with ice cream.

43 comments:

Beth G. @SweetLifeKitchen said...

Thanks for coming by to check out the cobbler! If anyone knows how to fix these images ("new" shutterfly is KILLIN ME!) and get them centered or so the yucky white tab goes away) holla at me~
oursweetlife at live dot com

THANKS!

Anonymous said...

Baking the topping into the fruit is such a good idea. Thanks for the great pick!

Sarah said...

Thanks for such a seasonal, yummy, and easy pick! I needed an easy one this week. Yours turned out great!

Bridget said...

Oh, I know my husband loved the cobbler, but if he'd known that he almost got banana cream pie, he'd be crushed! It's his absolute favorite dessert, and I'm never interested in making it.

Carrie said...

Gorgeous! Great pick this week!
~Carrie of CKC
http://bakersbakery.wordpress.com

Amy said...

We really enjoyed this weeks pick! Thanks for picking a summer dish. It was wonderful to enjoy on the back patio.

Marie Rayner said...

That looks absolutely delicious! Your lovely photos are making me crave this all over again!

Marie Rayner said...

PS. I meant to add as well, thanks so much for picking such a lovely recipe for us all to bake!

Jayma said...

Thanks for choosing this!!!! We loved it & yours looks great!

marae said...

Beth that looks yummy! Great pick..it was so easy for me to put together which is what I need right now, my weeks are insanely busy!!

How do you mix the crust into the fruit..I'm unfamiliar with that technique but it sounds good!

ostwestwind said...

Thanks for picking this recipe, it was our first cobbler and my three gentlemen and I liked it.

Your result looks great!

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Dianne's Dishes said...

Your cobbler looks great!

Engineer Baker said...

What a wonderful pick! I loved it, and so did all my coworkers.

Kayte said...

Wonderful pick this week...I followed it exactly and we were not disappointed at all...met with rave reviews here.

Great photos and your cobbler looks truly delicious.

Tell Nate he can help pick anytime.
~Kayte
www.grandmaskitchentable.typepad.com

Mary Ann said...

Looks wonderful!

Erin said...

Your cobbler looks delicious! Mixing the crust in with the fruit was a great idea.

kimberly salem said...

great pick, i really enjoyed it! i like your crust cutouts!

Mari said...

I loved this recipe! Great choice!

Rose said...

gorgeous! I love the peaches!

NKP said...

I like the idea of baking fruit into the crust. I also like the photo at the end of the eaten cobbler. Thanks for the great pick, I had success with this one!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

great pick this week--we loved it! and i've made notes all over my book, too! :)

Susie Homemaker said...

Nice pic! I love what you did with the bits mixed throughout, and your pictures are SO Beautiful!

Pamela said...

This cobbler was such a great choice and the timing is perfect. What a great summer treat. Thanks for picking this one. And your photos look so AMAZING!!

Linda said...

Thanks for a great selection this week! It was fun comparing baking notes with everyone. I like how your incorporated the topping into the fruit filling...delicious!!!

amanda. said...

Ooh! Mixing the topping into the fruit was a great idea! I need to remember that next time I'm making a cobbler.

Thanks for the great choice this week!

Amanda said...

Great pick!! Yours looks fabulous.

Bumblebutton said...

Thanks for such a great pick this week! And for being so thoughtful with your choice. It was delicious--and yours looks fabulous!

noskos said...

Looks great!! Thanks for picking this recipe!!! I loved it!

Di said...

We loved the cobbler--great pick!

Sharon said...

Wow! It looks great. I love the cut-out dough that you put on top of your cobbler.

Unknown said...

Wonderful choice...easy, seasonal, delicious, and I had everything I needed in the fridge...how did you know? Yours looks wonderful.

Heather B said...

I love cobbler! I was so happy you picked this one! Yours looks delicious! Great job!

Shari said...

I like your idea of baking the dough mixed in with the filling. Thanks for picking an EASY recipe! And it was delicious too.
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

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PheMom said...

Great pick and it was fabulous! Thanks!

Prudy said...

Beautiful work. I'm just crazy about your header. It could save marriages, I'm convinced :)

Christine said...

Thanks for such a summery pick! Everyone in my house enjoyed this and the guys at work are begging me for it!

Bungalow Barbara said...

Thanks for such a great pick, it was delicious! How did putting part of the dough into the fruit work out for you? Was it mushy?

Jaime said...

thanks for a great pick! i love how nate cobbled everything together, and i love your cut out pieces of dough on top! :) lovely!

oh and for the shutterfly thing - i have no idea. try another hosting service, like photobucket or flickr!

The Food Librarian said...

thanks for a great pick! i had a great time with this one and it was delicious! i can't wait to have it in the winter too - it'll remind me of summer (although I live in los angeles so that isn't much of a stretch...) :)

Jules Someone said...

Thanks for the fabulous choice. Mmmmm.

Dolores said...

A belated thank you to both you and Nate for choosing a recipe I'd have passed up... and showing me just how good it can be.

And as for your version, I think the empty plate picture says it all!

ShellyH said...

oh my goodness, this looks absolutely delicous! I am going to try it with some fresh mulberries. I am visiting you today via the foodie blog roll.