Mixed Berry Cobbler

🎅Merry Christmas🎅

🔔Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells🔔

🎂Baking all the way🎂

I thought of including Christmas flavours & colours (White & Red) in my dessert. The very first recipe, I hit upon was Cobbler with Mixed Berries, for its vibrant colours & amalgamation of flavours.

Cobbler is a British-American dessert with fruit in a dish, where the top crust is made of dough dropped directly onto the fruit to create a “cobbled” effect. The topping is soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

Crisps, crumbles, and cobblers are distinctly different.

Cobbler has a biscuit topping, covering the cooked fruit.

Crumble is a baked dessert made of fresh fruit with a streusel-like topping.

Crisp is just a crumble with oats in the streusel, they are like sisters.

Cobblers can be made with berries, peaches, apples, pears, and cherries.

Ingredients:

For Berry filling-

Mixed berries-8 cup

Lemon juice-1 tbsp

Lemon zest-1 tsp

Salt-1/4 tsp

Cinnamon-1 tsp

Nutmeg-1/4 tsp

Vanilla Extract-1 tsp

Sugar-1/2 cup (+1/4 cup, If berries are sour)

Cornstarch-1/4 cup

For Biscuit Topping-

Cold butter cubes-12 tbsp

Sugar-1/2 cup

Vanilla Extract -1 tsp

All-purpose flour-2 cup

Baking powder-2 tsp

Cold Buttermilk-1/2 cup

Salt-a pinch

For Topping-

Buttermilk-1 tbsp

Raw sugar-1 tbsp

Cinnamon-1/4 tsp

Instructions:

1. Add mixed berries, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, sugar, cornstarch in a 9×13” pan, mix and keep it aside.
2. Whisk cold butter, sugar, vanilla extract into a lump, then mix in flour, baking powder, salt. Then mix gently into a crumbled texture.
3. Pre-heat the oven @180° C for 10 mins.
4. Add cold buttermilk to the crumbled dough, fold it gently (don’t overwork the dough).
5. Now scoop the dough, drop it on the berry filling leaving some space to expand.
6. Brush the dough with buttermilk, then sprinkle with cinnamon & raw sugar.
7. Bake it @180° C for 50-55 minutes, till toothpick comes clean/top is browned/juices are bubbly.

Notes/Pro Tip-

• The acidity flavour of lemon juice & zest balances sharpens the flavour of berries.
• Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt season the cobbler well.
• Cornstarch is required as a thickening agent to prevent the berry filling from becoming watery
• Slice the strawberries to ensure even cooking with other berries.
• Frozen or Fresh berries can be used, If using frozen, increase cornstarch as it may be runnier.
• Do not knead the dough too much, just mix the buttermilk with the dough and gently fold it with spatula,
• If berries are sour, add extra 1/4 cup sugar to the regular 1/2 cup sugar to balance the flavour.