Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuits Recipe - Private Chef in Rhode Island Chef Chelc

Hi!

Say hello to your new summer dessert! Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuits

I’m a berry girl through and through and any excuse I have to consume berries I do, usually in excess amounts. We would go strawberry picking a lot when I was little and my Mom would always tell the cashier to charge us for extra because I would always consume more berries than I would pick lol

Of course you don’t have to use strawberries and rhubarb, even though it is a delicious combination! Peaches would be good, plums, apricots, a mix of all three, there’s definitely a lot of flexibility when making a cobbler or crisp.

The trickiest part of this recipe is making the biscuits, which still isn’t that difficult.

In the bowl goes flour, sugar, brown sugar, cold (important that it’s cold!) cubed butter, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.

The butter being cold will make for flakey, light biscuits with lots of layers! I like to use my hands to mix all the ingredients together and break up the butter pieces into smaller crumbs.

Once the ingredients are mixed and the butter pieces are more incorporated, add in the heavy cream, mix together, and then on a lightly floured surface dump the dough out and knead until the dough forms a solid ball.

Then you flatten out the ball of dough either with a rolling pin or just your hands until it’s about an inch thick. Then cut about 9 even biscuits.

I’m no expert baker, so don’t worry if they are not exactly the same size. The less you mess with the dough the better. Rustic baking is the way to go here!

The berries and rhubarb are mixed with vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, corn starch, sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Carefully place the biscuits on top and then brush them with a bit more heavy cream and top with a sprinkle of brown sugar.

Then bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the fruit mixture is bubbly.

I brought this cobbler over to my neighbors and look how beautiful this picture is that she took! She is definitely a way better photographer than me hah. She said her family loved the dessert and would happily be my taste testers anytime 🙂

The slightly savory biscuits with the sweet juicy fruit is such a delicious combination. Topped with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and it really is the quintessential summer dessert!

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuits

Makes 1, 12 inch round cobbler

Ingredients:

For the filling:

2 stalks rhubarb, cut in 1 inch pieces
1 quart strawberries, de stemmed and sliced in half
1 cup raspberries
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp salt

For the Biscuits:

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut in small cubes
1 ¼ cup all purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
3 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix all ingredients of the filling together and place in a 12 inch cast iron skillet or in a pie dish in an even layer.
To make the biscuits, place every ingredient in a bowl except for the heavy cream. With your hands, mix everything together, breaking up the butter until it is in about pea sized pieces.
Add in the cream, mix everything together and then place mixture on a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough forms a ball (it may seem like there is not enough liquid, but after a couple minutes of kneading the dough will come together).
Flatten dough into a rectangle shape that is 1 inch thick. Cut into 9 even pieces.
Place the 9 biscuits evenly over the fruit and brush the biscuits with heavy cream and top with a light sprinkle of brown or granulated sugar.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until biscuits are golden brown and the fruit mixture is bubbly.
Allow to cool slightly, serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, YUM.

Note:

The fruit filling yields about 5 cups of fruit. You can easily do all strawberries, or whatever fruit you have on hand (peaches, blueberries, plums, apricots, etc). Rhubarb is delicious but VERY tart, which is why ½ cup of sugar is necessary to balance out the tartness, if you are not using rhubarb, feel free to use a bit less sugar or even substitute honey.
For the biscuits, feel free to use a biscuit cutter if you prefer round shapes.
This can be baked about 5 hours ahead of time and just left at room temperature. To reheat it just place it in a 250 degree F oven for about 20 minutes.