Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler
I am on a bit of a rhubarb kick, so I was very happy to make this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie selection picked by Amanda from Sprinkles on a Cupcake. When ever I make a cobbler, or crisp for that matter, I am surprised at how easy and delicious they are. I am not sure why they don’t remain front and center in my dessert mind. I guess my love for cakes and chocolate work just seems to push the humble cobbler aside, but once again I am reminded that cobblers are fantastic and I should be making them more often.
photo by David Peterman
I thought it would be nice to have picnic cobblers by making them in individual muffin paper molds. I was very pleased with how well it worked, though it was necessary to use two paper molds for each cobbler otherwise a lot of liquid seeped out. The bottoms were a bit sticky, but I think it is a nice presentation none-the-less. I found I needed to fill the cups almost full as the topping doesn’t rise a great deal and because of the small containers I cut the fruit smaller than Dorie instructs. Dorie’s recipe fills about eight of the tall brown paper muffin cups.
I think there is a great fear of rhubarb and sugar is the coping mechanism;generally so much sugar that all the wonderful characteristics of the rhubarb are completely obliterated. No so with this cobbler. The rhubarb was allowed to shine in all its tartness and glory. The cherries added a wonderful contrast in flavor and texture that was easy to distinguish thanks to the restrained use of sweetener. The addition of whole wheat flour to the topping added a nice depth of flavor and the touch of ginger was a perfect accent to both the filling and topping.
Beyond the individual portioning I made very few changes to the recipe. I used whole wheat pastry flour rather than standard whole wheat flour because that is what I had on hand, and the softer flour seemed like a good way to ensure a tender topping. I also dipped into my stash of ginger sugar to sprinkle on the topping before baking them. Ginger sugar is as complicated as saving the sugar at the bottom of a bag of crystallized ginger. It is great stuff, don’t toss it out!
I agree with Dorie’s comment that the cobbler is best served warm. The fruit is fine at room temperature or even chilled, but the biscuits really need to be a little warm to be truly satisfying. One other great thing about cobbler is it makes a darn fine breakfast. What? It’s fruit and a biscuit.
As with all the Tuesday with Dorie recipes, you can find this in Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking: From My Home to Yours.
All photos by David Peterman unless otherwise noted
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July 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 am
Wow! What a neat idea to use those paper muffin cups. Nice job.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:02 pm
those cups are so adorable!! great idea. i would have been afraid of leakage, good to know that using two of the cups worked!
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
wow – what a super idea! i would love a picnic with these!!
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:53 pm
picnic cobbler–genius, pure genius!!
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I love the idea of making the cobbler in muffin molds! Your cobblers looks delicious! Great job!
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Ginger sugar – brilliant! And those individual cobblers are adorable, great job!
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Yep. Yep. Brilliant! Very nicely done.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:46 pm
How cute! I love the travel cobblers!
Ginger sugar……………smart!
Hannah
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:37 am
The muffin cups are such a neat idea!
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:13 am
I love your little individual cobblers, I should do that more often. And that biscuit topping looks just perfect!
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:02 am
Adorable little muffin molds!! Totally have to steal that idea for future use. Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Your description of the rhubarb is dead on and makes my mouth water because I remember canning strawberries and rhubarb with my mom last year. I had never had rhubarb till last year when she made a pie with it and I was hooked.
I agree, too much sugar would seemingly wipe out the taste rhubarb is meant to have. I watched my mother making the mix and asked why she didn’t put a lot of sugar and she said that when it bakes up it’s not AS tart after it has been cooked so if you add too much sugar you lose the taste of the rhubarb and are left with basically a strawberry pie with chunks of some other thing!
Your picture is wonderful and I really liked the picnic basket!
Look forward to seeing you next week!
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 pm
ginger sugar — what a fantastic idea!!! I also love the use of the muffin cups…perfect little cobblers to go!
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:00 pm
The ginger sugar sounds fabulous. I would never have thought of muffin cups.
July 24th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
ooooh, ginger sugar… have to store that one away in the memory banks.
Your little picnic cobblers are nothing short of completely adorable! I’ve only seen those papers online… I need to get ahold of some. Great picture!
July 24th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Love your mini-cobblers in muffin cups! I used ginger sugar too. I even add extra sugar to my candied ginger so I have enough!
July 27th, 2008 at 5:37 am
I love these! They look yummy and adorable! And ginger sugar? Mmmmm.