Monday, June 23, 2008

Wild Berry Cobbler

Well. I was admittedly a bit taken aback by the comments on the questions posting at TWD--"Bland" "Boring"..."I changed this, I changed that..." Hmm. In the end I was left wondering had anyone actually made THE RECIPE?

The Wild Berry Crumble is one of the most basic recipes...Biscuit topping, mixed berry filling. And reading the recipe for the biscuit topping left my mouth watering for that biscuit. I determined to make it as written since I figured I'd learn something no matter what.

I learned I love plain biscuits.

The topping goes together in minutes. Flour, Baking powder, a bit of sugar and cold butter all bound together by a touch of heavy cream. Roll it out to a rough circle.

The fruit filling uses fresh OR frozen berries...and since it was pounding rain, I decided to go frozen (quel horror!). I had an unopened package of mixed berries, some strawberries and I rounded it out with a few peaches. (Not berries, you say? Okay, mixed fruit.)

The only change (didn't I say I was making it as written? I lied.) was something I always do with pies and such: I brushed the top with cream (sometimes I use egg wash) and sprinkled it with raw sugar.

Oh, I also baked a tiny bit of biscuit--stuff that was just hanging over the edge--up for myself as...well, as a biscuit. I'd whip this up in a heartbeat for morning biscuits.

My only tip is to cook it the full time--I thought it looked brown enough at about 35 minutes, so I took it out only to find it gummy. I put it right back in, cooked it another 20-25, letting it cool completely so the biscuit soaked up the juice.To each his own, but this is my kind of simple dessert. The biscuit complemented the berries and the berries the biscuit. I only wished I'd braved the rain for a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Not that that stopped anyone from enjoying it.

BTW? Makes a great breakfast, too.

21 comments:

Dolores said...

I'm also a fan of the sweet simple dessert. Mine are in the oven now so I don't have a verdict yet, but if the scent is any indication I'm confident they'll be yummy.

allison said...

Glad to hear you liked the recipe. Your pictures are great.

Peabody said...

Yeah, I enjoy a good biscuit topping as well. I guess maybe it is just what some people were raised on.

Engineer Baker said...

I agree - this was definitely not bland or boring. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who liked it as written!

ostwestwind said...

I did it, like written, but I don't think that sugar and cream count as a change :-)

Great looking cobbler.

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Pamela said...

I thought it was good as is, too. I did add a little ice cream, just for comparison, you know! :)

Susie Homemaker said...

I was too scared of "wasting" expensive fruitto try the recipe as-is - but I am glad to know that it really is good! thanks!

Marie Rayner said...

you're cobbler looks really delicious! Well done!

Julie said...

Biscuits, whether plain or dolled up, are one of my favorite foods to make and eat. These sounds delish! And I think frozen fruit can be great in cobblers:) By the way, I made the NY Times' cavatelli recipe too...but I didn't do the fresh ricotta. Very tasty!

Lynne Daley said...

i brushed mine with milk and sprinkled cinnamon sugar over. Yours looks great!

Mari said...

I love the biscuit topping too, and my only tweak was to up the salt, which I almost always do with cobbler recipes.

Amy said...

I wish I would have had some left over for breakfast. Yours looks great!

Jules Someone said...

Beautiful and delicious! I'm sure the "bland" taste of the biscuit was intentional. Who would want to try and complete with clean, fresh berry flavor.

Bungalow Barbara said...

Interesting how some people loved the plain biscuit topping and others didn't. Glad you liked it!

Christine said...

Perfect for breakfast! Love the simple rustic dessert great job!

Linda said...

I also really enjoyed the biscuit topping as written. The biscuit should serve a backdrop to highlight the fruit filling IMHO. Your cobbler turned out delicious looking!

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Unknown said...

Simple and delicious...even with a little cinnamon and ginger thrown in (my version)!

Di said...

I've eaten more of my cobbler for breakfast than I did for dessert... I enjoyed the plain biscuit topping, too--it was a nice contrast with the berries.

Anonymous said...

It also makes a great lunch .;)

Anonymous said...

and it makes a great pre-dinner treat! ;)

We loved this recipe, too