Recipe: Fresh fruits in a delicious spring dessert or brunch dish
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A fruit cobbler makes a fresh addition to brunch; add ice cream for serving as
dessert. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)
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Trio of red: Strawberries, rhubarb and raspberries blend
well in the cobbler.
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Spring's fresh fruit parade has begun, and right up front are strawberries and rhubarb, very different yet so complementary. This easy (and not-too-sweet) cobbler features them beautifully, and the little biscuits, accented with bits of candied ginger, make the perfect topping.
The biscuits can be made with all-purpose flour, spelt flour, or a combination. Spelt is my new ingredient to play with, so my biscuits included 1/3 cup spelt. Like anything baked with whole-wheat flour, they will be a little denser than ones made with white flour. The ginger bits I used come premade from a spice company, eliminating the sticky chopping, but use what's available.
The amounts of fruit here are flexible, depending on the size or shape of your baking dish. I used a 9-by-9-inch glass dish, and wound up adding a few more strawberries after the amounts listed below.
Inspired by the original , I also tossed some raspberries in with the other fruit, but they're not required. They do, however, mask some of the color of the cooked strawberries, which are not as bright as uncooked ones. The liquid in the dish might seem to be too much and too thin, but it is ideal for balancing the starchiness of the biscuits.
Enjoy as is or with some ice cream on the side.
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| Candied-ginger bits this size work in the cobbler biscuits. |
Strawberry-rhubarb cobbler with ginger biscuits
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
4 stalks rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
2 cups (or more) hulled and halved strawberries
1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (optional)
2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup, honey or agave nectar (or a combination)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
Biscuit topping:
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, spelt flour or a combination
2 tablespoons granulated sugar or coconut sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
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| Cobblers leave some fruit exposed. Brush the biscuits with a little milk. |
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons diced candied ginger or premade ginger bits
2 tablespoons coconut oil (solid) or margarine
1/2 cup oat milk, nut milk or dairy milk, plus more for brushing
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put all the fruit in the chosen baking dish. Sprinkle the maple syrup and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla over the fruit, stir well and even out the fruit in the dish.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the solid coconut oil or margarine, rubbing it into the flour mixture with your hands, a fork or a small spatula. The coconut oil pieces should be no larger than peas.
Stir in the candied-ginger pieces.
Stir in the milk and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla just until flour mixture is moistened.
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| Bright red fruit sauce is a feature of this cobbler. |
Scoop out a rounded mound of dough with a tablespoon, shape and flatten it slightly, and place on top of the fruit. Repeat until all the dough is used, leaving some of the fruit exposed. Brush the tops of the biscuits with a little more milk.
Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling all over and the biscuits are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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