Strawberry Apricot Cobbler

So with all that fruit we’ve been bringing home, we have been learning the hard way that we have to use it up fast. Tree-ripened, farm stand fruit can not sit around for a week like the stuff you get at the grocery store. It’s ready to eat, NOW.

We have ended up having to throw away more fruit than I would like to publicly admit, because we got too greedy and overbought and then are trying to change our habits to suit our new climate and season.

As a result, Bear has been baking like crazy. He made some ginger blueberry muffins, fresh fruit sauces to serve over angel food cake and chocolate decadence cake, and two big fat fruit cobblers.

Bear does all his baking by weight. Buying a little kitchen scale will save you hours and hours of baking that didn’t quite work out.

Strawberry Apricot Cobbler

Filling:
10 oz sugar
1 oz cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tso ground nutmeg
1/2 C water
24 oz strawberries and apricots, strawberries hulled, both washed and diced

Topping:
11 oz bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbs baking powder
2 oz cold butter, unsalted
1 1/2 C heavy cream

Combine the sugar, cornstarch and spices in a saucepan. Add the water slowly while stirring. Keep stirring until the mixture is boiling, then remove from the heat.

Put the washed and diced fruit into a cake pan, and pour the hot liquid over the top. Bake the fruit in a 400° oven for 10 minutes.

Make the cobbler crust by sifting together the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into small pieces and cut into the flour with a pastry blender. Add the cream and stir by hand to form a soft dough. Shape the dough by hand on a floured surface until it’s a circle large enough to cover the fruit.

Remove the fruit from the oven and place the dough on top. Bake for about 15 minutes longer. Make sure to test the dough that it’s cooked all the way through.

This cobbler was so delicious. The crust is a little like a biscuit, so it’s like eating a really great homemade biscuit with fruit jam, but it’s hot and juicy and the little fruit pieces burst in your mouth. Plus you get to put ice cream on top. And it’s way way easier than a pie. I think we’ll be making cobblers of all kinds all summer long.