Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Easy Apple Berry Cobbler

I have to start by saying that I think cobbler is my new favorite dessert. In the past I have posted a cherry/peach cobbler, that is just delicious with a hint of almond extract, I recently posted an apple cobbler, that amazes me with its ease of assembly, and now I am about to give you this recipe for an apple-berry cobbler. And when you try this you will probably decide you are in love with cobblers, too.
What is there not to love about a dessert that you throw together and throw in the oven? It holds up perfectly for a few days and it can look like a four-year-old did it and everybody is ok with that. Its stress free, mess free, and budget friendly. Sounds like the perfect man dessert.
I tweaked the original recipe just a bit. I made it in a casserole dish that is smaller than a 9x13. More like a7x11 or a pie dish. I also added cardamom, which you can skip altogether or substitute with some star anise, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon. But I suggest you try the cardamom.
Serve warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

Apple-Berry Cobbler

Filling
1 1/2 lb apples (like pink lady, fuji, gala)
5 oz berries (about 1 cup) -use blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, or a mixture

4 Tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 Tablespoons honey
2 Tablespoons butter cut into small pieces
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Biscuits

1/4 cup corn meal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons chilled butter
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375. In your baking dish, combine apples, berries, sugar, cornstarch, honey, butter, lemon juice and cardamom and toss to evenly distribute.

Biscuit topping

Combine cornmeal, bakign powder, salt, flour, and sugar in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until coarse lumps form. Add buttermilk and pulse a few more times, until mixture comes together. Scoop out about a quarter cup of the mixture and pat it into a circle. Drop on top of your apple-berry mixture. Sprinkle biscuits with sugar.
Bake 40-50 minutes.