The hubs informed me last Thursday (I think it was Thursday) that I had been volunteered to make dessert for Father’s Day just a few days later. No big deal I thought. But then I remember that his family likes pies. PIES! Gross fruits ones even. If you couldn’t tell by that last statement…I’m not a fan of pies. Okay, maybe chocolate pie is fine, but that’s because it’s chocolate. Not to mention, I don’t have much experience making pies from scratch.
I don’t remember how it happened, but I convinced the Hubs and his father to let me do a cobbler. Phew. I can do cobbler. Their flavor request? Cherry. Whomp whomp. (I’m not a fan of cherries either—go figure). But I had to remind myself that this cobbler wasn’t for me—it was for the fathers. So in my natural fashion of wanting to bake something a bit more challenging (aka more exciting), I decided to not only use fresh bing cherries, but to also throw in blueberries I had leftover from the lemon blueberry cupcakes I had just made. Bingo.
I had just made a peach cobbler a week prior that had a topping I loved, so I decided to use the same topping. It’s actually a bit more cake-y than biscuit-y (yes, that’s a word) like traditional cobblers, but bakes wonderfully and turns out nice and crisp. The sprinkled sugar on top also helps balance out the tart bing cherries. Just serve with a scoop of vanilla-bean ice cream and you’ll be good to go.
Cherry Blueberry Cobbler
Recipe made for a 1.5 quart Corningware or 8×8 baking dish.
Filling
Adapted from Girl Versus Dough
Ingredients
1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
½ tsp cinnamon
1 heaping cup fresh blueberries
2 cups bing cherries, quartered
1/8 tsp vanilla or almond extract (I actually forgot this, but would recommend putting it in)
Directions
1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon and whisk to combine.
2. Add blueberries and cherries and stir occasionally until mixture is thickened, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and stir in flavored extract. Pour filling into the baking dish that has been greased with the butter; set aside.
Cobbler Topping
The following recipe is half of the original to accommodate my smaller portion.
Adapted from The Slow Roasted Italian
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup + 1 tbsp white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
¼ cup boiling water
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, ¼ cup sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend.
2. Add in small pieces of butter and blend with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using a spoon, stir in water until just combined.
3. Drop spoonfuls of topping over the berry mix, and sprinkle the entire cobbler with the remaining 1 tbsp of sugar. Set baking dish on a cookie sheet (the cobbler could drip into the oven). Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until topping is golden.
4. Let the dish cool down for a few minutes after removing from the oven, and don’t forget the ice cream when serving 🙂
—m.