This is a rustic dessert that will please almost everyone. You scoop it up with a big spoon and ladle the warm berries and biscuits into shallow bowls. Then you top them with freshly whipped cream that melts into the sauce or with vanilla ice cream to provide a wonderful temperature and flavor contrast to the mix. The poppy seeds in the biscuits and the raw sugar on top add a delicate crunch as the blueberry juices soak into their soft interiors. People tend to hunch over their bowls when they eat this and silence at the table is not unheard of. It's that good.
*And you make it gluten free using either the What Iif or Batch Two flours.
Blueberry Cobbler
Serves 8
830 grams/ 3 Pints fresh blueberries, cleaned and picked through
150 grams/ 3/4 cup sugar
3 grams/ ½ teaspoon salt
0.5 grams/ 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
425 grams/ 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
6 grams/ 1 teaspoon baking powder
1.25 grams/ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
6 grams/ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
zest from 1 lemon (preferably Meyer)
170 grams/ 6 ounces diced unsalted butter, cold
7.25 grams/ 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
300 grams/ 1 ¼ cups buttermilk
12.5 grams/ 1 tablespoon raw sugar or other coarse non-melting sugar
Preheat oven to 350°F/176°C
Put the blueberries in a deep 8-inch square baking pan. Put the sugar, 3 grams (½ teaspoon) salt and cardamom in a small bowl and whisk them to blend. Pour them over the berries and mix them gently to blend. Set aside.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, 6 grams (1 teaspoon salt) and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to blend. Add the butter and pulse 3-5 times to blend. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and add the poppy seeds. Stir with a rubber spatula to blend. Add all of the buttermilk and mix with the rubber spatula until it forms a coarse, shaggy dough. Turn it out onto a floured counter top and knead 6-8 times until it forms a smooth, cohesive dough. Roll it out into a rough, 8-inch square approximately 1/2-inch thick. Trim the edges on all four sides. Cut the dough out into different shapes and then fit them into the pan on top of the fruit. Scatter the coarse sugar over the top. Bake for at least 45 minutes or until the biscuits are a deep golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Years Past
