A Twist on Cobbler

Summertime is the perfect time for warm, gooey cobbler with fresh fruit and a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side.  Mmmmmmm.....my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

A couple of a days ago, I found a delicious blackberry cobbler recipe with sweet biscuits on top from one of my new favorite blogs, la bella vita.  (Go check out her site when you get a chance.  You won't be sorry.)  After staring at the recipe for a couple of days and salivating, I decided to just make my own.

For a change of pace, I decided to use nectarines (they are so sweet and juicy this season and I'm obsessed) and I also threw in a pint of some gorgeous black raspberries that Sarah and I found at the local Farmer's Market on Thursday.

I started by peeling and slicing 8 nectarines and combining them in a bowl with a pint of black raspberries, the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 1/2 c. of sugar, and 2 tbsp. of cornstarch.

At this step in the process, my sister (who was supposed to be helping me make this) FINALLY set foot in the kitchen, walked over to the bowl of fruit and said "Mmmmm, did you put powdered sugar on these?" Before I could stop her, she had popped one in her mouth.  Guess she had to learn the hard way!  :)

After mixing the fruit, I poured it into a casserole dish and put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 20 min.  I've never done this when making cobbler before, but la bella vita said this keeps the biscuit topping from absorbing the juice from the fruits before cooking through all the way.  Great tip!

While the fruit baked, I made the sweet biscuit topping.  Yum.  I started with 2 c. of all-purpose flour, 8 tbsp. of sugar, 1 tbsp. of baking powder, and 1 tsp. of salt.  After mixing the dry ingredients, I cut in 6 tbsp. of cold butter.  (Side note: Thank god for my Kitchen Aid mixer.  Seriously, it's the only reason I even attempt baking.  Ever.)

Once the flour and butter mixture became crumbly, I combined 1/2 c. of heavy cream and two eggs together in a separate bowl and added it to the flour mixture until everything combined.

When the fruit was ready, I added the biscuit dough by the spoonful on top, put the dish back in the oven and cooked it at the same temperature for another 20-30 minutes.  Before pulling it out of the oven for good, I used a toothpick to make sure the biscuits had cooked through all the way.  My cobber actually needed about 35 minutes.

After pulling the cobbler out of the oven, I let it sit and cool for a bit, scooped it out in sinfully large amounts, added an equally huge scoop of vanilla frozen yogurt and savored every last delicious bite.