PIES - BLUEBERRY COBBLER

 

Serves 6 to 8

Filling

½ cup (3 ½ ounces) sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Pinch ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

6 cups (30 ounces) fresh blueberries, pick over

1 ½ teaspoons grates zest plus 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon

Biscuit Topping

1 cup (5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons stone-ground cornmeal

¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar, plus 2 teaspoons for sprinkling

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/3 cup buttermilk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 375F. 

FILLING

Stir the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.  Add the berries and mix gently with a rubber spatula until evenly coated; add the lemon zest and juice and mix to combine.  Transfer the berry mixture to a 9-inch glass pie plate, place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until the filling is hot and bubbling around the edges, about 25 minutes.

BISCUIT TOPPING

Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cornmeal, ¼ cup of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl to combine.  Whisk the melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla together in a small bowl.  Mix the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar with the cinnamon in a second small bowl and set aside.  One minute before the berries come out of the oven, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Stir with a rubber spatula until just combined and no dry pockets remain.

ASSEMBLE

Remove the berries from the oven; increase the oven temperature to 425F.  Pinch off 8 equal pieces of biscuit dough and place them on the hot berry filling, spacing them at least ½ inch apart (they should not touch).  Sprinkle each mound of dough with cinnamon sugar.  Bake until the filling is bubbling and the biscuits are golden on top and cooked through, 15 to 18 minutes.  Cool the cobbler on a wire rack 20 minutes and serve.

VARIATION - All-Season Blueberry Cobbler (with Frozen Blueberries)

Thaw 36 ounces (about 6 cups) frozen blueberries (preferably wild) in a colander set over a bowl to catch the juices.  Transfer the juices (you should have about 1 cup) to a small saucepan; simmer over medium heat until syrupy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 16 minutes.  Follow the recipe for Blueberry Cobbler, mixing the syrup with the berries and other filling ingredients, increasing the baking time for the berry mixture to 39 minutes, and increasing the biscuit baking time to 20 to 22 minutes.

MY NOTE:  I use a 7 x 10 x 2-inch baking dish and it always boils to the top. 

From Baking Illustrated by the editors of Cook’s Illustrated Magazine.