KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 20 — The year end festive season is upon us again. Time to reward ourselves with more luxurious flavours, surely?
Yet weekend baking, for me, is often about restraint rather than extravagance. This ought to be a reward, not a back-breaking chore in the kitchen, yet celebratory enough to share with loved ones and lucky guests alike.
To meet this challenge, may I suggest this fruit cobbler, bursting with luscious plums and a trinity of ripe berries, topped with gently indulgent buttermilk biscuits? I promise every spoonful will be worth cheering about, well into the New Year.
FESTIVE FRUIT COBBLER
Choose fruits that you enjoy or that are in season.
Generally speaking, stone fruits (such as plums, peaches, apricots and nectarines) and berries (I have used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries here) work great as cobbler filling.
Cutting the plums evenly may sound pedantic, but it matters. Similar-sized wedges soften at the same rate as the berries.
Speaking of the berries, they do release their juices when baked, so a spoonful of cornstarch will help thicken the filling nicely.
The topping is a buttermilk biscuit dough, so the cold butter is non-negotiable. Keep everything chilled until the last possible moment.
Cold fat creates steam in the oven, which in turn gives lift and tenderness. Warm butter, by contrast, melts too quickly and leaves you with something dense and greasy.
Equally important is a light hand. Mix the dough only until it comes together. Overworking develops gluten, and gluten is the enemy of fluffy biscuits.
When placing the dough on top of the fruit, resist the urge to cover the surface completely. Leave small gaps between the biscuits so steam can escape and the tops brown properly while the undersides cook through.
Once the cobbler is out of the oven, a short rest is essential to allow the juices to settle. Trust me, the buttermilk biscuits and the fruit filling taste better warm than tongue-scorching hot!
Ingredients
(A) Filling
2 small plums, sliced into wedges
400g mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
60g granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
(B) Topping
200g plain flour
60g granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
100g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
125ml buttermilk, cold
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 9 × 2-inch (23 x 5- centimetre) round pan.
In a large bowl, gently fold together the plums, berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and vanilla extract until evenly combined. Spread the fruit mixture into the prepared pan.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-sized pieces of butter still visible.
Drizzle in the cold buttermilk while stirring, mixing just until the dough comes together.
Take small handfuls of dough, gently flatten them, and place them over the fruit filling, leaving small gaps between each piece.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the buttermilk biscuit topping is golden and the fruit filling is visibly bubbling.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve warm, with Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice cream if you like.
