One of my favorite parts of spring is the opening of local farmer’s markets. We have two near our house, one of which started up a couple weeks ago. Last week rhubarb was for sale, and I bought some not quite knowing what I’d do with it. After perusing our fridge contents — part of a tub of sour cream, strawberries, butter, half a lemon — I settled on a cobbler with a sour cream biscuit topping. It was a lovely sweet-tart spring dessert, perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Serves 6-8
Topping Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2″ pieces (I like to cut butter into pieces and freeze for about 1/2 an hour before making dough)
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sour cream
Filling Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds, untrimmed) rhubarb, in 1/2-inch thick slices
- 3 1/2 cups (about 1 pound) strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup quick-cooking tapioca
Method
Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter; using your fingertips, incorporate until only pea-size lumps remain. Gently mix in sour cream. Knead in bowl until a biscuit-like dough forms, 5-7 turns (do not overmix).
Stir together filling ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into an 9-inch pie dish or divide among six 6-ounce ramekins. Tear biscuit topping into quarter-size crumbles; scatter over fruit.
Bake cobbler until juices are thick and bubbling and topping is cooked through and deep golden brown, 20-25 minutes for ramekins or 45-50 minutes for pie dish. Let cool for at least 1 hour.