Blueberry Cobbler

Fresh blueberries are getting more abundant already and since I have never made Blueberry Cobbler for my church family, I thought I would give it a try. Cook's Illustrated had a great recipe which I modified a bit. The key to intense blueberry flavor is using less sugar than you think you need. Too often with cobblers, too much sugar can result in over sweetened goo rather than fresh baked fruit flavor. Fresh sweetened whipped cream balanced the slight tartness of the blueberries.

For this easy drop biscuit topping, I sprinkled coarse raw sugar and cinnamon on top before baking which resulted in beautiful rustic, sparkling tops . As an experiment, I added finely minced dried blueberries in the dough to see if it will give more flavor. But I found that it was not necessary since baked blueberries were so full of it already. I'll save the dried blueberries for another recipe.

Filling

1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon table salt
6 cups fresh blueberries (30 ounces), picked over
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Biscuit Topping
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
2 tablespoons cornmeal , stone-ground
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Sprinkling
1 Tablespoon Raw sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For Fresh Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.


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


3. For the biscuit topping: Whisk flour, cornmeal, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to combine. Whisk melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla in small bowl. Mix remaining 2 teaspoons sugar and cinnamon in second small bowl and set aside. One minute before berries come out of the oven, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; stir with rubber spatula until just combined and no dry pockets remain.


4. To assemble and bake cobbler: Remove berries from oven; increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Pinch off 8 equal-sized pieces biscuit dough and place on hot berry filling, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart (they should not touch). Sprinkle each mound of dough with cinnamon-sugar. Bake until filling is bubbling and biscuits are golden brown on top and cooked through, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool cobbler on wire rack 20 minutes and serve.

5. In a large chilled bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and butter-like.