This is such a wonderful time for fresh berries and cherries. We spotted some sweet cherries on sale at our local grocery store last week and grabbed a couple bags. My original plan was to make some cherry vanilla ice cream, but then I thought of cherry cobbler with all the lush cherries and juice and the soft, fluffy biscuits on top. Serve it warm with some vanilla ice cream and that would hit the spot.
When we got around to making the cobbler a few days later, the boys helped me remove the stems and find any bad cherries, of which there were plenty. Actually the cherries weren't bad, but I realized that my three-year-old had been sneaking into the bags in the frig and taking bites out of the cherries and putting them back, just like he had done with the hot rolls back in April! We had to toss about a dozen half-eaten cherries.
Recipe Notes
This recipe adapts a cherry filling recipe from Epicurious and pairs it with my favorite way to make easy drop biscuits. I use a combination of sweet and tart cherries because for some reason it’s difficult to find tart cherries in our area, fresh or frozen. I buy jars of tart cherries from Trader Joe’s, but it’s not quite the same.I like the flavor of the two cherries together and the stove top method for cooking down the cherries before baking. And as you may or may not know, I like White Lily Flour for my biscuits, as any Southern woman should, because the biscuits turn out so light and fluffy. If you can’t find White Lily Flour in your area, just use 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour and 1 cup cake flour, which should approximate the texture.
You can also make gluten-free biscuits to use for the topping.
[Updated August 3, 2012.]
Cherry Cobbler
Equipment
- large sauce pan
- 2-quart casserole dish
- large mixing bowl
- #20 scoop
Ingredients
Cherry Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
- 4 cups pitted tart cherries (fresh or thawed-from-frozen )
- 4 cups pitted sweet cherries (fresh or thawed-from-frozen )
- 1 tablespoon Frangelico
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Biscuits
- 2 cups White Lily Flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted then slightly cooled)
- 2/3 cup buttermilk (cold)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted (optional))
- cinnamon sugar mixture (optional)
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 375° F/190° C.
- ***While the oven preheats***
Filling
- In the saucepan whisk together sugar and cornstarch. Add cherries, liqueur, vanilla, and cinnamon and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes and transfer to the casserole dish.
Biscuits
- In the mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Pour the melted butter into the measuring glass with the cold buttermilk and stir until the butter forms small pieces and floats in the milk. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well, folding the dry ingredients into the liquid just until the dry ingredients are wet. The mixture will start to poof and rise, so work quickly.
Assemble
- Use the scoop to form the biscuits and drop them over the cherries, spacing apart. Brush dough with melted butter and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough. (optional) You may have some dough left over, and you can just drop those biscuits onto a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes.
Bake
- Bake in the preheated oven until the cherries are bubbling and the biscuits are golden brown, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool until the cobbler is just warm, not too hot. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
mmmh! this looks great! i have some cherries in the fridge and can't wait to try this... cobblers are a totally new concept to me!
I sympathise with your 3 year old - I never manage to hang on to cherries long enough to cook with them! This looks fabulous though.
I eat cherries by the pound in the summer. I'll have to set some aside to make this delicious looking cobbler though!
Thanks for posting this recipe - I love cherries and this looks delicious!
We're going cherry picking this weekend, and I have a feeling we'll make some more cobbler, that is if the boys don't eat the cherries first!
How wonderful this looks! Actually, I've never made a cherry cobbler...must give this a try! Enjoying your lovely blog and will add it to my favorites!