BWD#7 Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

First and foremost, I apologize for the delayed post!  Yesterday was the 4th of July here, and my parents flew in for a visit from Washington state.

In any case, the Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler was a huge success (which is good, considering rhubarb is an acquired taste, in my opinion!).  Other than tracking down a cherry pitter at Whole Foods, this is probably one of the easiest recipes I've baked with Dorie. ;)

Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler

For the Filling

1 pound sweet red cherries, pitted and halved
12 oz rhubarb, trimmed, peeled, and cut into 1" pieces
1/3 c sugar
1 T cornstarch
1 t ground ginger

For the Topping
3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
3 T packed brown sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground ginger
3/4 stick (6T) cold unsalted butter, cut into about 18 pieces
1/2 c whole milk

Getting Ready:  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375.  Butter an 8" square baking pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

To Make the Filling:  Mix the cherries and rhubarb together in a medium bowl and stir in the sugar, cornstarch, and ginger.  Stir the fruit from time to time while you make the topping.

To Make the Topping:  Put both flours, the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and ginger in a food processor.  Pulse a couple times to blend.  Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and, using 1-2 second long pulses, mix in the butter until the dough looks like very coarse meal with a bunch of pea size pieces tossed in.  Continuing to pulse the machine, add the milk, then pulse until the dough forms moist clumps and curds.  Try not to process the dough so long that it forms a ball on the blade.  Turn the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface. 

Cut the dough into 20 pieces and gently shape each piece into a ball.  Don't worry about making the pieces perfectly round---the important thing is to not handle the dough too much or too roughly.

Pour the fruit and its syrupy liquid into the buttered pan and top with biscuit puffs, making 4 rows of 5 puffs each.  Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the biscuits are golden and the fruit is bubbling away.  Remove the pan from the oven and cool the cobbler on a rack for at least 20 minutes.

Is there anything y'all would have changed?  Personally, I LOVE bread (cobbler's been one of my favorite desserts for as long as I can remember) and I'm thinking the next time I bake this I'd probably double the topping recipe to make for some larger biscuits. :)

Because I was fortunate to have the fruit in season (but expensive...holy smokes! 6.99/lb for rhubarb and 4.99/lb for cherries) I didn't have to work with alternatives, but I always like thinking about pairing different fruit combinations and can't wait to see what everyone else came up with!  Thanks for baking with Dorie, Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler...and I apologize again for the delay!