Thursday, April 22, 2010

TWD - Sweet Cream Biscuits (with some David Lebovitz Pineapple, Rhubarb, and Raspberry Cobbler)





I know some of my fellow TWD bakers have to have picked up David Lebovitz's new book, right?  Isn't is amazing?  Not one single recipe that I'm not dying to make.  And I've already knocked out a few.




I made this cobbler a few weeks ago when the 'rents were here and it went so fast I never got a picture, so I thought this week's TWD was a perfect opportunity to try it again before rhubarb disappeared for another year!

Just swap out Dorie's biscuits for David's and you've got a two-fer!


While David's biscuits were pretty yummy I have to say I liked Dorie's a little bit better!  They're certainly easier and they puffed up nice and tall.  I took this to an impromptu dinner party last night and it was a HUGE hit.  The actual prep time for this is minimal....cut up the rhubarb and pineapple, dump in a few other ingredients and pop it in the oven for 40 minutes.  Mix up these incredibly easy biscuits, cut them out and put on top of the partially baked fruit and throw it back in the oven for about 15 more minutes.  Easy.  Peasy.

I stole a tip from David's biscuits and brushed the biscuits with a mixture of egg yolk and cream before they went into the oven to give them a nice golden brown crust!

Thanks to Melissa for a great pick.  You can get the recipe for Dorie's biscuits at her site, Love at First Bite.

Here's the recipe for the cobbler:

Pineapple, Rhubarb, and Raspberry Cobbler
Ready for Dessert, My Best Recipe's
David Lebovitz

Filling:

7 cups diced rhubarb (2 lbs/1 Kg stalks)
2 cups (300 g) cubed pineapple (from 1/2 pineapple, peeled, eyes removed, and cored)
2 1/2 cups (12 ounces/340 g)  raspberries
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
2 tablespoons (15 g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon kirsch (optional)

Biscuits

3 cups (420 g) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (30 g) sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
10 tablespoons (5 ounces/135 g) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) pieces and chilled
3/4 cup heavy cream or buttermilk, plus more as needed
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon heavy cream or whole milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 C)

To make the filling, in a large bowl, mix together the rhubarb, pineapple, raspberries, the sugar, flour, vanilla and kirsch, if using, until well combined.  Transfer the mixture to a shallow 2-quart (2 liter) baking dish and bake until the fruit is heated through, about 40 minutes, stirring several times during baking.

While the filling bakes, make the biscuits.  Into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl if making by hand), sift together the 3 cups flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the butter pieces to the flour mixture.  Mix briefly in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or by hand with a pastry blender) until the butter is mostly incorporated, but small chunks are still visible.  Stir in 3/4 cup cream or buttermilk and mix until the dough begins to come together.  Gather the dough into a ball with your hands, if the dough is too dry to hold together, gradually mix in additional cream or buttermilk until it does.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the dough until is 3/4 inch thick.  Using a 3 inch round biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out 8 biscuits.  (You may need to gather the dough scraps and roll them out again in order to make 8 biscuits.)  Set the biscuits aside until needed.  In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream or milk to make an egg wash.

When the filling is ready, remove the baking dish from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling.  Brush the tops of the biscuits with the egg wash.  Return the baking dish to the oven and continue baking until the biscuits are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

3 comments:

  1. That looks and sounds fantastic! I don't have his new book yet, but if this is any indication, I'll have to get it. Funny that you are trying to make another rhubarb recipe before the season finishes and I'm still waiting for it to be ready here!

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  2. Wow, wow, wow!! That looks incredible and I'm pretty sure I would love it.

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  3. Lot of rhubarb on the net this week. Haven't had it in about 50 years. I remember it as tart.

    Great way to use the biscuits. They WERE quite tasty.

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