Strawberry rhubarb cobbler is one of the easiest ways to turn fresh summer fruit into dessert. The sweet-tart fruity filling bakes into a jammy sauce under a buttery biscuit topping that’s crisp on top and soft underneath.
My version uses orange zest for brightness and a little balsamic vinegar for extra depth, and it works with fresh or frozen fruit. It’s simple enough for a weeknight dessert and especially good served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or crème anglaise
❤️ Why this recipe is so good!
- Like pie but so much easier to make, with just a simple cobbler topping
- Perfectly balanced sweet-tart strawberry rhubarb filling
- The buttery biscuit topping is crisp on top and soft underneath
- Not in season? No problem, you can use frozen fruit
- Balsamic adds extra depth and tang and intensifies the natural fruit sweetness
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Ingredients you’ll need
While the topping uses mostly pantry staples, the real stars here are the strawberries and rhubarb which give this cobbler its sweet-tart flavour. A little cornflour/cornstarch helps create that thick syrupy filling, while the balsamic is optional but makes the strawberry flavour pop. I’ve elaborated a little on these below.
- Strawberries and rhubarb (fresh or frozen): If fresh strawberries and rhubarb aren’t in season, you can use frozen fruit. If you do use frozen fruit, add an extra 2 teaspoons of cornflour (cornstarch), keep it frozen right up to the point you bake it and give it an extra couple of minutes in the oven. You could also sub in some blackberries or raspberries to change things up.
- Orange zest goes beautifully with both strawberries and rhubarb, adding an extra dimension but also a slight tang.
- Balsamic vinegar: Strawberries and balsamic are a classic combination. The balsamic, while optional, intensifies the natural sweetness of strawberries, adds umami depth and brightens the overall flavour profile of this rhubarb and strawberry cobbler.
- Cornflour: (aka cornstarch) is a starch used for thickening, and here it helps to thicken the sauce released by the fruit during baking.
- Demerara / turbinado sugar: This helps the top to bake up crunchy and golden.
- Cream: Used in the cobbler topping for richness. You’re looking for thickened cream, heavy cream or whipping cream.
Tools you’ll need
- Pie dish: I use a 9 inch (base measurement) deep dish for this recipe. You can double the recipe and use a larger casserole dish or 9×13 baking dish.
- Food processor: For the cobbler topping to keep it quick, but you can certainly create the same result but cutting the butter into the flour with a dinner knife or rubbing with your fingers.
- Microplane: Used for zesting the orange.
- Silicone spatula: For mixing.
How to make strawberry rhubarb cobbler
This fruity cobbler has just two very easy components – the fruit filling and the cobbler topping. The fruit mixture is all combined right in the pie dish so there’s no extra washing up and no flavour gets left behind anywhere.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Make the fruit filling
Start by trimming any leaves off the rhubarb and discarding the leaves (they’re poisonous to eat). Chop both the rhubarb and strawberries into similarly sized small pieces. Mix them right in the pie dish with orange zest, sugar, cornflour, vanilla and balsamic vinegar
2. The cobbler topping
Use a food processor to pulse or rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips. It should have a sandy texture when it’s ready to proceed.
Once it’s looking a bit like sand or fine breadcrumbs, pour in the cream and pulse or stir to combine until it’s looking clumpy.
3. Top the fruit
Flatten small pieces of dough and place over the fruit filling leaving a few gaps. Brush it with egg wash.
4. Add sugar and bake until done
Add a sprinkling of demerara sugar to give a crunchy topping.
Now, bake until the top is deeply golden, you can see the filling bubbling up around the edges and the juices are looking thick and glossy (not watery).
Tips and tricks
- Use cold butter and cream: This will result in a fluffier topping. As the topping bakes, the butter melts, and the cream warms up, releasing steam that in turn adds air and lightness to the cobbler topping.
- Don’t have a food processor? No worries. Use cold grated butter instead and work it in with a pastry cutter or with your fingertips.
- Don’t overwork the dough: You want to make sure there are still very small pieces of butter in there as they will melt while baking creating pockets of steam which, in turn, makes the topping fluffier.
- Leave some gaps between the dough: This is so steam can escape, which will thicken up the liquid from the fruit, making it syrupy. There’s also something rustic and beautiful about seeing the bubbles popping up through the cobbler.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes after baking: Firstly, the fruit will be molten hot and needs to cool a little before eating, and secondly, it will allow the sauce to thicken up just a little more.
- If using frozen fruit, use it straight from the freezer, don’t thaw it first.
- Place a baking tray under the pie dish if you’re concerned about the syrup bubbling over into your oven.
Variations
This is my go-to cobbler recipe; The fruit can very easily be substituted for what’s in season, and the cobbler topping can be spiked and tweaked, too.
- Other berries like blackberries, raspberries and blueberries will work beautifully in this easy strawberry rhubarb cobbler. You can swap them all out or just part. As long as you stick to 5-6 cups, all will work.
- Stonefruit like peaches, apricots, plums and cherries also work beautifully. Just remove the pits, slice them, and measure out 5-6 cups’ worth again.
- Firmer fruits like pears and apples work too. Make sure to slice them quite thinly and no other preparation is required. In place of the orange zest, try adding a little cinnamon and nutmeg instead.
- Spices and flavourings: You can add other spices and flavourings to the cobbler too. A little almond extract with cherries or apples, for instance. Cardamom goes well with many fruits, and you can add a pinch to the cobbler dough.
Storage and Reheating
Fridge
Store leftovers in the fridge, covered tightly with plastic wrap, for 2-3 days.
Reheating
Warm in a 180C/350F oven for 10-15 minutes for the crispest topping, or microwave single servings if you don’t mind a softer top.
Freezing
You can freeze leftovers, thought the topping will soften a little after thawing.
FAQ’s
Yes, you can use frozen strawberries and rhubarb. Leave them frozen until you mix them into the dish, then add an extra 2 teaspoons of cornflour and bake for an extra couple of minutes.
The balsamic vinegar is optional, but it does add extra depth and intensifies the natural sweetness in the strawberries.
The top of a cobbler, when finished baking, should be a nice golden brown and crisp. You should see fruit syrup bubbling at the sides of the dish, and it should look thick and glossy, not watery.
You can prepare the two components – fruit filling and cobbler – ahead of time but keep them separate until baking time or the juices from the fruit will seep into the cobbler dough and make it soggy.
No. The leaves of rhubarb are poisonous to ingest so discard those and don’t try snacking on them.
More fruity desserts you’ll love
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Ingredients
THE FRUIT FILLING
- 400 g roughly chopped strawberries (3 cups/14oz)
- 400 g rhubarb chopped into 2cm pieces (trimmed and discard leaves) (3 cups/14oz)
- 1 medium orange, zest only
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar (150g/~5 ⅓oz
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (US cornstarch) (8tsp-notes 1)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar optional (4 tsp-notes 1)
COBBLER TOPPING
- 195 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (1 ½ cups / ~7oz)
- 67 g light brown sugar (⅓ cup, packed / ~2 ⅓oz)
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 85 g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled (¾ stick / 3oz)
- 125 ml thickened cream (heavy cream) (½ cup)
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 3 teaspoons demerara sugar (turbinado sugar)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- 9 inch pie dish or similar baking dish
- food processor or pastry blender
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan forced) / 350°F.
- Combine the strawberries, rhubarb, orange zest, sugar, cornflour, vanilla and balsamic vinegar in a large pie dish and mix well. Set aside.
- Add the flour, sugar and baking powder to the bowl of a food processor and blitz to mix. No food processor? See notes.
- Add the butter and process until there are only small pieces of butter left (about the size of a grain of barley).
- Add the cream and process until it becomes the texture of wet, chunky sand. Flatten out chunks of dough into rounds then place all over the top of the fruit.
- Brush the tops of the dough with beaten egg, then scatter over the demerara sugar.
- Bake for around 50-60 minutes or until the top looks golden brown and crunchy and the juice is bubbling at the sides, looking thick and jammy.
- Let it sit for 7-10 minutes before serving – this will give time for the molten, jammy sauce to cool slightly and thicken.
- Try serving with creme anglaise, whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients where a weight is the first measurement given. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- All ovens vary – test for doneness 5-8 minutes before the recipe suggests.
- Discard any rhubarb leaves – they are poisonous to eat.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can mix the cobbler topping in a bowl. Use cold grated butter, and gently work it in with a pastry cutter or your finger tips, being careful not to melt it.
- You could use all strawberries but I don’t recommend increasing the rhubarb.
- You could use frozen strawberries and rhubarb but increase the cornflour by ½ a tablespoon.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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2 Comments on “Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler”
I do love crumbles and crisps for the perfect ratio of the filling to the topping, but I’ve never made a cobbler, though. This one looks add sounds wonderful, and the combination of rhubarb and strawberries is one of the main summer highlights to me!
Cobbler is the most like a pie, without the fuss of making a pie crust. Thanks Ben.