Every bite of this strawberry rhubarb cobbler is full of tangy rhubarb, sweet strawberry and buttery biscuit. Plus a little something that tastes amazing but you might not be able to define.
If you love this combo of fruit and buttery crunch, try this raspberry peach cobbler and this mixed berry crumble too. Or check out all my crumbles and cobblers here.
Table of contents
What is a cobbler?
Similar to a crisp or crumble, a cobbler is a little like a pie but without the crust, so it’s much easier to make. A thick layer of fruit is topped with buttery, biscuity topping that is soft on the inside but crisp on the outside.
Why you’ll love it
For me, a cobbler is great all year round. They’re the perfect combination of (often) warm weather fruits with cosy, comforting goodness and this strawberry rhubarb cobbler is no different.
- Syrupy fruits
- Soft yet crunchy topping
- So incredibly quick to make
- Very simple ingredients
- Adaptable to many fruits, fresh or frozen
- So delicious
A little like strawberry shortcake but the fruit is cooked, the flavours of strawberry and rhubarb are so lovely together. In this cobbler, a little balsamic plays in to that sweet and tangy flavour profile and gives this cobbler a little something extra special.
You’ll savour every last mouth-watering bite of this cobbler. Serve it up with ice cream in summer or even crème anglaise in winter and you’ll never want to make a pie again.
Ingredients in strawberry rhubarb cobbler
So many of the ingredients are obvious and you’ll most likely have them already – flour, sugar, brown sugar, egg, baking powder and butter.
- Strawberries and rhubarb: These are the stars of the show. Sweet and tangy when combined, they are perfect company. This recipe is based on fresh strawberries and rhubarb but you can use frozen with the addition of extra cornflour (cornstarch).
- Orange zest: This is another tangy addition and the citrus flavour goes so well with both of the main ingredients.
- Balsamic vinegar: So you’ve heard about the wonderful combination of strawberries and balsamic and this cobbler confirms it. The sweet and tangy vinegar matches the characteristics of the strawberries and rhubarb while adding a little something special.
- Cornflour / cornstarch: This is used to thicken up the juices that are released as the fruit cooks.
- Demerara / turbinado sugar: This is scattered over the topping at the end to give it a crunchy sweet topping.
- Cream: This is used in the cobbler topping and you’re looking for thickened cream or heavy cream or whipping cream.
How to make cobbler
All you need is a nice pie dish and a food processor to mix the topping in. 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.
- Combine the fruit mixture: Start by trimming any leaves off the rhubarb and discard the leaves (they’re poisonous to eat). Chop the rhubarb into small chunks and the strawberries into matching sized pieces. Mix them right in the pie dish with orange zest, sugar, cornflour, vanilla and balsamic vinegar (photo 1).
- Mix the cobbler topping: Add flour, sugar, baking powder and butter to the bowl of a food processor (photo 2) and blitz until sand-like. Add the cream (photo 3) and blitz again until clumping (photo 4).
- Assemble the cobbler: Flatten out small clumps of the dough and place randomly over the fruit topping. Brush them with egg (photo 5), then scatter over the demerara sugar (photo 6).
- Bake the cobbler: Bake it for a good 50-60 minutes or until the top looks golden and crisp and the bubbling edges look thick and jammy.
Pro tips and tricks
- 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: I love seeing the fruit poking through here and there and especially around the sides where you’ll see all the syrup bubbling up.
- Let it cool a bit: Just for a few minutes as the syrup and fruit will be molten hot.
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If you try this strawberry rhubarb cobbler recipe, make sure to come back and leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you.
More fruity desserts you’ll love
- Strawberry Crisp (Strawberry Crumble)
- Raspberry Peach Cobbler
- Simple Apple Crumble
- Apple and Plum Cobbler
- Easy Pumpkin Cobbler
- Strawberry Almond Tart
- Coconut Mango Crumble
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Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
Ingredients
THE FRUIT FILLING
- 3 cups roughly chopped strawberries
- 3 cups rhubarb chopped into 2cm pieces (trimmed and discard leaves)
- Zest of 1 medium orange
- ¾ cup white granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch) (notes 1)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (optional)½ (notes 1)
COBBLER TOPPING
- 195 g plain (all purp) flour (1 ½ cups / 6.9oz)
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 85 g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled (¾ stick / 3oz)
- ½ cup thickened (heavy) cream
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 3 teaspoons demerara (turbinado) sugar
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- pie dish
- food processor or pastry cutter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / 160C fan forced.
- 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 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, double thick cream or ice cream.
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (= 4 teaspoons)
- 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 1/2 a tablespoon.
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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.