P&Q: Mixed Berry Cobbler « Tuesdays with Dorie

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P&Q: Mixed Berry Cobbler

June 18, 2008 by nikki57

Post your problems and questions here

Posted in P&Q | 60 Comments

60 Responses

on June 18, 2008 at 3:04 pm | Reply hornedfroggy

I baked for the entire recommended time, but I was disappointed in the biscuit topping… it came out doughy and not very flavorful. Maybe it’s just me, though.
on June 18, 2008 at 3:35 pm | Reply Jules

About the cobbler or just in general?
on June 18, 2008 at 4:37 pm | Reply food librarian

I plan to make mine in individual 5 ounce ramekins. Any ideas on how long to bake that?
on June 18, 2008 at 4:43 pm | Reply Jayma

For 5 cups of berries, how many pints is that if you go the fresh fruit route?

food librarian- I’m glad you asked, I was thinking about doing that too
on June 18, 2008 at 5:14 pm | Reply Megan

I made mine today…….a mini version, with a half batch of topping. I baked it for about 20 minutes, it was crisp, but no flavor at all! In fact , I realized that after I had put it in the oven. I did sprinkle the top with sugar and it gave it a nice crunch. I think it needs vanilla, or cinnamon, or nutmeg – something to give it a little pizazz.
on June 18, 2008 at 5:26 pm | Reply Landa

I made it twice already. One big one the first time with the dough recipe and didnt like that the dough was kinda bland. I then made it with 5 ramekins (sorry, didnt watch the time) and added some cinnamon to my dough and a little sugar on top. Much better the second time around.
on June 18, 2008 at 5:26 pm | Reply Amy (Sing for your supper)

I think instead of a mixed berry filling, I’ll use some fresh blackberries I got at the farmer’s market today – probably won’t use Dorie’s biscuit topping recipe (sorry, Dorie!!). I’ll use my great grandmother’s recipe instead (its more of a pie crust dough). I hope it turns out ok! Happy baking!
on June 18, 2008 at 6:02 pm | Reply slush

I may have to miss out on this one. We will see. I am going out of town tomorrow through Sunday. (Pearl Jam concert, woohoo!) And then Liams bday is Tuesday. He will not want Berry Cobbler. I see Vanilla Vanilla Cupcakes in our future. I will see if I can jam it in somewhere.
on June 18, 2008 at 6:18 pm | Reply Holly @ PheMOMenon

From comments above I may have to try two versions – Dorie’s topping and my favorite standby – we’ll see.
on June 18, 2008 at 6:50 pm | Reply Erin

I made it today and was disappointed. I love cobblers and have a recipe that I love and wanted to see how this version compared. It was not like cobbler at all. It was more like a fruit crumb cake. With cobblers, the fruit and dough are supposed to mix during baking but for this one the fruit just stuck to the bottom. It was also pretty dry and not moist like cobblers should be. I will definitely stick to my old recipe from now on.
on June 18, 2008 at 7:08 pm | Reply Autumn

eeek! these posts are discouraging
on June 18, 2008 at 7:42 pm | Reply Rachel

I’m getting nervous. I’m a cobbler gobbler.
on June 18, 2008 at 8:42 pm | Reply hornedfroggy

Good to see I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like the topping… but sad to see that it wasn’t well recieved!!
on June 18, 2008 at 8:42 pm | Reply hornedfroggy

Sorry… received.
on June 18, 2008 at 8:58 pm | Reply Barbara A.

I’m thinking of using a tip from Cooks’ Illustrated — put the fruit in the pan first, bake until hot, slide biscuit topping onto the top and finish baking.

After hearing these comments I will add a bit of flavoring to the biscuits — maybe lemon zest, maybe cinnamon, maybe almond — hmmm…..
on June 18, 2008 at 10:02 pm | Reply Heather B

I’m glad I checked this thread before baking! I’ll definitely be adding something to the biscuits now. Perhaps some vanilla and cinnamon. Thanks to those who already baked for the suggestions!
on June 19, 2008 at 5:37 am | Reply Tara

I made some changes and the topping came out great.. I subbed in brown sugar and used a whole cup, added cinnamon and a tsp. of vanilla extract. I will agree though that it’s more like a pie crust on top than a cobbler. I used frozen cherries. My taste tester liked it! Then again, I served it with icecream and whipped cream!
on June 19, 2008 at 6:19 am | Reply Sarah

I’m nervous now….I was going to make this for a party on Saturday. Hopefully it turns out okay! I’ll probably tweak the dough a bit.
on June 19, 2008 at 8:18 am | Reply Beth

Uh oh – not encouraging! I like a sweet and crumbly topping. Guess I’ll get creative with the spices for this one
on June 19, 2008 at 11:49 am | Reply Amy

Anyone considered using the cobbler topping that’s in the recipe for the cherry and rhubarb cobbler? I might try that.
on June 19, 2008 at 12:27 pm | Reply Landa

Family didn’t like this one. They had issue with the toppings both times. I might try it again on Sunday for after dinner dessert and do something else.
on June 19, 2008 at 1:51 pm | Reply carrie

I think I might definitely go for a different topping… and make it in ramekins. I bought 2 lb of blueberries and I LOVE blueberries. I would absolutely hate to see them “wasted” on a “disappointing” dessert. Time to give it some thought…
on June 19, 2008 at 2:08 pm | Reply amanda

Mine just came out of the oven. I found my crust to be salty. Other than that, no flavor.
on June 19, 2008 at 2:17 pm | Reply Robin

I made mine last night. Since Dorie suggested to go light on the Strawberries and Strawberries are pretty much the only berries my husband and I really enjoy I brought it into work and have gotten rave reviews. One person said they even gave it 5 stars!

I am happy that I checked here first – beause of that I added a little extra sugar to the biscuit dough (I put the full 3 TBSP and I had cut the recipe a bit), about a tsp of cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Then I dusted the top with a little more sugar. I was surprised to cut into it though and find it still to be pretty watery (I used a frozen mixed berry mix that did have some strawberries, but was mostly blueberries and blackberries) but it still got good reviews!
on June 19, 2008 at 3:18 pm | Reply annmartina

Wow, not encouraging results so far. Fruit is too expensive to waste on a bad topping. Maybe I will make the cook’s illustrated cobbler.
on June 19, 2008 at 6:36 pm | Reply food librarian

I made mine this morning…and tried to stay true to Dorie’s recipe with some added spice (as recommended). I added 3 T of crystallized ginger (Baking Illustrated idea), 1/8 t cinnamon and 1/8 t ground ginger to the mix. I topped it with a sugar, cinnamon and ground ginger. I used frozen berries from Trader Joe’s and it made 8 ramekins (although I could have gotten 10 I believe). I cooked just the fruit for 20 minutes and then popped the biscuit on top for another 25 minutes. Co-workers enjoyed it…but they’ll eat anything (hee hee). I thought it was okay, but I would have added even more spice.
on June 19, 2008 at 7:50 pm | Reply Jayma

I really enjoyed mine!

The only change I made was added a tsp of vanilla to the topping & I made it in an 8″ square corningware. We were both really happy with the results- the topping was biscuit-like and worked out really well with the frozen mixed berries we got from publix. Next time I think I’m going to cut back a little on the sugar in the filling but I’ll definitely make this again. Was even better with homemade whipped cream.
on June 19, 2008 at 9:08 pm | Reply allison

I made mine (individual ramekins–30 minutes baking time) tonight before checking the site. The topping itself was a bit bland, but I had added a little extra sugar to the berries at the last second, so they were jucier…and the juice seeped into the bottom of the topping. It was really good, although next time I think I will add some almond to the dough and sprinkle some sugar on top for an added taste.
on June 20, 2008 at 12:18 am | Reply kim

finally made mine tonight after reading thru the comments! i used turbinado sugar instead of regular sugar and added an extra tablespoon of it to the crust, and also a little bit of cinnamon. i also used a different size pan (7.5″ round casserole) and kept the berry amount the same, so it upped the berry-to-crust ratio. i thought it was really good! the extra berry juice was yummy.
on June 20, 2008 at 8:48 am | Reply carrie

I made mine yesterday and after reading these posts, I decided to add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp ground cloves to the topping. I also sprinkled the top with sugar.
The additions made the topping look a little darker than Dorie’s but it tasted pretty good.
I used all fresh blueberries for my filling… a little less than 2 lb.
on June 20, 2008 at 9:50 am | Reply mari

I haven’t made mine yet, but after reading all the commentary, I’m determined to make my cobbler with some extra umph! For anyone else who hasn’t gotten started yet, I would always advise to add a bit extra salt to the cobbler topping. A bit of extra salt and sugar always enhance the flavor of just about everything.
on June 20, 2008 at 10:47 am | Reply Ulrike aka ostwestwind

I am a beginner with cobblers, this was my first. I halved the recipe and baked it for about 40 minutes, I think it was just right with homemade ice cream and the mixed berries. No additional flavour needed IMHO
on June 20, 2008 at 11:57 am | Reply Natashya

I had just bought frozen bags of fruit last week for the first time as they were on sale and I thought they would be good to have on hand. (In Canada we have a very short growing season)
I made this to the recipe – using 1/2 froz raspberries and 1/2 froz mango pieces, tossed with the sugar and lime zest, etc. It was excellent and the biscuit crust was very nice, even cold the next day.
I could see how you would not want to undercook the topping though, make sure it browns.
on June 20, 2008 at 3:28 pm | Reply denise

can’t wait to make this – we needed some thing fabu for a dinner party this weekend – Perfect!!
on June 20, 2008 at 5:00 pm | Reply Jules

Did mine tonight. Thanks to the suggestions, I added cinnamon and ginger to the crust. It’s nice and golden and it smells wonderful in my house. We’ll see how it tastes later.

On a side note: I understand that people may want to make variations on a recipe (subbing vanilla cream for peppermint or mini puffs instead of a ring), but if the site is about Dorie’s recipes, I don’t understand substituting someone else’s recipe. I don’t really think it’s a TWD at that point.
on June 20, 2008 at 8:13 pm | Reply Beth G

I’m making mine this weekend, and I’d never really checked in on p& q before, but this week was definitely helpful..I may be adding some lemon zest or something to the topping…the idea of subbing some brown shug sounds good too
keep ya posted, nate is a cobbler critic, I’m interested (and now a little afraid) to hear what his thoughts are on this!
on June 20, 2008 at 8:16 pm | Reply Barbara A.

I’ll put in my two cents on subbing in someone else’s recipe…

I think if someone does at least part of the recipe from Dorie, then that should certainly count. Doing the cream puff pastry from Dorie, for example, but a filling from somewhere else…or vice versa. It’s fun to see what people come up with!

While we might not want to encourage folks to sub in some other recipe very often, it could make for a most interesting “recipe comparison,” especially if the other recipe is easily viewed on the Internet. I’d encourage posters who want to do this once in a while to give us a link to the other recipe, a quick run-down on what was different about it, and what inspired them to try that one instead. And as I said, I wouldn’t like to see it happen all that often!

There’s my “two cents.”
on June 21, 2008 at 5:10 pm | Reply Libby

One little change, (OK, actually 3) and all will be well:

The big Inversion:
I split my dough in half and covered the bottom of the pie pan and the bottoms of 2 ramekins, then added filling, then covered the tops with the rest of the dough.

OMG, SOO tasty. I am eating thirds right now. This move creates the texture many of you mentioned: the juices seeping into a fluffy, moist dough.

2 little changes:
I added almond extract to the berries (some folks already almond- you were right on target)

I split my flour 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat. This gives a flakier texture, not to mention health benefits and a pretty golden color. Mmmm.
on June 21, 2008 at 6:27 pm | Reply Landa

Okay I did this one more time and this time I baked them in ramekins about 35 mins. I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg to the topping and all was good. I liked it okay but ehhh, I’ll blog the rest on Tuesday.
on June 22, 2008 at 6:39 am | Reply Heather Peskin

I think I’ll make a re-wind recipe for this Tuesday, actually, Dorie’s “Quintuple Chocolate Brownies.” The French Brownies got such rave reviews and I think these will also be very well received. Don’t fancy the “Mixed Berry Cobbler” – it’s not getting good press here and it’s not really easy to get really delicious berry fruits here in NY (except strawberries) – raspberries are pretty tasteless and other berry fruits the same.
on June 22, 2008 at 3:33 pm | Reply carrie

Heather P~ I’m also in NY… and I agree with you on the berries (mostly). I used blueberries and it actually turned out quite well. The berries were ripe and very tasteful.
Maybe I just got lucky though…
on June 22, 2008 at 3:49 pm | Reply Annemarie

I agree with Barbara A. I love seeing what other bakers come up with…sometimes using a different recipe. I also enjoy seeing what other comparable recipes are out there.
I have to say, this recipe has been a turn off to me after reading all of the comments. I just don’t have time to make something twice if I don’t like it the first time…and I get frustrated if the recipe turns out to be a total flop. Personally, I would opt to make something inspired by Dorie…but a different recipe.
This part of TWD is so helpful.
on June 22, 2008 at 4:56 pm | Reply Mary Ann

I think some of us have a food blog as a way to get recipes out there. The whole purpose of my food blog is to share recipes. That is why I want to at least post some part of a recipe with each post. Now that we aren’t able to post the recipe every week, I am stretching my creativity to take whatever the recipe is and somehow incorporate some of the ingredients or some other part of a Dorie recipe into what we are doing, so that I can still post a recipe of some kind. I think that this group was designed to get people baking every week and I am glad there aren’t any “rules” put on what I can bake each week and still consider it part of TWD. Sorry- maybe that was too lengthy!
on June 22, 2008 at 5:28 pm | Reply Mary Ann

I hope no one takes my comment the wrong way. I just enjoy this group because it gets me excited about what other people are baking and helps me get creative. That’s all I promise
on June 22, 2008 at 6:11 pm | Reply Barbara

Just made my cobbler and had a serving. While it will not become my “go-to” cobbler recipe it was very tasty and certainly not a waste of time. My main complaint? Too much dough, not enough berries. Next time I’d use more berries and make only 3/4 or 2/3 of the dough.
on June 22, 2008 at 6:19 pm | Reply Beryl

I made mine yesterday and i really enjoyed it. I used fresh blueberries and raspberries and a few strawberries. I did substitute 2 of the 3 tbsp of sugar for brown sugar and added cinnamon to the topping. I had enough to make one in a shallow 9inch pie pan and 2 ramekins. Can’t wait to have the leftovers for dessert tonight!
on June 22, 2008 at 8:29 pm | Reply Amy P

I just made mine, and after reading the p&q decided to add vanilla and cinnamon to my topping. It turned out amazing! I also changed the mixed berries. Visit me on Tuesday to see just what I did!
on June 22, 2008 at 8:43 pm | Reply Em

I made mine this morning… a “mixed berries” anything wouldn’t get eaten in this house and since I can’t actually justify the money on ingredients to make a dish that would just get binned, I made a big cobbler with apples-&-cranberries and an individual one with peaches (special request from DH’s daughter). I appreciate everyone who posted before me saying the topping was bland and flavorless. To avoid making something that would be yucky on top and we’d only eat the innards I added more sugar and some cinnamon to the topping recipe and it really REALLY is very tasty! DD loved the peach cobbler! I would definitely make Dorie’s cobbler again but I think I’d use less butter in the topping so that it’s very crumbly and use it as more of a streusel. But overall, I’m pleased with the results and appreciate the opportunity to bake a Dorie recipe with all of you this week
on June 23, 2008 at 8:39 am | Reply Laura

I’m not a fan of fruit in my desserts so I’ll have to do a TWD rewind for this one…
on June 23, 2008 at 3:39 pm | Reply Jaime

i’m with barbara… i didn’t have any issues w/the topping, but i did feel that the dough to fruit ratio was WAY off. those who are thinking about making something else should at least try it. i wouldn’t consider it a “waste” by any stretch of the imagination….while it may not be someone’s new favorite cobbler recipe, it was still very good and that’s what being part of TWD is all about – trying the chosen recipe of the week!
on June 23, 2008 at 6:36 pm | Reply Carmella

I made the cobbler on Saturday and it came out pretty well. My only complaint was that there was too much dough for the topping. So I ended up using about 1/2. The rest we used to make heart-shaped biscuits that we’ve been nibbling on.
on June 23, 2008 at 9:13 pm | Reply Doris

Made mine this afternoon….I found the top browned too quickly and it was a bit watery…but it tastes good!
on June 23, 2008 at 9:38 pm | Reply slush

Mine came out just as I think a cobbler should be. The crust was biscuity goodness, and the berries/peaches were cooked to perfection. The only tweaking I did was to sprinkle a tiny bit of sugar on the top. I loved it.
on June 23, 2008 at 10:58 pm | Reply TWD: Mixed Berry Cobbler « Baked Alaska

[...] after reading the comments over on the TWD site about the less than flavorful biscuit topping, I decided a few more tweaks were in order. If [...]
on June 24, 2008 at 6:00 am | Reply mixed berry cobbler (twd) « The Way the Cookie Crumbles

[...] Beth chose for this week’s TWD recipe may be Dorie’s least popular recipe so far. The discussion thread for the recipe had one negative review after another, mostly revolving around a lack of flavor in [...]
on June 24, 2008 at 10:11 am | Reply TWD: Blueberry Cobbler « Carrie’s Kitchen Creations

[...] reading the comments of the other TWD bakers, I began to grow nervous about the cobbler topping. Some referred to it as [...]
on June 24, 2008 at 10:56 am | Reply Cat

dinner,dessert and a new apron is what I did! Well, the apron was made over the weekend…I’m not supermom, but there are times where we try.

I made honeyed teriyaki chicken, jalepeno cornbread, white rice and Dorie’s Mixed Berry Cobbler. Come see what I did with mine. It was a pleasure baking with berries. Here in AZ we too have berry problems so I went with a sure thing..frozen!

If you have time, stop on by and say hi…I’m new here.
on June 24, 2008 at 11:26 am | Reply Mara

how are you guys linking to your TWD posts in your blogs?!?!?
on June 24, 2008 at 2:12 pm | Reply bridget

Mara – it’s an automatic “pingback.” Since we put a link to this page in our blog entry, wordpress adds a comment here with an excerpt to our entry. It’s not intentional on our part – we just provided a link to this page.
on June 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm | Reply Mara

Oh thanks Bridget, so it’s a wordpress option. Wah. I love it.

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