Serves: 6-8 - Time:
A cobbler is the perfect pudding for anybody who, in a traditional crumble, loves more of the topping than fruit- for here there is a greater ratio of cobbler to fruit. A cobbler mixture is a cross between a cake batter and a scone dough, crustier than a cake yet softer than a scone. I think some sort of dairy accompaniment is a must. My preference (just) is for custard but thick double cream or ice cream would be most welcome too.
Ingredients
- 950g ripe plums, halved, stoned and quartered
- 55g soft brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornflour
- Scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Juice of 1 orange
- For the cobbler
- 265g plain flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Pinch salt
- 90g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 55g golden caster sugar
- 5 knobs stem ginger in syrup, drained and finely chopped
- 210ml buttermilk
- Demerara sugar to sprinkle
Method
- Heat the oven to 200˚c, fan oven 180˚c, mark 6. Put the plum quarters in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the sugar. Put the cornflour and cinnamon in a ramekin and stir in the orange juice. Pour over the plums and stir. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile make the cobbler topping: Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a bowl. Rub in the butter until no lumps remain. Stir in the sugar and chopped ginger. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the buttermilk. Stir everything together until the cobber mix is just coming together and no floury bits remain. Don’t overmix this-like scones, the less handling the lighter the result.
- Take large spoonfuls of the cobber dough and place on top of the plums, leaving a little gap between each. I cook my cobbler in a wide shallow dish but if you have a smaller, deeper one you may find you don’t use all the dough. Sprinkle with a little demerara sugar and bake in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. Leave for 5 minutes and serve with custard, cream or ice cream.
