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Berry Cobbler With Shortcake

This is a mashup of blueberry cobbler and strawberry shortcake because I wanted them both on the 4th of July. The flaky biscuit is my muse and at the heart of this made-up holiday dessert. I added fresh thyme, because it is all over my garden and planted right next to the strawberries (I’ve successful grown one strawberry so far, the rest have been rabbit food), so they seemed destined to be together.
Be sure to read the notes section for extra tips before you begin!
Servings: 6
Author: Zoë François

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (520g) all-purpose flour I used Gold Medal because biscuits like a lower protein flour*
  • 2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (226g) unsalted European-style butter (Kerrygold or the like) frozen
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk buttermilk low fat is fine too
  • 2 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves optional

Blueberry Filling

  • 3 cups (370g) fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
  • 2 tsp lemon zest

Biscuit Tops

  • 2 Tbsp butter melted
  • 2 Tbsp Sugar

For Serving

  • 1 pint fresh strawberries sliced
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • Sprigs of fresh thyme

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 425°F. Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet generously with butter. Set aside.
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Set aside.
  • Use a box grater to grate the frozen butter into small pieces. You can also cut it into small cubes.
  • Use your fingers or a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it is the consistency of corn meal. When you squeeze the butter/flour mixture together it should hold together because the flour is coated with the butter. You want some pieces of butter to stay whole. Pro tip: If the mixture gets too warm and the butter starts to melt, pop it into the freezer for about 15 minutes.
  • Add the buttermilk and thyme leaves, stir using a Danish dough whisk or wooden spoon just until a shaggy dough starts to form. Pro tip: You don’t want to over work it, so it is okay if some of the flour mixture isn’t entirely combined.
  • Pour the contents of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and use a bench scraper or your hand to push the dough together into a rough rectangle. Push the floury bits into the dough, but don’t try to knead them in or the dough will become tough. Pro tip: I like to use the bench scraper because my hands get warm and melt the butter as I am working.
  • Fold #1. Lightly flour the surface you’re rolling on and the top of the dough. Use a rolling pin to create a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle (the dimensions don’t matter at this point). Use the bench scraper to help lift the short end of the dough, fold 1/3 of the dough into the center. Fold the other 1/3 over the top, like a letter.
  • Fold #2 & #3. Repeat above step two more times. Pro tip: Each time the dough will become a little neater but don’t worry about that or you’ll be tempted to over work it. This whole process is very easy and gentle, no forcing the dough.
  • After the fold #3, cut 1/3 of the dough off the short end. On a lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin, roll it into a 9-inch round disk (about 1/4 -inch-thick) and place it in the prepared pan.
  • Roll the remaining piece of dough into a 1-inch-thick rectangle. Dust the top lightly with flour and use a 2-inch round biscuit cutter to stamp out the dough.
  • Pro tip: Stamp straight dough and do not twist. Make sure the cutter is well floured so it doesn’t drag through the dough, or you will not get the rise you want.
    Pro tip: You can press the scraps together to stamp more biscuits, just don’t try to knead them together. They should be sticky enough to just press them together.
  • In a medium sized bowl, stir together the blueberries, sugar and zest. If using fresh berries, you may need to add a teaspoon of lemon juice to get the sugar to cling to the berries. Pour the berries over the disk of dough in the pan. Cover the berries with the 2-inch biscuits.
  • Brush the tops of the biscuits with melted butter and generously sprinkle with sugar.
  • Place the cast iron pan on a baking sheet. Bake the biscuits in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes. If the biscuits are browning too fast, loosely tent them with a sheet of foil and continue baking for another 10 to 15 minutes. Test the center of the pan to make sure the biscuits in the middle are baked through. (Pro tip) lift the biscuit up and check the underside, if it isn’t fully baked, return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes with the foil tent. If you used frozen berries this can take close to an hour to bake.
  • You can serve the biscuits hot from the oven with the berries and ice cream or wait until it is room temperature. Pro tip: If there are leftovers, reheat in the microwave.
  • Pro tip: You can make this the night before and refrigerate the assembled pan to bake fresh in the morning for a brunch. If you do this chilling technique, you will likely need to add even more time to the bake, up to an hour!

Notes

*If you use King Arthur Flour, it has a higher protein content and will absorb more liquid, so you may need an extra few tablespoons of buttermilk to get the right consistency.
This recipe serves 6 to 8 but I tested the recipe and served it to my husband and the guys who are doing work on the house and the 4 of them could have polished it all off, so I guess it depends how hungry you are.
This dessert began when I made a huge batch of buttermilk biscuits with a 1/2 pound of Kerrygold butter. You don’t have to use that brand, but I suggest you make these with a European-style butter to get the flaky, tender, richness that is the very point of a biscuit. European butters have a higher fat content and the flavor is exceptional. These will still be delicious without it but if you're feeling decadent, you won’t be sorry.
Once you have all the butter worked in, then comes the folding and layering, like a rough-puff-pastry dough. This will take your biscuits from tender to super-flaky layers.
I rolled 1/3 of the biscuits into a base layer, so the blueberries would be tucked into the biscuit itself like a juicy jam. Nothing but blueberries, a bit of sugar and lemon zest. I wanted to leave them juicy (no starch) so they’d make the biscuit have a moist pudding/cake layer. It bubbles like mad, so place the cast iron pan on a baking sheet, just in case the juices get too excited and jump the rim.
I bake this HOT, so all the leavener (baking powder and baking soda) in the biscuits bounce into action. You’ll want to tent the whole thing after about 30 minutes, so the tops don’t get too dark while the middle struggles to bake all the way through. Even if the biscuits look browned and beautiful, I recommend you lift one of the center biscuits and make sure the dough is fully baked. It may need even more time, especially if you’ve used frozen fruit or chilled your dough.
The toppings are optional, but not really. You’ll want some fresh strawberries and/or blueberries to add the summertime spirit. I went with ice cream because when it came out of the oven bubbling hot, it just demanded some melty ice cream. If you end up serving this at room temperature then you could also go with the more traditional shortcake adornment, whipped cream.
Kept covered, the leftovers can be warmed up in the microwave and eaten for breakfast with yogurt (or more ice cream – it’s a holiday).