Just the color alone is enough to entice anyone to enjoy a Baked Plum and Rye Cobbler. Garnish with Bourbon Creme Anglaise, a rich and creamy sauce.
Eating with your eyes
Baking plums produces one of the prettiest colors found in food. Rich and deep, this winey and grapey hue is begging you to have a bite. And while it is said that we eat with our eyes, the taste is our reward when we dive in. There is a play between the natural tartness of plums and the sweetness of the added sugar.
Getting out of the all-purpose flour rut
There is nothing wrong with all-purpose flour. Reliable and solid, it is the journeyman of flours. But there is a whole other universe of flours to experiment with. The trick is finding how to make a substitution for all-purpose flour. There are many factors that can dictate the switch in flour such as gluten or protein content. I am substituting 75% of the all-purpose flour in this recipe.
Rye flour adds a nutty flavor and is a great contrast to the tart/sweet flavor of the plum filling. To add to the richness of rye flour, use turbinado sugar. The molasses in the sugar adds a caramel note to the cobbler dough.
Rustic Dessert
One of the biggest advantages of preparing cobblers, crisps, grunts, or any other iteration of this dessert, is the ease with which you can pull the recipe together. The rustic appearance is one of its endearing features. But in a short period of time, you can have a flavorful dessert, celebrating the best fruit of the season, in the oven.
Cobbling it together
It takes about 25 minutes to put this dessert together. The prep includes slicing plums, tossing them with sugar, cornstarch, and a touch of ground black pepper. Add a ½ teaspoon of almond extract. Coat a baking dish with cooking spray or melted butter. Add the plums to the dish and set aside.
Top it all off
The cobbler dough also comes together quickly. Combine the rye and all-purpose flour with turbinado sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in the melted butter but the dough will still be a little dry. Add up to 4 tablespoons of water, one at a time. How much water is needed will change each time you make this recipe. The humidity in the air and how much moisture is in the flour can affect how much water to add. The dough should just come together into a ball but you do not want a wet or sticky dough.
Add pieces of the cobbler dough to the top of the plums. I like to sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top of the dough for a little sparkle and some added crunch.
Bourbon Creme Anglaise
And if this dessert isn't rich enough, drizzle some creme anglaise on top. I like to add bourbon to the sauce but you can omit the alcohol and add vanilla extract instead. While the cobbler is baking, I prepare the anglaise.
To make this classic dessert sauce, heat heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan. Technically, the dairy is scalded, which means it will come to a boil and rise in the pan. Make sure to stay with the pan - the mix scalds quickly and will boil over if you are not watching. Whisk sugar into the egg yolks.
When the milk and cream mix is ready, add it to the eggs by tempering. Add a small amount of the hot milk/cream mix to the eggs, whisking to gently bring them to temperature. Keep repeating this step until the milk/cream is incorporated then pour it into the pan. Over medium heat and with a spatula, stir the anglaise until it just starts to thicken. Don't heat it too long because the eggs will scramble. The idea is to have a silky, smooth sauce. When the sauce is thick, pour it through a strainer into a clean bowl that is nestled in a larger bowl of ice. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools.
Stone fruits
This dessert is a celebration of stone fruit season. Beautiful plums are simply transferred into a sweet, jammy filling. The cobbler dough adds nutty flavor accented with molasses. For a recipe with uncomplicated steps, there is a lot of complexity in the final dessert.
This Baked Plum and Rye Cobbler is an easy recipe to prepare for a week-night dessert. I like to serve the cobbler warm with a drizzle of the Bourbon Creme Anglaise. But serving it ala mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream would be equally delicious.
Don't let one of the summer's prettiest fruits go out of season before you try this recipe. Savor the tart/sweet plums and the crunchy topping.
Another stone fruit recipe to try - https://tenpoundcakecompany.com/caramelized-peach-caprese-salad
Baked Plum and Rye Cobbler
Equipment
- tart pan or baking dish for cobbler
- medium bowl
- small saucepan
- Strainer
- thermometer
Ingredients
Cobbler Dough
- ¾ cup rye flour
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup turbinado sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 -4 tablespoons water
Plum Filling
- 3 cups sliced plums
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- pinch ground pepper
Bourbon Creme Anglaise
- 2 egg yolks
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
Instructions
Cobbler Filling
- Preheat oven - 375°
- Prepare a baking dish by coating it with some melted butter.
- Combine the dry ingredients - ½ cup of granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, and a pinch of black pepper.
- In a bowl, toss the sliced plums with the dry ingredients. Add ½ teaspoon of almond extract.
- Place the plum mixture in a greased baking dish.
Cobbler Dough
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk dry ingredients - ¾ cup of rye flour, ¼ cup of all-purpose flour, ⅓ cup of turbinado sugar, 1 ½ teaspoon of baking powder, ¼ teaspoon of salt, and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Add 6 tablespoons of melted butter to the dry ingredients. The dough should just come together.
- If the dough feels dry, add 1 tablespoon of water. You can add more water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. It should not be too wet.
- You may have more cobbler topping than you need. It all depends on the baking dish you use.
- Bake in the oven for 33-35 minutes, until the cobbler dough is starting to brown on top. The juices of the cobbler filling should be bubbling.
Bourbon Creme Anglaise
- While the cobbler is baking prepare the creme Anglaise.
- In a bowl, combine 2 egg yolks with ¼ cup of granulated sugar. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine ½ cup of whole milk and ½ cup of heavy cream.
- Over medium-high heat, scald the creme and milk. The mixture is scalded when it starts to rapidly rise in the pan.
- Add a small amount of the milk mixture, approximately ¼ cup, to the egg yolks while whisking. Repeat this step with another ¼ cup of the milk mixture.
- Add the egg yolk mixture back to the pan over medium. Using a spatula, keep the mixture moving in the pan. In approximately three minutes, you should feel the milk thickening.
- Take off the heat and quickly strain the milk into a clean bowl. If the milk mixture cooks too long, the egg yolks will scramble. Straining the Anglaise will help to capture any overcooked bits of egg.
- Add two tablespoons of bourbon to the Creme Anglaise. If you do not want to add alcohol, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
- Let the creme Anglaise chill while the cobbler bakes.
Notes
Nutrition
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