Name: Warm and tasty – make our Raspberry, Apple and Rhubarb Cobbler with ease
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 bunch rhubarb (440g), trimmed, cut into 7cm lengths; 3 Granny Smith apples, quartered, cored, cut into 2cm-thick wedges; ¼ cup caster sugar; 125g punnet of raspberries; Icing sugar, vanilla custard, to serve; TOPPING; 1¼ cups self-raising flour; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 1/3 cup caster sugar; 100g cold butter, chopped; ½ cup pure cream

The cobbler dessert (not to be confused with the shoemaker) didn’t emerge from culinary expertise; it was born out of 18th-century creativity and desperation in humble home kitchens.

Early American settlers would literally ‘cobble’ together whatever basic ingredients they had in the pantry and throw it on top of a base of wild fruit. The name may also have emerged from the blobs of doughy-biscuit topping that were thought to resemble cobblestone streets.

Amateur cooks beware: this rustic approach is exactly why you can mess this recipe up and still have it tasting sensational.

That’s why the secret to the perfect winter dessert isn’t complexity; it’s contrast.

This Raspberry, Apple and Rhubarb Cobbler pairs the intense, mouth-puckering tanginess of raspberry and rhubarb with the deep, sweetness of baked apples. To then be enclosed by a buttery, heavy-cream biscuit crust that cracks with the hit of a spoon – it’s a textural delight, and a warm hug of nostalgia in a bowl.

And the best part is that because of these humble beginnings, you’ll have most ingredients on hand.

Plus, our modern-day utensils will make it that bit easier to ‘cobble’ or throw together: use a food processor in Step 4, processing dry ingredients with the butter, then add cream and pulse to combine.

Save on prep and washing up!

Ingredients

1 bunch rhubarb (440g), trimmed, cut into 7cm lengths

3 Granny Smith apples, quartered, cored, cut into 2cm-thick wedges

¼ cup caster sugar

125g punnet of raspberries

Icing sugar, vanilla custard, to serve

TOPPING

1¼ cups self-raising flour

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 cup caster sugar

100g cold butter, chopped

½ cup pure cream

Method

Step 1

Lightly grease an ovenproof dish (8-cup capacity).

Step 2

Place rhubarb, apple, sugar and ¼ cup water in prepared dish. Toss to combine.

Step 3

Cook in a 200°C preheated oven for about 15 mins, or until just tender. Remove from oven. Stir in raspberries. Reduce oven to 180°C.

Step 4

To make the topping, sift flour and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in sugar. Add butter. Using your fingertips, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles crumbs. Add cream. Using a table knife, stir until mixture just comes together. Do not over-mix.

Step 5

Divide and cut dough into nine pieces. Shape each into a square. Arrange over hot fruit.

Step 6

Return to oven. Cook for about 30 mins, or until golden brown and topping is cooked. Remove. Stand for 10 mins.

Step 7

Dust with sifted icing sugar. Serve with custard.

Lara Carlucci Editorial Assistant

Lara is an Editorial Assistant to Managing Food Editor Karen Buckley for New Idea, New Idea Food, Woman’s Day, Take 5, and That’s Life, and an Assistant and Writer for Diabetic Living. With a Bachelor of Media (Communications & Journalism), a Bachelor of Arts, and a Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences (Honours), she’s always nurtured a passion and love for writing in whatever form it takes, wanting to share stories that matter. Food is her second love: shaped by her Italian heritage, and the countless large family gatherings that are always comprised of wholesome, generous meals prepared by loved ones. If not around the banquet table, she’ll take every opportunity to sample Sydney’s endless supply of cuisines – having visited over 70 food joints in the last year alone!