Rhubarb Raspberry Cobbler

Rhubarb Fail

I'd had my eye on this recipe for a while, but the timing for testing it had to be perfect. Sure, the recipe called for frozen raspberries, but I had a raspberry patch and rhubarb, and both would need to be producing at the same time for me to take advantage of my fresh, home-grown produce.  

At last, the stars aligned. A bowl of raspberries sat in my fridge, and the rhubarb was finally up. I hoped to get enough to make at least half of this recipe, but once I pulled the stalks and chopped them up, the measurement fell short of the amount the recipe called for. I needed one and a half cups for half a batch, and here was what Mother Nature handed me. 

Pitiful. 

I was determined, though. I would test this recipe while I had fresh raspberries on hand. So my husband checked our local grocery store to see if they had rhubarb we could add to our own. A worker brought out a handful of green beans and said, "Is this rhubarb?"  

Um . . . no. 

Ah well. I would make do with what I had, which is exactly what Grandma would have done.  

How to make Rhubarb Raspberry Cobbler

The first thing the recipe said to do was prepare the filling. I was making half the recipe, so I placed the rhubarb and raspberries in a 9-inch baking dish, a total guess on my part since no pan size was listed. The fruit filled the dish nicely, giving me confidence that I was on the right track. I tossed the fruit with the flour, sugar, and salt, and set the dish aside.  

The topping started with butter and sugar. which I put in a bowl and beat together. 

I added one egg to the mixture and beat that until it was creamy. 

I then added the flour, baking powder, and salt. The dough was very thick.  

I was concerned about adding the oats to the mixture, but I had no problem beating them in. 

The recipe said to spread the mixture over the fruit filling, but the dough didn't seem spreadable to me. Instead, I flattened clumps between my fingers and laid them on top. 

I then I realized I'd forgotten to dot the fruit with butter. No problem. I peeled back pieces of the topping, which had a texture very much like cookie dough, and slipped the butter underneath. 

The last step was to sprinkle a little sugar and orange zest on top. I didn't an orange, but I'd already strayed so far from the recipe as written that I didn't even hesitate before sprinkling on zestless sugar and sticking the dish in the oven. 

Speaking of which, the oven was set for 350, not 375 as the recipe called for. I needed to bake something else at the same time, so I figured I would just leave the cobbler in a little longer, and it would be fine. I hoped. 

45 minutes later . . . 

The top was a gorgeous golden brown, the filling thick and bubbly. I could hardly wait to taste it, especially because I'd made a batch of Grandma's Homemade Ice Cream to top it off. 

The Verdict

Before I tell you what I thought of it, I must make a disclaimer: Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts, so it's possible I was predisposed to enjoy this sweet-tart dish. 

And enjoy it I did. The topping was thicker and sturdier than I expected from a cobbler, sort of like a sugar-dusted oatmeal cookie, but it perfectly complemented the jammy fruit beneath. When all of that yumminess was bedazzled with a scoop of Grandma's silky smooth ice cream, well, desserts don't get much better than this. 

And then I discovered that I got it wrong. When I started typing the recipe card, I realized I'd left out the milk. I wasn't mad, though, because leaving it out had been a happy accident. I loved the oatmeal cookie feel of the crust and am almost afraid to try the recipe as written for fear that the texture I had enjoyed so much might be lost. 

I doubt the re-test will happen soon. Our slowpoke rhubarb shows no signs of hurrying up, so it might be next year before I get to try again. That's sad because I'm already craving just one more bite. 

You might be wondering if I missed the one cup of rhubarb I had to leave out. Not really. Since both rhubarb and raspberries are tangy, they were interchangeable in this dish. Almost. If you can't get your hands on rhubarb, use raspberries and decrease the sugar just a bit.   

Now there's an idea. 

The recipe below is half of the recipe as written above. I figured that a cup and a half of rhubarb might be a more manageable request. However, if you have three cups of rhubarb you're dying to use, simply double the recipe below and place it in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. 

Enjoy!