Dewberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuit
Between Easter and Mother’s Day across the state of Texas, you’ll find dewberries growing wild along fencelines, in ditches, and in sunny pastures. These low-growing, thorny vines produce berries similar to a blackberry, although they are an entirely different subspecies within the Rubus genus. Though they are smaller, they taste comparable.
As they grow, they change from green to red to dark purple. You’ll know when they’re ripe when they lose their shine and can barely hold their shape under the weight of your fingers— which will inevitably be stained the color of eggplant for the next few days. One of the best ways to enjoy dewberries is in an old-fashioned cobbler, just like Grandma used to make. Well, almost. I like to add a little twist to the classics.
Cobblers, a far less fussy cousin to fruit pies, use biscuit dough instead of a pie crust. A lot of cobblers call for dough that is somewhat cake-like, but I like mine to be a true biscuit, with a healthy amount of butter cut into the flour to yield a savory crumble. The addition of cornmeal adds a subtle sweet flavor, but it’s drier than wheat flour. This gives the biscuit a scone-like texture that’s perfect for soaking up all that Blue Bell vanilla bean ice cream.
Dewberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Biscuit
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Ingredients
6 cups dewberries or blackberries
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Vanilla ice cream for serving- Sweet Cornmeal Biscuit
5 tablespoons cold european salted butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup finely ground cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup cold heavy cream
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Toss the dewberries, sugar, and cornstarch together in a large bowl. Transfer to a 9×9 baking dish or an oval gratin dish.
- Make the biscuits. Finely dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator to keep it cold.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to cut the butter into the flour, rolling it between your fingers until they’re half the size of a pea. Pour in the buttermilk and stir just a few times, until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball.
- Turn the dough out onto a flour-dusted surface and form it into a mound. Gently pat it out flat, then fold it in half. Pat it out flat again, and repeat this process three times to create layers. Flatten out to about ½” thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds and place them on top of the berries. You might not use all the dough—reserve the rest to make biscuits for eating.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until the biscuit is cooked through.
- Serve hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
