While researching summer dessert recipes for the blog, Kyle came across this recipe in the Mustard’s Grill Cookbook, from the so named restaurant in California’s Napa Valley. The restaurant version, for Raspberry, White Peach and Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Brown Butter Biscuits was a gorgeous red, white and blue creation that will make a fantastic follow up this year’s Fourth of July Milk “Bar”, and is basically a shoo-in for next year’s holiday post. In the interest of simplicity, we pared down the recipe to a classic blueberry cobbler. The real attention grabber, however, was the cornmeal brown butter biscuit topping. Brown butter has the effect of a culinary Bat Signal in these parts—the slightest hint of it and we come running.
It also helps that we already have a stellar gluten free biscuit recipe in our repertoire, thanks to the gurus over at Cook’s Illustrated, which was adapted to create our Parmesan Black Pepper Biscuits. They’ve become a staple of family and holiday dinners, so we can attest to their quality and popularity, even among friends and family who don’t suffer from any gluten issues.
The reason the biscuit recipe works so well is due to the technique of melting the butter, then stirring it into chilled buttermilk, setting the butter into shards that get incorporated evenly into the batter and create lovely, flaky pockets as the biscuits bake.
All of this magic happens without having to break out the pastry cutter, and with the extra care that has to be taken with gluten free baked goods, any opportunity to streamline the process gets a huge thumbs up in the Allons-Eat kitchen. All that was left to do in the adaptation was to actually brown the butter and swap in some gluten free cornmeal for a portion of the gf flour blend.
The results were just as fantastic, and the sweet corn flavor played into the sweetness of the filling really perfectly. Another layer of flavor and texture comes from a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar on top of the biscuits, giving a little more sweetness and a light brulée crunch to the baked topping. As for the blueberry filling, it was prepared in a cast iron skillet, also for simplicity, but primarily because it’s a lovely, rustic presentation that goes from the stovetop, to the oven, to the table with little to no fuss.
The use of individual biscuits as the topping for the cobbler also encourages something called “portion control.” Or so we’ve heard. Frankly, it has the ring of urban myth. If you have any of the Corn Milk Ice Cream, a scoop of it makes the perfect complement to the sweet corn notes in the biscuits, and the perfect counterpoint to the warmth of the cobbler.
However you choose to enjoy it, this is a great, easy summer dessert that you’ll want to make over and over again, with as many different fruits as you can get your hands on. Enjoy!
Inspired by Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook.
- For the Biscuits:
- 7.5 ounces (about 1 ½ cups) All-Purpose, Gluten-Free Flour blend
- 2 ounces (about ½ cup) cornmeal
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. table salt
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, browned and cooled slightly
- For the Cobbler:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 pints blueberries
- 5.25 ounces (¾ cup) sugar
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp. Cornstarch
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tsp. Water
- 1 ½ tsp. sugar mixed with ½ tsp. cinnamon
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°F. Whisk flour, cornmeal, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.. Combine buttermilk and browned butter in medium bowl, stirring until butter forms small clumps.
- Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir with rubber spatula until just incorporated.
- Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch, and stir to combine.
- Using a greased ¼-cup dry measure, scoop level amounts of batter and drop onto the blueberry mixture. Brush the biscuits with the egg and water mixture, then sprinkle the top evenly with the cinnamon sugar.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until fragrant and the biscuits have slightly risen and browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Leave a Reply