Seasonal Recipes from Surrey Hills Cookery School

Rhubarb and orange cobbler

A cobbler is traditionally cooked seasonal fruit covered with a thick crust or ‘cobbler ‘as it became known. The texture is between that of a pastry and a cake. It makes a lovely change from a crumble and is just as easy to make. Use the leftover buttermilk to let the children make some muffins or scones.
 

Seasonal Recipes | Rhubarb & Orange Cobbler

 
Ingredients

500g rhubarb
1-2 tbsp soft brown sugar
75g butter or margarine
200g self raising flour
100g caster sugar
150ml buttermilk
Zest of 1 orange
25g flaked almonds
 

 

Method

Zest the orange and place the zest to one side. Rinse the rhubarb, pat dry and cut into 5cm lengths. Place in a baking dish and sprinkle with 1 – 2 tablespoons of soft brown sugar (depending on how sweet your tooth is!) add the juice from the orange. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until the rhubarb is just starting to soften.

Meanwhile, rub the flour into the margarine or butter, until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Stir in the caster sugar and orange zest. Add the buttermilk and use a round bladed knife to bring the mixture together to form a soft dough.

The dough will be too soft to roll out so use a large metal spoon to drop spoonfuls haphazardly onto the fruit. Allow some gaps, that way the rhubarb will seep up between the dough to make the whole pudding look very home-made, which it was! Enjoy with lashings of custard or cream and vow to take the dog on a long walk tomorrow!