Sunday Delights!

March 8, 2009 Laura Nairn

Not a lot of cobblers, just a little fruit cobbler from Fat. Jennifer McLagan is the winner of Barbara-Jo's 2008 Sprouts Award winner with her latest book Fat and today Mark Holmes has prepared her recipe for fruit cobbler. Using suet as the primary fat in the biscuit results in a light textured dough that Jennifer believes will have you substituting suet for butter more in the future.

You can use whatever fruit you desire or that is in season for this dessert. Today we used rhubarb, blackberries and strawberries that were frozen from last season's crop.

Serves 6 to 8

Filling

2 pounds / 900 g peaches
1 pound / 450 g raspberries

1/2 cup / 3 1/2 ounces / 100 g sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

A squeeze of lemon juice

Pinch of sea salt

Suet Biscuits

2 cups / 8 3/4 ounces / 250 g flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

Pinch of fine sea salt

1 1/4 cups / 4 ounces / 115 g finely grated suet

1 egg

1/2 cup / 125 ml milk

1 tablespoon whipping cream (35 percent fat)

1 1/2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C.

To make the filling, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Drop in the peaches and leave for 1 minute, then transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water. Using a paring knife, remove the skin from the peaches; it should peel off easily. If it doesn't, drop the peaches back into the boiling water for another 30 seconds.

Cut each peach into sixths or eighths, depending on its size, and discard the pit. Place the peach slices in a large bowl with the raspberries and sugar and toss gently to combine. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with about 2 tablespoons of the juice released by the fruit, add the lemon juice and salt, and pour over the fruit. Stir to mix and then place the fruit mixture in a 9 by 12-inch / 23 by 30-cm baking dish.

To make the biscuits, sift the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and stir in the suet. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and add to the flour mixture. Stir with a fork to make a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and kneed gently, just until the dough comes together.

Pat the dough out to a thickness of 1/2 inch / 1 cm and, using a 2 3/4-inch / 7-cm biscuit cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Press any leftover dough together and cut again; you should have about eight rounds. Arrange the rounds evenly on top of the fruit; there will be space between them. Brush the tops of the biscuits with the cream and sprinkle the Demerara sugar on top. Bake until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool and serve at room temperature.