blackberry cobbler pancakes

Why yes, I do still exist. A week off? No posts? Me? YOU BET! I'm losing my mind over here. 

In the last week I began my couch surfing....or rather, bed, love-sac, and couch surfing. I went up  to NYC and had some Laduree macarons (after a two and a half hour line!), walked through parks, ordered in food, and watched my friend's roommate slowly melt down for fashion week. Who needs Bravo? I have real life. 

Now I'm back in DC, crashing with Butchie, baking before work, living out of the suitcase at my office, and calling my home-buying team daily to make sure everything is good to go. So far, the worst of it has been the insurance company. They typed in K St. instead of T St. HOW?! That's not even near each other on the keyboard! (Said the girl who can't spell or type worth a darn.) 

Oh such good times. It'll be over in a week. I'll have a house.....and lots of debt! Fun! 

Okay, not fun, but at least blackberry cobbler pancakes are fun. And delicious. OMG. Why I haven't done this sooner, I don't know. There is cobbler topping and blackberries in the pancake, plus I threw a little ramekin of cobbler in the oven at the same time for a topping. Genius. The trick is putting the cobbler topping onto the griddle and not into the batter. That way it has time to caramelize and crisp on the hot pan, instead of being soggy in the middle of a pancake. 

Enjoy! 

Blackberry Cobbler Pancakes

2 cups blackberries

for the cobbler topping:
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon

for the pancakes:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus additional melted butter
Maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Put one cup of blackberries into a ramekin. Cut the remainder of the blackberries into smaller pieces the size of peas.

In a stand mixer, combine the remaining ingredients and mix until clumps have formed. Spread a fourth cup of the mixture over the blackberries in the ramekin.

Bake for roughly 20 minutes, until blackberries have burst and the topping is slightly browned. 

Meanwhile, make the pancakes. 

Whisk cake flour, all purpose flour, and next 3 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk milk and eggs in medium bowl. Gradually whisk milk mixture into dry ingredients. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter.

Heat griddle or 2 heavy large nonstick skillets over medium heat. 

Brush lightly with additional melted butter. 

Working in batches, sprinkle two tablespoons of cobbler topping on the griddle, then pour batter by 1/4 cups over top. 

Sprinkle each pancake with a few blackberries pieces. Cook until bottoms brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Turn pancakes over and cook until sides brown, about 1 minute. Divide pancakes among plates. 

Top pancakes with a spoonful of cobbler fresh from the oven and maple syrup. 

Rhubarb Berry Crumbles

This recipe gives your berry cobblers a fresh twist. With a grated pie crust as the topping, you get that light flaky taste of pie crust, and all the gooey goodness of a cobbler.

If you've got a moment PLEASE VOTE for my entry in the Twice Baked Potato Contest! You can vote once a day for the next week!

I have a sad announcement, well, sad for me. Butchie, my dear friend in brackets [hello! --B.], will be taking step back from our weekly baking night. She's going part-time and will be baking with me every other week instead of weekly. She has a big and scary project of her own she's got to devote more time to. So what do we girls do for our last regular girls' night? Make Butchie happy and make a rhubarb treat....along with a plain berry crumble for me. [We made everything as you see below, but before adding the rhubarb to the rest of the filling ingredients, we set aside one cobbler's worth of berry-only filling for J. Why can she not abide rhubarb? I don't know. Why do I take on insane projects with a high chance of failure that also prevent me from gorging on baked goods every Monday? See previous. --B.]

We first made these little crumbles last year, and with my little site redesign and the recipe index, I thought it would be a good time to redo some VERY poor photography done in the days of a point-and-shoot camera. It was a simpler time: taking pictures at night with pillowcases as a backdrops, no tripod, only 7 megapixels, bad lightening, wretched set ups...yes, it is time to weed out the weak. This recipe deserved a better picture than we'd originally given it. [Truth. These are delicious--not too sugary-sweet. --B.]

These rhubarb treats can be a little unsettling to make. Grating the “crust” is a little different if you aren’t used to the idea. It really does have the texture and look of cheese. But trust us! Even though it inspired Butchie to say “I feel like we’re making a lasagna,” the final product is worth it! I can’t wait to try out grated crusts on other pies! [I concur. --B]

Rhubarb Berry Crumbles
adapted from Tartelette

¾ cup flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, in small pieces
1/8 cup honey

3 cups rhubarb, fresh
2 cups mixed berries (we used frozen)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
juice and zest of half a lemon
2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon sugar

In a large bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Add the butter and honey and start mixing everything together as you would a pie crust. Press together into a rough block, and freeze while you prepare the fruits.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Peel the rhubarb then cut it in small pieces.

In a large bowl, mix together all the remaining ingredients with the rhubarb. Spray your ramekins or 13x9 pan with cooking spray. Gently pour in the fruit mixture. Don’t be afraid to pile the fruit high, it will cook down substantially.

Grate the cold crumble mixture right over the fruit. As Butchie said “Oh! That feels like cheese!”

Bake for a minimum of 20 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the fruits are bubbling.

Enjoy!