Tuesday, June 24, 2008

TWD: Mango Berry Cobblers.



The last week has been quite busy. This week is shaping up to be even busier. I have 3 batches of cupcakes to make and one fabulous ice cream cake for a good friend's 30th birthday. Add in a work dinner, another drinks and dinner event, said good friend's birthday dinner, a bridal shower, a Sunday brunch, a skating rink birthday party, my hub heading off to India for a week long visit and oh yes Cupcake Hero which is Melon, due by the 30th...yes...can you say INSANE? Let's all say it..INSANE!!!

However, next week is much more mellow and then we have the 3 day weekend for 4th of July so I am really looking fwd to relaxing, However, this rambling all has a point. Because I am crazy busy...my poor little TWD kept getting pushed aside in all the other madness. Miss Beth from Our Sweet Life chose Mixed Berry Cobbler for this week's bake. I was excited about making a cobbler, because I love EATING cobblers so making one sounded like a dream.

Then, I started reading the P&Q's on the TWD site. This dish was getting not a lotta love from the gals over there. Too bland, too sweet, too boring..you name it. I kept reading...adaptations were made, subs were put in, entirely new recipes brought in to assist. Yikes. Cobbler carnage.

So I made some mental notes. Spice up the crust a little with cinnamon and nutmeg; crush some pecans to add to the dough; mingle whole wheat flour with white for a better texture; add brown sugar for a deeper flavor. Then I started daydreaming about what fruit to use. While I love me some berries, it feels like I have been eating berry after berry lately. Strawberries for the TWD Tart, Raspberries for the Chambord TWD Brownies...not to mention other desserts I've eaten recently. Berries everywhere. While I typically have a bag of TJ's mixed berries in the freezer...I wasn't feeling it.







BUT, if there is one berry I really love in baked goods, it's blueberries. This local creamery serves up a mean blueberry pie that we get almost every Thanksgiving, so with that in mind, I pounced on a bag of TJ's frozen northwest blueberries in our overstuffed freezer. I also found a half open bag of mango chunks. Oohh. Freezer burn is fun when baking...add enough sugar and it doesn't matter...esp when goodies are heated to 375 degreees.



I made mini cobblers in smaller square baking dishes, because it's just me and the hub and we don't eat that much of a dessert--one night of it is really all I can take for the most part unless it's a super decadent chocolate fudge layer cake, which I could eat EVERY NIGHT, FOREVER. Or close to it.

I made 2 square ramekins and 2 heart shaped ones. I brushed all the fruit with bourbon vanilla extract before covering them up with the dough, and played around with circles and slits, making hearts for some of them and leaving circles for others.



I also had some leftover dough, so I made two small little pies with silicon baking cups, lining them with dough, putting some fruit inside, sprinkling it with some brown sugar and cinnamon and then covering it up with more dough for baking.







The taste on this thing?? Amazing!!!! I was worried it'd be bland since I tasted the dough before baking and it was so blah. But this is a perfect example of where reading the P&Q and getting ideas on what to do and not to do made my outcome wonderful!! This is when being part of a community like this is REALLY fun...thanks TWD'ers!



The pecans and brown sugar added a great flavor...I wasn't totally sure originally on blueberries and mango but a big WOW! I was busy eating it before it even stopped steaming, and then the better half got in on the action after he saw my look of cobbler ecstasy.



I loved how easy this recipe was to pull together, I literally started making it at 8:30pm on Monday night and it was done and we were eating it by 10pm. Perfect for a weeknight dessert. I also loved how well this recipe took to adaptations. You could add a variety of things to the basic dough to make it taste a little different, same with fillings. I love experimenting with flavors.

I don't know if the other ones will make it to the office tomorrow...and I am never buying that local blueberry pie again. I'm making my own!



Check out Beth's site, Our Sweet Life, for the recipe and be sure and check out the TWD Community page to see all the fab cobblers by the group!


27 comments:

Peabody said...

Mango...what a great addition.

Anonymous said...

Yours look wonderful...and so creative with all those little ramekins, etc. The additions you made sound yummy. I went with the Dorie version and we were not at all disappointed, it was very good. All that said, it will also be fun to try some of your ideas the next time I make this. Thanks for sharing.

ostwestwind said...

I was pleased with the original version, but your changes sound interesting, especially the mango!

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Engineer Baker said...

Pecans, brown sugar, and mango - what wonderful additions to the recipe!

Anonymous said...

Oh! Just beautiful!

Mo said...

Wow...that looks to die for. Mango and blueberry's with freezer burn that mix with pecans to make that...
Yeah...MO knows good...and that's it.
2 more days till busy gets going...
You are a whip cracker...no cake till Thursday...hope to see the post before the night-evil grin-I got the blog site address!

Mary Ann said...

Looks so good and the mango sounds divine!

Cat said...

YUM! Your site is awesome.
I think they are linking over at TWI by them having a WordPress blog. I haven't checked them all, but blogspot hasn't been showing up, just WordPress. If you find out, would you let me know as well? Thanks.

Cat said...

oops, typo...TWD.

Anonymous said...

Your cobbler looks delicious. I bet the mango was wonderful.

Susie Homemaker said...

mango? freezer burn? and it's still good? that says a lot, huh? great luck with everything you have coming up - when will you sleep???

Anonymous said...

I absolutely in all ways adore mango. What a great substitution!

Bungalow Barbara said...

Oooh, your cobbler sounds so delicious. Love your variations. It's so great that some folks choose to follow the recipe exactly, some vary it a little, others more... and then we all get to share the fun!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

the mango does sound tasty...i bet your tweaked cobbler was delish!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness. Your version of the cobbler sounds and look divine! I need to remember the pecan idea.

Linda said...

mangoes and blueberries...sounds delectible!!!!

Di said...

I like your individual dishes--especially the square ones. I don't have anything quite like that. Not that I have room for anything new... =)

Bumblebutton said...

Oh how delicious it all sounds! I wouldn't share if I were you!

Anne said...

Wow, yum! Sounds like you made some great adaptations and it really worked out.

Anonymous said...

Your blog features a delicious array of recipes; the way you've chosen to present your recipe collection is admirable. We'd like to pass along a gift to you; it's an acclaimed service that any cook with a recipe collection would feel honored to use. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested.

Jaime said...

i LOVE mangoes! great lookin' cobbler :)

April said...

Your mini cobblers look wonderful! I love the mango addition!

Beth said...

I am not sure how I got here (from another cupcake blog I think?), but lo and behold it's Mara from Yelp! You truly are the baking queen!

- Beth T. from Yelp!

Heather B said...

It looks tasty! Great job!

Christine said...

Mango yum! You did have a crazy schedule! Your cobbler looks delicious!

LyB said...

Yay! to making your own pie from now on! Blueberries and mangoes sound great together, beautiful!

Honeyed Hashette said...

YUM! I love mango!
I love they way they turned out in their little ramekins. CUTE!