How to Make Better Cobblers

Photo: CREDIT: PHOTO: KELSEY HANSEN; PROP STYLING: SARAH ELIZABETH CLEVELAND; FOOD STYLING: ROBIN BASHINSKY

Summer is officially underway and that means one thing for certain: Cobbler. No matter what your summer plans look like this year, at some point, you'll likely find yourself with ripe summer fruit on your hands. Perhaps you'll acquire an abundance of peaches that need a purpose. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to score a bucket of blueberries from your neighbor with the bountiful home garden. Whenever and however it happens, and you find yourself unsure of how to best utilize your warm weather bounty, rest assured — cobbler is always the right answer.

Cobblers are such a fantastically unfussy way to highlight and enjoy the flavor of peak season fruits like peaches, plums, berries, nectarines, cherries, and more. They're universally loved, unlimitedly customizable, and are the perfect cushion for vanilla ice cream. What more could you really ask for?

Another beautiful truth about cobblers is that there are so many small tweaks you can make — entirely on the fly — to add a special touch or personal signature to your creation. Here are a few places to start:

Add Another Fruit

What better way to fully embrace the flavor of summer and bring a touch dynamic flair to your homemade dessert than by mixing fruits. Peaches and blueberries, mixed berries, blackberries and apricots, cherry and pear, you name it — any fruits you'd use as the singular filling in a cobbler can be combined into vibrant combos that will certainly impress. Just remember: Two fruits are better than one.

Change Up Your Thickener

Okay, so this isn't the most exciting twist you'll ever hear, but it's a small technical detail that can make all the difference. Do you currently use all-purpose flour to thicken the filling of your cobbler? Alright, this year, give cornstarch a try. While flour imparts a mild bitter flavor to the filling that doesn't always cook entirely out, corn starch is generally undetectable. Or better yet, try tapioca starch; it's flavorless and incorporates into various fruits' juices extremely well. Just keep in mind that pure starch has twice the thickening power of all-purpose flour, so you'll need less of it.

Give Your Biscuits a Textural Twist

There's absolutely nothing wrong with a classic biscuit topping (in fact, a classic biscuit topping is sublime), but folding a little personality into your cobbler topping is a fun and tasty means of making your mark on the summer potluck dessert table. For example, replace a portion of your all-purpose flour with cornmeal for a touch of sweetness and textural intrigue. Or work some chopped pecans into the biscuits destined to crown your peach cobbler. If nothing else, brush the biscuit topping with a simple egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar for a dazzling aesthetic and delicate crunch.

Caramel Sauce, Anyone?

Adding a homemade salted caramel sauce to cobbler is a little twist I fell in love with last summer. For a peach cobbler, I like to add a little bit into the filling, as well as serve each scoop of cobbler with a drizzle of warm caramel sauce — and vanilla ice cream, of course.

Use Your Favorite Herbs and Spices

Lovethe way zippy fresh ginger complements blueberries' sweet-tartness? Then obviously you should incorporate some grated fresh ginger into the filling of your next blueberry cobbler. Or you could even work a little fresh ginger and chopped candied ginger into your biscuit topping. Same goes for anyone who lives for pairing peaches and basil during the summer months — bring that delicious partnership to your cobbler. Basically, if there's a flavor element you especially love next to fruit, experiment with using it to amp up your cobblers. After all, what is a cobbler if not a blank slate for your culinary creativity?

Make a Custom Whipped Cream

If you feel hesitant about adding new flavors directly into your cobbler, but have a hunch they'd go especially well with it, ease in by making a custom, flavored whipped cream to serve atop your dessert. Typically, the only flavoring added to fresh whipped cream is vanilla extract (maybe a little bit of lemon juice), but that doesn't mean that's where you need to stop. Add another extract (like almond), or cocoa powder, or fresh herbs, or citrus zest, or booze — whatever floats your boat.