Tag: jam

Raspberry Cobbler Bars

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You know what I love but have never been able to perfect? A good cobbler. My filling never comes together enough and it always a soup. A soupy fruit soup. Unpleasant. I also can’t ever seem to get the topping right. There is something glorious and magical about that crispety crunchety oat and brown sugar topping. It warms your heart and reminds you of childhood and family. I have issues getting it to the crispety state though. Its always lackluster and the flavor is never quite there. It doesn’t fill me with that nostalgia. It fills me with the sad.

So I decided to take back the cobbler for myself with these. A traybake that brings together all the best pieces of a cobbler without the risk of soup. I made the jam component in these myself because I was feeling artisanal, but you can absolutely use a high quality raspberry preserve and get the same effect.

Ingredients

shortbread

  • 1 c. flour
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1/3 c. sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp. salt

oat topping

  • 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4. tsp. salt
  • 1/2 c. rolled oats
  • 1/4. cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 c. butter (melted)
  • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

raspberry jam

  • 1 package frozen raspberries
  • 1 c. sugar
  • lemon zest and juice

Directions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a small saucepan put all your jam components and cook on medium low heat. You want the berries to cook down and the sugar to melt. This will cook while you make the other components. (If using store bought jam you can skip this step.)
  3. Put all your shortbread ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and stir to combine. It will look a little crumbly but you don’t want to over work it.
  4. Press the shortbread mixture into a parchment lined 9×13 pan. Par bake your crust for ten minutes.
  5. While the shortbread is baking take the jam mixture off the heat.(skip if using store bought)
  6. While the shortbread is baking put all your topping mixture into a medium sized bowl and mix to combine.
  7. Take the shortbread out and spread your jam across it and then top it with your crumble topping.
  8. Put back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the topping gets crunchy and the jam thickens up.

Blackcurrant shortbread bars

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Had you ever heard of a blackcurrant till right this minute? I had never heard of them until I started looking into flavors common to British food and desserts. It’s commonly used like Americans use grape.

I managed to come across a jar of blackcurrant jam at my local big box store and decided I wanted to add something with this flavor profile to our Tea Week. It came together very easily and was a hit even with my husband who doesn’t have that much of a sweet tooth.

Buttery and delicious

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup blackcurrant jam
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp. Oil
  • 2 tsp. Baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Combine 2 cups of the flour and the rest of your dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
  3. Mix butter, eggs, oil and vanilla together in a separate bowl until well combined.
  4. Combine your wet and dry ingredients together until you get a moist shortbread consistency.
  5. Line a greased square cake pan with parchment paper and put half of your shortbread mixture in the pan. Smash it into the corners and make sure it’s even.
  6. Spoon your jam over the shortbread and make sure it’s an even layer.
  7. Using the other half of your shortbread mixture combine it with the last 1/2 cup of flour and combine until you get a mixture of large and small chunks of dough. This will be your topping.
  8. Sprinkle your topping liberally over the top. It should cover most of the jam layer while still allowing some of it to peak out. (See the pics to see what I’m talking about)
  9. Bake for 20 minutes until the topping gets brown and crisp.
  10. Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting