You can’t win ’em all. That’s what I kept telling myself when I baked my Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie event. I’ve had pretty good luck with every recipe I’ve made so far from Dorie’s book, so I had no reason to expect anything less than success this time as well. Boy, was I wrong!
Dorie’s Cherry Rhubarb Cobbler recipe is really not difficult at all. The filling is just cherries, rhubarb, sugar, ground ginger and a little salt. The biscuit topping is a mixture of white and whole wheat flours, milk and, of course, butter. Pretty standard fare. I followed the directions precisely, but, for some reason I have yet to figure out, it turned out awful! It was a shame too, because this week I actually had an event to go to and I needed to bring something.
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My first clue that something wasn’t right was when I took the cobbler out of the oven. I checked it after forty-five minutes, but the biscuit topping hadn’t puffed up very much, so I baked it for fifteen minutes more. After that, the fruit was all nice and bubbly, but the topping still didn’t look much better. There wasn’t much else I could do, so I crossed my fingers and took it to the party anyway.
When I served the dish the topping was hard as a rock on the surface and totally raw on the inside. For some reason, the dough didn’t cook through. The fruit filling was very tasty but the topping was inedible.
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I’ll be interested to see how the other TWDers fared this week. I’m sure that the fault for my flop lies with me. I must have messed up somewhere. If anyone has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Thanks to Amanda from Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake for choosing this week’s recipe. It looked like a really great one. If you’d like to see how this dish was supposed to turn out, check out the Tuesday’s with Dorie blogroll. Meanwhile, I’ll be looking forward to next week’s Summer Fruit Galette!
On July 22, 2008 at 2:49am, Manggy said...
Oh nooooooo! How can it not be cooked through after an hour of baking?! Is the oven broken? I’m kind of baffled. Sigh. It does look nice, though
On July 22, 2008 at 2:52am, Dhanggit said...
this cherry rhubarb cobbler looks like something really to die for!! delicious!!
On July 22, 2008 at 4:22am, B said...
I made mine in small individual ramekins and I think I rolled my balls a little too big because mine weren’t crunchy. They were cooked through and more cake like. I’m not familiar with cobblers so Im not sure how crunchy the top should be? Anyway yours looks delicious!
On July 22, 2008 at 5:30am, Mary said...
It looks pretty anyway. Total bummer about it not working out.
On July 22, 2008 at 5:43am, Jess said...
So sorry the topping didn’t work…but it does look gorgeous!
On July 22, 2008 at 6:10am, Natashya said...
Sorry it didn’t work out, mine wasn’t the best either. This just makes the successes all the more special.
On July 22, 2008 at 6:42am, Mike of Mike's Table said...
Sorry to hear the topping didn’t work out-sounds like it would have been delicious though.
On July 22, 2008 at 7:08am, The Short (dis)Order Cook said...
Sorry you didnt’ have a good topping. It certainly looked pretty. If you had presented it to me without saying anything, I would have dug right in.
(Hee hee hee. You said RHUBARB!)
On July 22, 2008 at 7:33am, Tracy said...
What a bummer. It sure does look good!
On July 22, 2008 at 7:53am, rainbowbrown said...
Oh how sad. That’s strange what happened to you. And the biscuit was so beautifully arranged too. Well, I’m sure you’ll have better success with the galette dough!
On July 22, 2008 at 8:14am, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy said...
Thank you all for your comments. You are really sweet to try to find the silver lining in this! I’ll admit, the cobbler looked good and it smelled great. The topping was like glue underneath. It was gritty too.
Manggy- My oven is not the best. The house was hit by lightning a few months ago and the oven has not been the same since. However, I baked all those other things and they came out fine. Don’t know.
B- I think my balls were too big too. I only got 15 and not 20.
Natashya- True. Thank goodness this doesn’t happen very often!
Rachel- Lol! You crack me up! 😀
Rainbow- I’m looking forward to it!
On July 22, 2008 at 8:15am, Heather said...
mmmm… this combination sounds delicious! I love the idea of cherry and rhubarb!!
On July 22, 2008 at 8:20am, StickyGooeyCreamyChewy said...
I forgot to mention that rhubarb is one of Mr. SGCC’s favorites. It’s one of the only kinds of dessert he will eat. The poor guy waited all day for that cobbler and he couldn’t even eat it! Ugh!
On July 22, 2008 at 9:00am, LyB said...
I saw your title and I was like “Oh, good, I’m not the only one”! I love rhubarb and cherries, I had such high hopes for this one. It was pretty though.
On July 22, 2008 at 9:03am, Cindy Ruth said...
I hate it when you end up with a recipe that doesn’t work. I’m beginning to believe that happens with every cookbook. At least your photo looks beautiful!
On July 22, 2008 at 9:07am, Dianne said...
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out that great. It looks wonderful though!
On July 22, 2008 at 9:11am, CookiePie said...
Well, it certainly looks beautiful!
On July 22, 2008 at 9:49am, noble pig said...
I wonder what happened, now I’m curious too! It still looks good though.
On July 22, 2008 at 11:02am, Jules Someone said...
My dough didn’t cook all the way through the first time I baked it. I ended up baking it again, and it was fine. Who knows.
On July 22, 2008 at 11:28am, Jen of A2eatwrite said...
It looks lovely, at least. Is it as humid where you are as it is in Michigan right now? Maybe that had something to do with it.
On July 22, 2008 at 12:09pm, kim said...
sorry it didn’t work out for you!
your pics are lovely, though!!
On July 22, 2008 at 1:08pm, Nicole said...
Well it LOOKS like it was perfectly cooked and delicious! Cherry and rhubarb! Love the combo.
On July 22, 2008 at 1:10pm, Susie Homemaker said...
oh no! i wonder what happened?? maybe you’ll have better luck next week with the galette!
On July 22, 2008 at 3:24pm, Jeena said...
I adore cherries, your cobbler looks really amazing.
On July 22, 2008 at 4:04pm, Food.Baby said...
I had a similar problem with mine. The dough balls didn’t puff up or spread at all so it looked a little sparse on top. But it was cooked and tasted ok. Funny how the same recipe can turn out so differently for everyone!
On July 22, 2008 at 4:50pm, PheMom said...
Oh no! So sorry it didn’t work out. The only thing I can think of is that you didn’t list the baking powder in the list you named above…maybe you left it out? I know I do stuff like that all the time!
On July 22, 2008 at 4:52pm, Grace said...
how peculiar! it certainly looks nicely done. i’m sure the guests weren’t too upset-surely they must know what a fabulous cook you are and that you’ll bring something terrific the next time around.
On July 22, 2008 at 5:32pm, Heather B said...
uh oh! Sorry you had trouble with it! It looks delicious even if the topping was off!
On July 22, 2008 at 6:26pm, Debbie said...
It is frustrating when a recipe does not turn out like you expect. I still think your cobbler looks great!
On July 22, 2008 at 7:16pm, Engineer Baker said...
Weird - I had no problems, but who knows. Maybe flattening the balls of biscuit dough would have helped?
On July 22, 2008 at 7:50pm, Pamela said...
How odd that this happened. I guess they all can’t be winners for us every week. I’m sorry that it happened when you needed to bring it somewhere, though. It did look good, though! ;O)
On July 22, 2008 at 8:34pm, karen said...
sorry you didn’t quite love it, but it sure is photogenic.
On July 22, 2008 at 8:56pm, Jude said...
Sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you. Been browsing all the TWD entries and it really looks fun to make.
On July 22, 2008 at 9:56pm, Dolores said...
How strange that the topping balls baked up that way. I’m glad that at least it didn’t ruin the fruit! Better luck with the galette.
On July 22, 2008 at 11:35pm, Mara said...
awww sorry the topping didn’t work out. it looks good though!!
On July 23, 2008 at 7:02am, Abeer said...
i’m seriously shocked, since the combination sounds heavenly! but maybe if you opted for another topping then the results would be better?! anyway the picture is gorgeous!
On July 23, 2008 at 7:23am, Prudy said...
Darn-and it looked so good! Thanks for being honest-with those pretty photos no one would have ever known it was less than perfect.
On July 23, 2008 at 7:47am, Nickki said...
Sorry to hear you didn’t like it, I wasn’t keen on mine either. I was disappointed too but I suppose you can’t win ’em all. Hopefully next week will be better
On July 23, 2008 at 10:53am, CB said...
Did you forget the baking powder? I have done that one too many times myself! Sorry you weren’t a fan. I wasn’t either. You can’t win them all!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
On July 23, 2008 at 12:48pm, aaliyah said...
I really like the photos of your cobbler and it looked so very tasty. I am sorry to hear that it did not turn out for you and hope next week is a better one for you.
As far as what might have went wrong, your pan appears to be too small so the dough pieces do not look like they may have had enough room to expand. Perhaps this is why the dough did not cook through. The dough did not spread like I was expecting on mine but it did spread a bit and cooked in 20 minutes. So that is my guess as to a possibility for the dough not cooking through.
See you next week!
On July 23, 2008 at 1:42pm, Tartelette said...
Oh that sucks Susan..really. I am no expert with oven but I am thinking it may not be the size of your pan but the rack position. It could happen if it is in the bottom half of your oven. Just trying to help you figure this out. On another note, the cherries look scrumptious and I bet the filling was delicious!
On July 23, 2008 at 9:39pm, Linda said...
I’m sorry to hear that the topping didn’t work out…I would not have known, as your cobbler photos are picture perfect!!!!!
On July 23, 2008 at 10:32pm, Barbara said...
I wonder if your oven is not hot enough — that could account for the long baking time with the dough still not being done. It might be a good idea to buy an oven thermometer (it doesn’t have to be an expensive one) and keep an eye on the temperature.
On July 23, 2008 at 11:51pm, The P & A Food Chronicles said...
thats true, plus it does seem good on the pic!!
On July 24, 2008 at 10:32am, Ivy said...
I love how you designed he crust on top.
I just love summer, there are so many different fruit dessert options!
On July 24, 2008 at 10:48am, Isa said...
I’m sorry it didn’t turned out the way you want it. It looks pretty though
On July 24, 2008 at 4:21pm, Mevrouw Cupcake said...
What a bummer! Are you having oven troubles?
On July 24, 2008 at 5:17pm, Nikki Miller-Ka said...
Did anyone’s recipe turn out perfectly? It seems as if a lot of people had trouble with this recipe. Perhaps the recipe is flawed?? I haven’t had a look to see, but maybe?
On July 24, 2008 at 6:26pm, Cookie baker Lynn said...
It looks beautiful. So sad that it didn’t taste as good as it looks! How unlike Dorie to let us down!
On July 25, 2008 at 3:29am, noskos said...
Too bad it didn’t work out for you! Oh well there is always another recipe next week…
On July 25, 2008 at 8:18am, Jescel said...
you always have delicious food on your blog - it’s nice to know that you’re human and that these things still happen to you! hahahah. but nevertheless, your cobbler looks good though :o)