12/11/2010

Guavas in Coconut Cobbler



 These were guavas I had frozen from our summer overload.  Cleaning out the freezer, I determined to use them, like now.  Doesn't Guava Cobbler sounded like a good idea for breakfast.  And, dessert later.  If there's any left.

Remembering the 1/2 cup or so of coconut milk left from that Adobo, it seemed a natural substitution for  cream in the Cream Biscuits topping crust

The Cream Biscuits are from Alice Waters' fine cookbook, The Art of Simple Food.  The Guava Filling is from the school of trial and error.  I always forget just how tart guavas are, so extra sugar is necessary. Her recipe for Peach Cobbler calls for "1 tablespoon sugar (if needed)."  Think closer to rhubarb here.  But, I suppose where one grows, the other does not.

Guava Cobbler
First prepare your guavas, unless defrosting some.
Preheat oven to 375F
Guava filling
4 cups sliced, seeded guavas
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour (4 if using frozen guavas)
Melt butter in skillet, mix in sugar and cook the guavas about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over and stir together.  Pour into low sided ceramic dish.

PS.  As a later note (following year) I have discovered that the guavas do not need to be pre-cooked.  Just toss them in a bowl with 1/2 cup sugar and the flour.  Give a stir now and then while you are preparing the topping, then place them in the baking dish and top.
 
 

Cream Biscuits Topping
Stir together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder

Add:
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold butter, cut into small pieces (she removes 1 tablespoon for brushing on top)

Cut the butter into the flour with two knives or a pastry blender until they are the size of small peas. Add:

 3/4 cup heavy cream or coconut milk

Lightly stir with a fork until the mixture just comes together, without overworking.  Scoop spoonfuls of dough onto the top of filling.


Bake for 30-45 minutes at 375F or until the cream biscuits are golden brown and the fruit is bubbling in the dish.


A scoop of whole milk yogurt or whipped cream is lovely on top.

We had this for a girls only breakfast - My daughter (hiding behind the orchids), granddaughter and I.  So glad I froze those extra guavas.

I'm linking it up to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything
So, be sure to check out all the lovely recipes there.


4 comments:

Tina said...

Fantasticlly tropical for me to draem about. Even in Florida...it's cold so this takes me to great places mentally :-)

Emily Z said...

Sounds like a delicious combination... and it turned out just beautiful. Wonderful job!

Katerina said...

Very exotic Claudia, it matches with the beautiful place you live.

Green Girl @ A little bit of everything said...

the only cobbler i knew is the apple one. yours sounds so good. i love guavas and using coconut milk is a brilliant idea.
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