Apricot cobbler

Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F/180°C fan (or 200°C conventional). Add the water, white sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg to a pan and bring to a boil. Continue stirring continuously until it starts to thicken after around 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and then add the apricots and butter. Leave the mixture to simmer until it’s all fully incorporated, for around 5 minutes. Set aside and leave to cool.

Once cooled, add the apricot mixture to a baking dish. To make the topping, combine the all-purpose flour, 2 oz white sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Then add the butter to the flour mixture and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the mix until it starts to resemble coarse breadcrumbs.

When the mixture is ready, add the milk slowly to the crumble, until it’s moist. You may not need all of the milk stipulated in the recipe.

Spoon the topping over the apricot mixture in the baking dish in large dollops, once you’ve reached the desired moistness. Sprinkle the rest of the white sugar over the topping and then transfer to the oven to bake for around 30 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.

Remove from the oven, and leave to cool momentarily before enjoying fresh from the oven.

Tips & tricks

To make apricot cobbler easy, it’s best to keep things simple. A cobbler is a relatively straightforward dish, so our first tip would be to make sure you make your apricot cobbler with fresh apricots, when they’re in season. If you use canned fruit the end dish can be a little soggy, so it’s better to use fresh fruit whether you’re making an apricot cobbler or using other fruit varieties like a peach cobbler. Dried apricots can be used if you soak them in water first, but fresh is still best for the optimum result.

When adding the topping to the fruit filling, you want to ensure you don’t completely cover the filling. Different to a fruit crumble, it’s better to scoop the cobbler topping onto the fruit leaving a bit of space between each dollop. This lets steam escape and stops the bottom of the topping getting soggy and wet. If you find your topping isn’t browning, you can turn the heat of the oven up slightly for a few minutes to encourage the topping to crust over. 

If you want to add in another seasonal ingredient, some recipes include blackberries to create an apricot berry cobbler. These two summertime flavors pair exceptionally well together and the blackberries add another flavor dynamic to the dish. You can also swap in blueberries for the blackberries for another option during the summertime months, and a slightly sweeter flavor.

How to serve it

Apricot cobbler is best enjoyed fresh and warm from the oven, with a hearty serving of whipped cream or ice cream on the side. Vanilla custard also pairs excellently with apricot cobbler. For a more convivial feeling, serve the cobbler in the baking dish for your guests to dig in and help themselves at the table.

Storage

Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to two days. Make sure you cover the cobbler to stop the top from getting soggy in the refrigerator. It’s possible to reheat the cobbler leftovers. Simply preheat the oven to gas mark 6, 400°F/180°C fan (or 200°C conventional) and reheat the cobbler, covered with foil, for around 10 minutes.