The day has finally arrived: welcome to my blog, The Vivid Kitchen! After a few years of posting and sharing recipes on my Instagram account and countless times being asked “Do you have a blog?... Why don’t you have a blog?!?” from friends, family and acquaintances, I have finally decided to create a space for myself to channel my love for all things food related.
A bit of my background: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and currently live in Orange County with my very supportive and hungry boyfriend, Alex. Even though baking is such an integral part of my life at the moment, I didn’t get into it until I graduated from college. Growing up, I wasn’t the kind of kid who helped her grandmother with baking pies or cheesecakes, I just happily ate it... all of it. After I graduated from college in Chicago, Illinois I moved back home and kind of fell into a slump that most post-graduates can relate to. I wasn’t happy with my life and didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with it, and it was in that mess that I discovered baking from scratch. I have a background in photography and so whenever I baked something, my favorite thing was photographing the finished product, even it was just a simple batch of cookies that I made for myself. My parents must have noticed how happy my hobby was making me and so for Christmas that year they gifted me with a Kitchenaid stand mixer and an ice cream maker. Those two amazing gifts were the catalyst that led to my love for baking.
My posts will focus primarily on the sweet side, ranging from breakfast pastries (muffins, scones) to favorite desserts (cookies, cakes) and everything in between (I’m a huge ice cream fan). Furthermore, I will post savory dishes as well as cocktail recipes, and every now and then will include travel posts with photo diaries. I want to stress that I am a self-taught baker! I have pretty much learned how to bake everything on my own and I still have many struggles in the kitchen (baking cheesecake gives me stomach ulcers). But what is important here is that if I can bake these recipes, I have no doubt in my mind that anyone can!
Ok enough small talk, let's get to the cobbler.
I have made this strawberry cobbler a few times and every time I do I ask myself why I don't make it every other week. There are few things better in life than a spoonful of warm, roasted strawberries with a bit of cobbler dough and melty vanilla ice cream.
This recipe is very easy in the sense that it doesn't require the use of any fancy kitchen tools (no stand mixer) and none of the ingredients have to be brought to room temperature, which is always a huge plus when you're in a time crunch. I know it isn't quite strawberry season yet and for that reason, I have added the option for you to add more or less sugar, depending on how sweet your berries are.
SKILLET STRAWBERRY COBBLER
Ingredients
32 oz. fresh strawberries hulled and sliced (smaller berries can be left whole)
1/3 - 1/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet your berries are)
2 tbsp. cornstarch
juice of 1 med. lemon
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking power
zest of 1 med. lemon
pinch of salt
6 oz. unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
1/2 cup milk (I've used whole and skim - both worked just fine!)
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
vanilla ice cream for serving
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix together strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice in a 9 or 10” skillet (this could be done in a separate bowl, but why wash another dish!). Set aside.
For the cobbler: In a medium-size bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Add cubed butter to the bowl, and with a pastry cutter (or your hands) mix the butter into the flour mixture until well incorporated and small pieces/crumbs remain. In a separate bowl, whisk milk, egg and vanilla extract and then add mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix until a dough forms.
Add 5-6 spoonfuls of dough over the strawberries and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, until the cobbler is cooked through and golden brown.
Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream and enjoy! Sidenote: I have eaten this the next day straight from the refrigerator and I can safely say that it is just as amazing as straight from the oven.