Stephen Jackson's Apricot Cobbler With Tom and Jerry Custard
Stephen Jackson's Apricot Cobbler With Tom and Jerry Custard

This week, we’re racing to make the most of the late summer fruit before it’s gone for another year.

It’s been a funny old summer – how many times have we said that in recent years? – and there’s a definite sense of freshness out of the sun as the days get longer. I noticed, for the first time this year, a small border of dead leaves along the roadside as I drove into work the other morning, and this is a sure sign that we are moving inexorably towards autumn.

Not that I mind - I’m not really a summer person. I prefer the cooler days, and cooking-wise I can’t wait for the coming months and all the wonderful dishes that suit that time of year, with its combination of colourful trees, swirling winds and occasionally stunning clear blue skies. So I thought I’d have a crack at a recipe that makes the most of the last of the apricots, but which tilts towards those more temperate days that lie ahead, when we’re glad of the comforting warmth of a cooked pudding, after months of ice-cream and chilled desserts.

I’ve made many crumbles in the past, but I don’t think I’ve ever done a classic cobbler, so it seems the perfect opportunity to introduce you to this wonderful alternative to our traditional crumble topping.

The cobbler is a dessert most associated with the southern states of the United States, but its origins lie in the first British settlers in the north-east and Canada.

Those brave pioneers were understandably desperate for home comforts, and suet puddings were the order of the day but almost impossible to recreate in the new territories, so, in true unperturbed British style, we adapted and made do with what was available.

Instead of the suet pastry, a raw, pastry-like biscuit dough was laid over the top of the stewed apples or plums, and baked in the oven until the biscuits had become crisp on top, and soaked with the fruit juices below.

A few refinements, such as leavening agents, appeared along the way, and the recipe spread down the east coast and back into the country beyond.

The southern states, with their fruit-growing tradition, clearly took to this new recipe and adopted it as their own.

Now when I think of a peach cobbler, it’s there, sitting cooling on the windowsill of a large, white clapboard country house somewhere in the sultry deep south, beneath a Spanish moss-covered oak tree.

The classic accompaniment for the southern cobbler is a couple of scoops of ice-cream, and while this is perfectly acceptable, I’m hankering for my first custard of the autumn, so that’s what we’re going to do.

Hawksmoor on Deansgate, Manchester
Hawksmoor on Deansgate, Manchester

But it’s a custard with a difference. Credit for this incredible recipe must go to the good people at the restaurant Hawksmoor, which I can’t recommend highly enough. Their places, several across London and also an outpost in Manchester, are a modern take on classic US steakhouses, serving incredible meat, delightful side dishes and killer cocktails.

They discovered the wonderful tale of a young child incarcerated for bad behaviour after secretly chugging several glasses of an egg-nog type drink, called Tom & Jerry for some long-forgotten reason.

Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry

It’s a delicious, slightly boozy custard, with a whisper of warm spices, and which I feel harks back to those pioneer days, when barrels of dried spices were almost as valuable as gold, and their use was a real novelty.

The spices and sweetness go so well with the tart fruit and buttery topping of the cobbler, and are the perfect pairing for these final days of another trying summer here in the north.

For the cobbler

400g apricots, stoned

25g light brown muscovado sugar

½ tsp cornflour

The zest and juice of 1 small lemon

A little fresh thyme, chopped finely

30g butter, diced

For the cobbler topping:

110g plain flour

25g polenta

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

75g chilled butter, diced

1 ½ tbsps unrefined golden caster sugar

A little Maldon salt

110ml buttermilk

A little fresh thyme, chopped

A little unrefined demerara sugar

For the custard:

300ml double cream

5 egg yolks

50g unrefined golden caster sugar

1 vanilla pod

A pinch of ground cinnamon

A pinch of ground allspice

A pinch of ground cloves

A pinch of grated nutmeg

A small splash of Angostura bitters

1 tbsp dark rum

½ tbsp Cognac

Method

To make the custard, scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod into a bowl.

Gently heat the cream in a saucepan along with the pod. Add the yolks, sugar and spices to the bowl and whisk until slightly pale and fluffy.

When the cream just starts to boil, remove from the heat and pour over the yolks, whisking as you go.

Return to the pan and whisk over gentle heat until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Add the Angostura, rum and Cognac, and whisk well. Transfer to a suitable container until required. To reheat, just whisk over gentle heat until steaming.

Now for the cobbler; in a bowl, toss together the apricots in the muscovado sugar and leave for half an hour, stirring occasionally. Preheat the oven to 180ºC / Gas 6.

Drain the apricots, reserving the juice, and tip the fruit into a baking dish, making sure they’re tightly packed. Whisk the apricot juices into the cornflour and add the lemon juice, zest and thyme.

Pour over the apricots, and dot with pieces of butter. Bake for about 15 minutes, until softened. To make the cobbler top, put the flour, polenta, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and butter into the bowl of a food processor and whizz until the mixture takes on a breadcrumb-y appearance.

Tip into a bowl, stir in the caster sugar and a pinch of salt, then add just enough of the buttermilk to bring the mixture together to form a firm dough.

Divide into small balls, flatten into plump discs, and arrange neatly on top of the apricots. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar, and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and well risen.

Allow the dish to cool for 15 minutes before serving with the boozy custard.