Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler

 

If asparagus is the vegetable that announces spring, strawberries are the town criers of the fruit world. To visit a U-pick strawberry field is a fun family activity.

To see families with small children picking strawberries always makes me smile. (If you prefer to have your fruit already picked and ready to go, farms generally offer that option as well.)

The following recipe is courtesy of Southern Cast Iron Magazine.

This dessert is the best of three worlds combined: cake, cheesecake and cobbler!

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1½ cups plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups whole milk

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour melted butter into a 12-inch cast-iron skillet.

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese with a mixer at medium speed until creamy, stopping to scrape sides of the bowl. Beat in 3 tablespoons granulated sugar until combined. Beat in vanilla.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and the remaining 1½ cups granulated sugar. Whisk in milk until smooth. Pour batter into melted butter in skillet (do not stir together).

Place strawberry halves all over the batter. Dollop heaping teaspoonfuls of cream cheese mixture all over strawberries.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm.