Lemony Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Ingredients

• 2.5 teaspoons double-acting baking powder 
• 8  peppercorns black
• 0.5 teaspoon coarse salt 
• 2 cups flour all-purpose
• 0.3 cup orange juice 
• 2.5 cups granulated sugar 
• 6 tablespoons granulated sugar divided
• 1 cup cup heavy whipping cream chilled divided
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest white
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest freshly grated ( 1 lemon)
• 3 cups rhubarb thick trimmed halved (6 to 7 stalks, and leaves removed)
• 0.3 cup tapioca flour 
• 5 tablespoons butter unsalted divided

Equipment

• bowl
• baking sheet
• sauce pan
• ladle
• baking paper
• oven
• whisk
• pot
• sieve
• wooden spoon
• slow cooker
• pastry brush
• cheesecloth
• kitchen twine
• oven mitt

Directions

1. Prep the slow cooker and make the filling
2. Soften 1 tablespoon of butter, and use it to grease the entire inside of the slow cooker crock.
3. Place the lemon peel and peppercorns in a cheesecloth bag and tie with kitchen string.
4. Add this bag plus the remaining butter (cut into eight pieces) and other filling ingredients to the slow cooker, and gently mix with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook on low until the fruit is softened, about 4 hours (there will still be some liquid).
5. Make the drop biscuit topping
6. About 45 minutes before the fruit is finished, heat the oven to 400°F, and line a baking or cookie sheet with parchment paper.
7. Whisk together the dry drop biscuit ingredients (with the exception of 1 teaspoon of the sugar) and the lemon zest in a medium-size bowl. Gently stir in 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream. Use your hands to form a soft, relatively smooth dough, taking care not to overmix. Divide the dough into six balls and place on the lined baking sheet. Flatten each one to the thickness of about 1/2 inch. Then pour the remaining tablespoon of cream into a small bowl and put the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar into another small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush each biscuit with the cream, then sprinkle with the sugar.
8. Bake until slightly golden and cooked through (when tested with a fork, it should come out clean), 20 to 25 minutes. Set the biscuits aside.
9. Reduce the sauce
10. Once the fruit is cooked through, carefully remove the sachet.
11. Place a large strainer over a medium to large, heavy saucepan, then—using oven mitts—pour the fruit mixture into the strainer. Set the fruit (in the strainer) aside. Boil the liquid over high heat until reduced to 3 to 31/2 cups, about 20 minutes.
12. Add the fruit to the pot with the thickened liquid, and mix.
13. Serve the cobbler
14. Use a ladle to divide the fruit mixture among six bowls; top each portion with a biscuit and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
15. Spotlight on: Rhubarb
16. Rhubarb resembles red celery and in its raw state is very tart. A member of the buckwheat family, it needs to be washed and then cooked with sweetener to make it palatable. Look for bright, crisp stalks and fresh-looking leaves, but always remove the latter, since they can be toxic. Store rhubarb for up to 3 days in the fridge.
17. Reprinted with permission from Year-Round Slow Cooker by Dina Cheney, © 2013 Taunton Press