Strawberry Cobbler (Cream Cheese)

This strawberries and cream inspired cobbler recipe is full of flavour-boosting tricks. Most cobbler recipes call for simple melted butter, or else a crumbly topping. Here, it's browned the butter - an easy way to add complexity to just about any dessert. And to make sure the cobbler still evoked the experience of eating a bowl of strawberries and cream, you add in dollops of cream cheese - mixed with a bit of sugar and vanilla bean seeds to temper its tanginess - along with the berries. As the cobbler bakes, the strawberries burst and collapse and the cream cheese sinks into the brown butter batter. The resulting dessert is sweet and luscious - absolute glorious excess.

4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp. Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Granular)
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch fine sea salt
1 cup whole milk

Garnish:
clotted cream, whipped cream, or ice cream

Preheat oven 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4).

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, 2 Tbsp. of the sugar and the vanilla bean seeds. Using a rubber spatula, stir until completely smooth.

Place the butter in a large cast iron skillet or ovenproof baking dish. Bake until the butter is lightly brown, 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk and the remaining ¾ cup sugar. Remove the skillet from the oven and carefully pour the browned butter into the batter; stir to combine.

Pour the batter all at once into the skillet, then scatter the strawberries over the batter. Quickly dot the top of the cobbler with the cream cheese mixture. Pop it in the oven and bake until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the batter comes out clean, about 1 hour. Serve, hot, warm or at room temperature with whipped cream, clotted cream or ice cream, if desired.