Blackberries are a popular fruit in jams, jellies cnd cakes just to mention a few of their uses. They are available in early summer. If you are buying local wild blackberries, chances are they will be a little pricey. They are hard to pick because of thorns, weeds, snakes etc., and they are smaller than tame berries. But some people swear they are a lot better and will not eat tame berries.
There is a superstition in the UK saying that blackberries should not be picked after September 15th as the devil has claimed them, and has left his mark on them. There may be some truth behind this legend, as after this date, the weather gets wetter and cooler and this often allows the fruit to become infected by various molds such as Botrytis, which give the fruit an unpleasant flavor and may be toxic.
Selecting a quality product
When you buy berries in a store, look for ripe, colorful, yet firm berries, with no sign of mold or mushy spots. Blackberries
should have a slight shine to them, if dull, they are usually old.
Picking your own berries is a good option. The quality is much better than any store, when you
choose the fruit yourself and get it fresh from the plant. It looks and tastes better. It's is healthier, too, because it
is fresher.
The costs are usually substantially less because the farmer doesn't need to pay farm hands to pick, and he usually has no
packaging or shipping costs. And if you plan to can or preserve any jam, fruit or vegetables, this is the best way
to buy. Some people take their whole families and make a day of it.
Gently wash the berries before you serve them. Berries can also be found in the frozen foods section of the
grocery store. Once they thaw, they will not be as firm as freshly picked berries, but they will still contain all the
nutritional benefits of fresh berries.
Berries don't store very well so prepare to use them soon after purchasing. Never wash them before putting them in
the refrigerator. It will only serve to hasten spoilage or molding.
A boysenberry is a cross among a blackberry, red raspberry and loganberry. It was created by Rudolph Boysen,
and first commercially cultivated by Walter Knott.
In the late 1920s, George Darrow of the USDA began tracking down reports of a large, reddish-purple berry that
had been grown by a man named Rudolf Boysen in Napa, California. He enlisted the help of Walter Knott, a
Southern California farmer known as something of a berry expert. Knott hadn't heard of the new berry, but
agreed to help Darrow in his search.
The pair soon learned that Rudolf Boysen had abandoned his growing experiments several years earlier and
sold his farm. Undaunted by this news, Darrow and Knott headed out to Boysen's old farm, where they found
several frail vines surviving in a field choked with weeds. They transplanted the vines to Knott's farm where
he nurtured them back to fruit-bearing health. Walter Knott began selling the berries at his farm stand in 1935
and soon noticed that people kept returning to buy the large tasty berries. When asked what they were called,
Knott said, "Boysenberries". As their popularity grew, Mrs. Knott began making preserves which ultimately made
Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California world famous.
Blackberry Grunt
---For The Berries---
6 cups fresh blackberries
---For The Dumpling Dough---
1 cup all-purpose flour
Place the berry mixture in a deep 8 or 9-inch skillet and bring to a simmer over moderate heat. While berries are
cooking, make the dumpling dough: In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda
and salt. Stir in the melted butter. Add enough of the buttermilk to form a soft, sticky dough that is slightly wetter
than a biscuit dough. Cover the skillet with the berries in it and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a steady
simmer, uncover, and spoon the dough over the fruit, forming small dumplings. Sprinkle the dumplings lightly
with the cinnamon sugar. Tightly cover the skillet with the lid or a sheet of foil and steam the mixture over
medium-low heat, without opening the lid, until the dumplings set and the surface is dry when touched with a
fingertip, usually about 15 minutes.
To serve: Spoon the warm grunt into serving bowls with top with whipped cream or ice cream.
Yield: 4-6 servings
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 tbsps butter; melted
1/2 c buttermilk or more as needed
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick-cooking oats; uncooked
3/4 cup blackberry jam
Cream butter; gradually add sugar, beating well at medium speed of an electric mixer. Combine flour, soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in oats.
Press half of mixture into a lightly greased 8-inch square pan. Top mixture with jam, spreading to within 1/4-inch of edge. Press remaining crumb mixture firmly on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool and cut into bars. YIELD: About 2 dozen.
3 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup milk
1 pack blackberry muffin mix
Cream together cheese & sugar. Stir in preserves, coconut, nuts & milk. Then add muffin mix, stirring just to mix. Pour into greased, round 9" cake pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or unitl done. The top can be sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Yield: 4 Servings
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp butter
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup milk
Sweetened blackberries or cherries
Cream 1/2 cup sugar and butter; blend in flour, baking powder and salt.
Stir in milk; pour into greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Cover with blackberries. Bake at 325 to 350 degrees for
about 45 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining sugar; bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer.
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp plus 1 cup sugar
1 lg egg
2/3 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp butter
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1 qt fresh; canned or frozen blackberries
In a small bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 2 teaspoons sugar together. In a large bowl combine the egg yolk, buttermilk, 2 tables butter, nutmeg, and mix well. Add the set ingredients to the dry ingredients alternating dry with wet, mixing after each addition until just barely combined. (do not over mix) beat the egg white in small bowl until soft peaks form. gently fold into the batter. Use the remaining tablespoon of butter to grease a deep skillet, I like a cast iron skillet for this, 10 inches wide. Drop large spoonfuls of the dumpling batter into the skillet and cook, about 5 or 6 at a time, over medium-high heat, turning once,until both sides are browned, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove from skillet and set aside. Continue this process until all the batter has been used up. Pour the blackberries into the same skillet. Add the remaining cup of sugar or less to YOUR taste and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, place pan-fried dumplings on top and cook for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Yield: 8 Servings
1 cup boysenberry syrup
1 cup water
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp butter
1 Nilla Wafer pie crust
2 egg whites
1 tbsp boysenberry syrup
Combine syrup, water, and corstarch and bring to a boil, stirring until thick. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolks, add a bit of the hot syrup mixture to the yolks, whisking constantly. Add the yolk mixture to the hot syrup and reheat until pudding consistency. Add the butter, and stir until melted. Cool slightly. Pour into pie crust. Beat egg whites stiff, adding slowly the tablespoon of syrup. If soft peaks do not form, add a little more syrup. Pile on pie and place in 400 F oven until peaks have browned.