Blackberry Fest

Just getting a few photos from my blackberry fest a few weeks ago off my desktop. One I've already written about (summer pudding), and three others that I just can't muster the enthusiasm to write a real post about. Consider these ideas for what to do with a butt-load of blackberries (that's one half of one shit-load), or any berry, for that matter.

Blackberry Cornbread - Sort of like the blueberry cornbread you pick up at Whole Foods, but with a bigger berry. Even though I used a recipe for sweet cornbread, it just didn't turn out as cakey and sweet as I had hoped. My cornbread was cornbready. Go figure.

Blackberry Muffins - These were really good, and probably deserve a post, but.... maybe one day. Basically it's a coffee cake studded with blackberries and topped with a nut streusel. Go crazy with the streusel. With a rebel yell, she cried more, more, more.

Blackberry Smoothie - Possibly the dopest color of any smoothie I've ever had. If you have kids, or are into going all out for themed parties, think Halloween.

Blackberry Summer Pudding - Not for me, but perhaps for you. I wrote this one up, just because it was so pretty.

Summer Pudding

Gorgeous! That's one good thing I can say about this English summer pudding I was inspired to make from the pages of an old issue of BBC Good Food magazine.

I've been meaning to make an English summer pudding for a couple of years now, and I finally made it this past weekend when I had (again) tubs of blackberries to go through.

The pudding needs to be made a day in advance of serving, but the ingredient list is short and the construction is quite simple -- line a cup with bread soaked in sweetened berry juices, and fill with cooked berries. Hopefully the photos will help explain the construction.After constructing my fruit-filled pudding, I waited until the next day to dig in. What never crossed my mind the past two years I (somewhat) thought about making this dessert, and while actually making this thing, is that I would not like it -- it's just too pretty! -- but I couldn't get past the fact that the bread was wet. It didn't matter that the bread was soaked in sweet, sumptuous fruit juice; I just couldn't love wet bread (I feel the same way about ultra-soggy, coffee-soaked lady fingers in Tiramisu).

I also used plain white bread, and think that a sweeter bread like challah or brioche would be better.

All I can say is please try this dessert ahead of time to see if you like it before you serve it to guests. Food is subjective. You may not have an aversion to wet bread. The English apparently don't, and neither does Gordon Ramsey (it was his recipe I was inspired by), nor do other people.

This dessert would have been a spectacular finale to a dinner, but I'm sure glad I only made two individual servings for myself before trotting this out for others.
The last bread piece is in place, and the pudding is ready to be covered and put in the fridge.

Summer Pudding
makes 2 servings

2 cups mixed berries (your choice), washed and drained
1/3 cup sugar (more or less depending on tartness of berries)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
6-8 slices of stale challah or white bread, crusts removed

• Combine berries, sugar, and lemon zest in a saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the juices have released, but the fruits still hold their shape.
• Drain berries for ten minutes over a bowl, reserving the liquid.
  
• Cut pieces of bread to fit your mold (in my case, large cups to make 2 individual servings) - For each cup you will have 1 round piece to fit the bottom of the cup, 2 rectangles to wrap around the inner sides of the cup (1 slice of bread cut lengthwise should make 2 rectangles), and 1 piece to fit the top of the cup.
• Dip each side of the pieces of bread one at a time into the reserved liquid as you assemble the pudding. Start with the piece of bread lining the bottom of the cup, then the 2 rectangles lining the side.
  
• Fill the bread-lined cup with about half of the drained berries, level to the top of the bread, pressing down on the berries with the back of a spoon. Then top the berries with the final piece of bread.
• Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator. Also refrigerate any remaining reserved fruit juice.
  
• To serve, invert the cup on a serving plate. If the pudding does not come out easily, pry the sides with a knife. Drizzle tops of pudding with fruit juice, and garnish.
  

Blackberry Cereal

This is what I've been eating for the past two days -- huge bowls of freshly picked blackberries doused with milk (rice milk, in my case) and sprinkled with sugar.



I know there are all sorts of things to do with fresh blackberries like make pies, tarts, scones, and jam. But eating blackberry cereal is really the only thing I truly want to do with blackberries.



This is how I ate the blackberries when I was little that I picked with my Grandmother at the side of the dirt road that ran alongside their property. She'd plop us down at the kitchen table and pour milk over our bounty and sprinkle the top with sugar.

I don't know where the name blackberry cereal comes from. My Grandmother didn't call it that. I guess it's just me that calls it that.



I won't deny pie, but simple is how I prefer my blackberries.