Berries Berries Berries!

I am a lover of berries! Berries of every kind – I’ve not met a berry that I didn’t instantly fall head over heels in love with! How could you not – they come in the richest colours nature has to offer, and tempt you with their shiny exteriors that just look as though they’re about to burst with sweet and tart flavour. And the best part is that they really do burst in your mouth with such intense flavour they bring a big goofy smile to your face – I call it the berry smile! My favourite dessert is and always will be simple berries and cream.


When you eat a berry, it might start out sweet and then around the edges you experience the sassy tartness that makes it a berry!’ Others are tart all the way through and you challenge yourself to eat each little individual package of pure love over and over again!


We are at the height of summer, and consequently, the height of berry season. I ordered for myself a punnet of every berry that was on offer. I have shiny ruby red strawberries so sweet that you really should stop at just a couple – but of course you can’t! Strawberries come in a perfect little package of love. They are heart shaped, have a perfect handle, and you even ‘kiss’ them when you bite into their fleshy red meat. Strawberries are far and away the most substantial of the berry family. And also the most widely recognised.


Little indigo blueberries subtly release a little bit of joy that is just modesty all over. You’d never guess what a power punch of antioxidant and vitamins come in that unassuming little package.


Fuzzy hot pink raspberries scream out for attention. They’re like your high maintenance friend. You love them to death and they’re always great fun, but it takes too much to keep them fresh and happy. I feel a little sorry for raspberries – so delicious and feminine, but they have no staying power and quickly wilt down into a sad little lump of mush.


To my utter joy, I have two new berries to try. Red currants – perfect little shiny crimson balls that burst with a tartness that makes one of your eyes wink and your eyebrow shoot up uncontrollably so that you look completely lopsided for a moment, but it quickly wears off and you eat another! They look like little jewels on their vine, and take the prize in the ‘shiny pretty things’ category. Looking at them just makes we want to bake them into muffins!


The other is jostaberries. Jostaberries you say? Is that the Rastafarian of the berry family? Maybe! So they’re apparently a cross between a black currant and a gooseberry. They look like miniature wild grapes, and are strikingly similar – except you can eat the skin. They are an opaque black berry on the outside, but are green flesh similar to a grape on the inside. The flavour is a little musty and a little tart at once. Haven’t been able to sort out how one might eat these other than individually, but I’m on the case.


Blackberries might very well be my favourite. Maybe it’s the childhood memories of picking dewberries (smaller version of blackberries found native to fence lines in Texas). It was always a challenge to make sure more ended up in your bucket than in your mouth! Our grandmother had a deal with us. If we would pick two cups of dewberries each, she’d make us our very own pie. Somehow those pies still always got shared. My brothers and I would head out with an empty cool-whip container in hand to the fence, or the creek, or wherever else we had spotted a thicket of ripe berries. It would take us hours, lips and fingers stained purple in the process of filling our little container. It just this moment occurred to me that she probably sent us out to get us out of her hair for a while! Smart lady! The resulting cobbler was the perfect mix of flaky crust, tart berries, and a just enough sugar to make it taste like a pie. Served with ice cream, it is pure love.


Blackberry or Dewberry Cobbler (From the little brown recipe box)


You’ll need pie crust to top the cobbler – whether homemade or store bought is your choice. I’ll not pass judgment!


Sugar mixture :Combine 2 cups sugar and 2/3 cups flour


Wash and drain about 10 cups of berries (can be cut in half to 5 cups berries, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour)


Brush the bottom of a glass baking dish with butter


Distribute a single layer of berries across the bottom of the dish


Sprinkle with the sugar and flour mixture


Repeat until all berries have been used, ensuring you end with a layer of flour and sugar


Dot the top of the mixture with butter


Cut crust into strips about ½ inch thick and place over berries, weaving into a lattice


Brush crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar


Bake at 425F (220C) until crust just turns brown (about 10 minutes) then reduce heat to 300F (150C) and bake until fully browned.


The berries will be very hot when removed from the oven, so it’s best to let it cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream and a summer evening