Blackberry Dumplings
Submitted by kitten
Fresh blackberries wrapped in flaky pastry, baked in a sweet berry-laced syrup until brown and bubbly. An old-fashioned Southern dumpling recipe that fills the whole house with the smell of summer.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minThis right here is the kind of recipe that gets passed down through families with measurements like “to the depth of my grandmother’s first knuckle."
Fresh blackberries get folded up in rounds of homemade shortening pastry, nestled into a baking pan, and bathed in a simple syrup spiked with crushed berries.
The oven does the rest, turning everything brown and bubbly while the dough soaks up that sweet, berry-stained syrup from the bottom up.
Serve it warm with unwhipped cream poured right over the top, the old-fashioned way.
Kitchen Tips
- Use as little water as possible when making the dough. You want it to just barely hold together for the flakiest crust.
- Chill the dough for a full hour before rolling. It handles better and the pastry comes out more tender.
- The syrup should come about an inch up the sides of the dumplings, not covering them. The tops need to brown.
- Don’t skip the crushed berries in the syrup. They stain it purple and give the whole dish a deeper berry flavor.
Variations
- Use a mix of blackberries and blueberries for a mixed berry version.
- Swap the unwhipped cream topping for a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you want something cold against the warm dumplings.
- Add a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg to the berry filling for a spiced twist.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift together flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle water over flour mixture, using a fork to stir it in gently to make it gather into a ball (the less water the better - just enough to hold it together).
Turn out onto a lightly floured board and shape with your hands into two balls, one slightly larger than the other.
Chill dough for 1 hour, then roll out ball to a 8” or 9” circle.
Now, mix sugar, butter and all-purpose flour in a separate bowl, then add a dash of salt and stir in berries.
Mix some of the “crushed berries” into the simple syrup.
Mound about a cup of the berry mixture onto the circle of dough, fold over the edges to enclose the filling.
Repeat until all dough and berries are used.
Preheat oven to 350f degrees.
The enclosed bundles of berries are placed in a 9×13 baking pan.
Over this a syrup is poured to the depth of the first knuckle of my grandmother’s index finger (maybe about one inch).
I’m guessing it was a simple sugar syrup, but maybe with the addition of some smashed blackberries.
All of this was cooked in a 350℉ (180℃) oven until it looked REALLY good--brown and bubbly--with the whole house smelling heavenly.
Seenote; Simple Syrup 2½ cups sugar ¾ cups light corn syrup 1¼ cups water Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan.
Stir over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved.
When clear, wash down sides of pan with a brush dipped in cold water.
Cover saucepan for 5 minutes to allow steam to dissolve any remaining sugar crystals.
Uncover and increase the heat.
Boil without stirring for 5 minutes. Cool, pour into jars, and cover tightly.
Store at room temperature.
Makes about 2 ¾ cups.
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