Fresh blackberry crisp made with just-picked blackberries from the farm ~ the best summer dessert, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course!
I absolutely love fresh berries in the summer and if they're local, even better. Just so fresh and bursting with flavor. The farm near my house has blackberries you can pick, and boy oh boy, are they ever good! I've never seen such big, plump, juicy blackberries as these ~ just amazing.
What's the difference between a crisp and a cobbler?
Last year, I made a blackberry-peach cobbler with these blackberries and this year I opted for a crisp. I love both cobblers and crisps, and am probably a little more fond of the crisp. The difference between the two? Cobblers have a biscuit-like topping and crisps have a streusel-like topping. So it's really a matter of preference, which pastry do you want to cover the fresh fruit? I went for the crisp this year, because I was craving all that buttery, sweet crispiness.
The blackberries are tossed with a little sugar, how much depends on how sweet the blackberries are. I used a couple tablespoons, but use more if your berries are really tart. I added a lemon juice-cornstarch slurry to help thicken it a little and some vanilla. That's it for the berries, into a baking dish they go.
I make a simple topping with flour, sugar, spices, rolled oats and butter. Just combine with your fingertips until you have coarse crumbles and that's it. To keep it crisp when it cooks, cover the blackberries with just half the topping and bake. Then add the rest of the topping and finish baking. This helps ensure a crispy topping with not too much sogginess underneath from the berries.
Blackberries in summer are perfect for making a crisp. Meathead doesn't like blackberries, so he claims. Guess what? Yep... he couldn't stop eating this delicious farm-fresh blackberry crisp with all the ice cream. I had to slap his hand away when he went for thirds! Kelly🍴🐦
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Fresh Blackberry Crisp
Fresh blackberry crisp made with just-picked blackberries from the farm ~ the best summer dessert, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course!
8tablespoonsslightly softened unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1cupold-fashioned oats
6cupsfresh blackberries, washed
2tablespoonssugar (or more, if really tart, up to ⅓ cup)
1tablespooncornstarch
1tablespoonlemon juice
Zest from half lemon
½teaspoonvanilla
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375º.
Make the topping. In medium bowl, combine flour, both sugars, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the butter pieces and with fingertips rub together until well blended and mixture resembles coarse crumbs (it will hold together if you pinch it). Add oats and toss to combine. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Prepare fruit. Combine lemon juice and cornstarch in small dish until dissolved. In bowl, gently toss blackberries with sugar, lemon-cornstarch slurry, lemon zest and vanilla. Pour fruit into a 9" X 13" or similar capacity baking dish.
Top the fruit evenly with half of the topping (refrigerate other half) and bake for 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining topping and bake another 25 minutes, until lightly browned and bubbly. Let cool 20 to 30 minutes, serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
You can turn the berries into a dessert, of course, like in this stunning blackberry and mascarpone crêpe cake or this summer peach and blackberry galette. But you can also pickle them, use them to make a conserva, and create a smoky barbecue sauce with them for your summer cookouts.
There is traditionally a date after which the berries should not be picked, most commonly taken to be Michaelmas (29 September) but later in some areas, after which time the devil is said to spit or stamp (or worse) on the berries, rendering them unfit.
Blackberries are really versatile – they're fantastic enjoyed fresh or incorporated into various culinary delights. Once picked, store fresh blackberries in the refrigerator if you plan to use them within a few days. Alternatively, freezing the berries preserves them for later use.
The worms are most likely the larvae of Spotted Wing Drosophila, a non-native fruit fly that lays its eggs on just ripening berries and cherries. The flies are a little less than 1/8″ long, and the male flies have distinctive markings on their wing tips.
Berries have thin skins and are full of moisture, making them very susceptible to mold. Fortunately, common household vinegar is quite effective at killing the mold spores and bacteria that spoil fruit.
Puree blackberries with fruit juices and/or other fruits and freeze to use in recipes, like popsicles. Yogurt can be added to the mixture before freezing for extra flavor and nutrition. Orange, lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg flavors blend well with blackberry flavors.
Spread them out in an even layer to allow airflow between them to expedite drying. Check on berries after an hour to see if they're dry. If not, give them a gentle stir with your hands or gently pat them dry. Once completely dry, move them to a clean mason jar.
Do blackberries freeze well? Like most fruits, fresh blackberries freeze incredibly well! All you'll need is a couple of minutes for hands on prep, fresh, whole berries, and about an hour or two to defrost. Couldn't be simpler!
If you've no apple cider vinegar you can use white vinegar or do a saltwater soak with a teaspoon of salt for every 500ml of water, just to help get rid of any bacteria and bugs.
Upon harvesting, how blackberries are stored significantly influences their shelf life. Room Temperature: Keeping blackberries at room temperature is only advisable if they are to be consumed within a day since they can quickly decay due to warm conditions and exposure to air.
Don't worry if you've picked more than you can handle – blackberries are easily frozen and can be baked straight from the freezer with no need to defrost. Freeze them on a tray in a single layer so they don't all squish together, or purée them first then freeze the liquid in a bag or ice cube tray.
Before you place a pint of fresh berries in the refrigerator, you need to wash them. Rendine recommends washing them with a solution of one part white vinegar to three parts cool water. While water alone works fine, the addition of vinegar will help to delay decay and destroy any existing mold or bacteria.
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