Blackberry Flummery

I have this thing about fruit. If it's fresh - and good, you know, the kind that simply glows with flavor, zings on your tongue - then all I can do is eat it fresh and raw, out of hand. Cooking it feels like I'm spoiling the whole point. Jams, pies, compotes - they're more for middling fruit or the frozen stuff, fruit that could use a little sugar and warmth to coax out its juicy flavors. But if you've got that one perfect, bursting peach or that handful of raspberries simply alive with the flavor of summer, I say eat as is and throw away your recipes. Life's too short.

But then the New York Times goes and publishes an article about an adorably-named dish called "flummery" and it's all I can do to keep myself from racing to the store, because, well, flummery! I am powerless in the presence of English puddings. Flummery and fool, syllabub and spotted dick, trifle and treacle - I don't know what it is about those goofy names, but Jane Grigson and Laurie Colwin always work me up into a state when they write about those suet crusts and dried fruits and ginger-studded whatsits. If anything can get me to ignore my self-imposed rule of not cooking any wondrous summer fruit, I suppose the English (Welsh!) can. Besides, could you say no to a softly set fruit pudding served with cream?

What happened next will probably have several people related to me by blood or (common) law in impolite giggles.

I went to the store to buy a quart of blackberries to make said flummery and proceeded to spend HALF AN HOUR trying to figure out how many pints make a quart. Dry pints. Dry quart. Wait, do I even mean pints? I mean those little clam shell plastic things that raspberries and blackberries are sold in these days when you're at the grocery store and not at the farmer's market where you should be and where the farmers would not only know the answer to your questions, they would roll their eyes - well-deservedly - at you to boot, guaranteeing that your shame would mean you'd never forget the thing about pints and quarts again. I suppose it will come as no surprise that no one in the store could help me. But who am I to get indignant?

I bought four of those little plastic shell containers full of blackberries with crossed fingers, hoping that the internet would help me. It didn't. Either there's paltry information out there about how, exactly, to calculate the weight of a dry quart or I am a bigger idiot than I ever thought. (It's quite possible. I have, let's say, issues with some of the more precise details of mathematics.) In the end, I measured out a little more than four cups of blackberries, popped the rest in my mouth as a soothing mental analgesic, and decided to stop worrying.

First of all, blackberries are delicious, people. I never buy them, but goodness, I should do so more often. And hot blackberries, stewed into submission with sugar and then gently gelled with cornstarch? Are a floral, fragrant, gorgeously purple dream. A few comments: I didn't strain the berries as directed to in the original recipe - I like my fruit desserts chunky (remind me to tell you about rote Gruetze one day). Also, I found the flummery far too sweet. (If it turns out that I was wrong about my quart measurements, then I take that back). I'd advise you to use less sugar - try 1/2 cup or 2/3, if you've got a sweet tooth. Remember that you might be serving this with heavy cream, which has its own sweetness and is usually served with berries that don't have even the merest sprinkling of sugar on them.

I ate the flummery one night with cream and found the whole thing sort of powerful and overbearing - too heavy, too sweet. The next night, though, I pulled the flummery straight from the cold fridge and ate it with plain Liberte. And that's when the angels sang. It was wonderful. Something had definitely happened to those berries over the night, and the acidity of the yogurt was the perfect foil. We gobbled up the rest like a bunch of 19th century English urchins and practically banged our spoons on the table for more.

Blackberry Flummery
Serves 6 to 8

1 quart fresh blackberries
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar, depending on your sweet tooth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water
Juice of half a lemon
Heavy cream or plain yogurt, for serving

1. Combine the berries, sugar and ½ cup hot water in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring, until the mixture is liquid. Bring to a boil.

3. Meanwhile, blend the cornstarch with the cold water or milk. Stir this into the boiling berries. Add the lemon juice. Simmer for 1 minute. Serve with heavy cream.

Comments

[dp]

Blackberries are weeds in my part of the woods. Literally. People are always talking about getting rid of the pesky blackberry canes that pop up all over. Although, they've never popped up in my backyard. That would make me happy.

Anyhow, another thing with blackberries is you can freeze them and whenever you are craving a topping for vanilla ice cream, pop some into the microwave for a few seconds, until they start to release their juices a bit and you will be in heaven.

P.S. The new look looks great!

[Trisha]

I'm of the same mind when it comes to cooking perfectly fresh, perfectly good fruit. So often it needs no embellishment, no treatment to make it tasty. But on the other hand, this looks delicious, too! Beautiful new design, by the way!

[Erinn]

This dish looks like a keeper,so pretty! My daughter is a huge blackberry fan. And you're right, those Brit's do have all the fun food names. Bubble and Squeek is a favorite of mine.

[deb]

Such a cute entry! Now, I'm supposed to be mathy, but I'm stumped too. My best guess is that a quart looks like those larger strawberry clamshells (the ones that hold a pound) and that you guessed correctly, which means that the dessert is indeed too sweet. Nevertheless, I can't wait to make it.

[myrnie_twin]

Wow, I must be in the same area as DP- anyone who buys a "not new" house around here, with a neglected yard, spends the next few years battling with blackberry canes. I found 5 or 6 crawling up my fence the other day. These are the nasty "Himalayan" blackberries, with child-skewering thorns. But gosh are they delicious! Your flummery looks grand- can't wait to try it when the blackberries start to fruit in the back yard :o)

[Marilyn]

Well, I was always taught "a pint's a pound the world around," but you'd need to weigh those lovely berries to be sure! Either way, your flummery is a gorgeous dessert with a whimsical name - all those English puddings make me go goofy in the kitchen, too.

[grace]

flummery! what a great word, and really, what a fabulous concoction! it sounds like such an obvious dessert, yet i've never eaten anything like it. i'll remedy that immediately!
and although it goes without saying, your pictures are breathtaking. :)

[radish]

Oh yes, I was wondering about the measurements too. And leave it to Amanda Hesser to give us such a great recipe with such a lovely name. Your picture with yogurt looks delicious!

[Jessika]

Oh here in Sweden you do it with every sort of fruit. The translation however is less nice than flummery. It's stewed berries or fruit according to my dictionary (fruktkräm, (creme de fruit as a hint), but not made into a fruit sauce but kept with whole fruit. You usually eat it with milk, or half and half. At the moment I am heavily into raspberry fruit cream since raspberries are in season, after that it will be blueberries. Earlier in the season some people who like rhubarb (I can't eat it) make tons of cream out of rhubarb.
Flummery does sound nicer though.

[alexandra]

Well, getting the exact proportion of blackberries to cream could be further confused by adding the Imperial measurement issue. I wonder how precisely the NYT resolved that question. Was well-entertained by this entry!

[shayna]

oh, i've encountered the same measuring issues many a time. check out this chart over on the kitchn...very helpful!

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/memory_tricks_remembering_how-52851

[Lisa (Homesick Texan)]

I agree, fresh fruit--especially pieces picked right off the tree, warmed by the sun--will always be better than something made with a recipe. But I have to admit that I'd be a sucker for something called flummery, too!

[Randi]

I love that Liberte yogurt, thankfully I can find it here in Ontario pretty easily. I looked in the states, but couldnt find it. I'm glad you were able to.

[Sara no h.]

Heh, the plastic clamshells confuse me too - I know there are two pints to a quart just fine, but the plastic boxes don't say "pint," they give a weight, and weight and volume aren't always the same thing! So when I needed a quart of blueberries for a blueberry crumble (recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen) I was at such a loss, trying to figure out whether I needed one pound of berries or two.

I wound up buying two, figuring I could always use leftovers for pancakes or something else, and then measured when I got home and came up close enough so I just used all of them. :) It turned out delicious anyway and isn't that what counts?

And now I'll have to go through this all over again with blackberries so I can try this flummery of yours ... I'm sure the result will be worth it though!

[Alexa]

I enjoyed reading your adventures in Flummery making. Blackberries are a delight in any dish this time of the year and it sounds like your end result was very delicious.

[Peggasus]

I make something similar, but that old recipe is called Danish Red Fruit Pudding: puree your red fruit (strawberries or rasp), and then add the puree to the cornstarch/water/sugar mixture and cook until thickened. I find 1/4 cup of sugar is plenty. I love it with my homemade yogurt too.

I think I will start calling it Flummery now, though!

[Jude]

Interesting name, and so easy to make! I though it was going to be complicated since I had no idea what flummery is.

[Victoria]

Loved the entry, and completely understand your confusion at the measurement issue.

[Jessica]

Your dish looks fantastic. By chance where are you located. I am putting together travel guides for cities all over the world and I would love to include you.,

[Mary]

This was delicious! I used the raw heavy cream I get from Stryk Jersey Farm in Schulenburg, Texas and some blackberries from Wolf Creek Farm in Tioga, TX. It was out of this world! And perfect to help us survive the 104 degree yesterday..here in the Texas Hill Country!

Thanks so much!

Mary (Mary's Nest)
http://marysnest.typepad.com/

[Anne]

You are too cute. I actually thought "flummery" meant "problem", kinda like "flubbed" but more quaint.

I love cold fruit deserts! They're the best!

[Kim]

I love blackberries and am sure to love a dish with a name like flummery. The last time I went blackberry picking to make jam we got carried away and put up 50 jars. They are so good you can't stop filling the bucket. Not sure how many pints worth we picked.

[Rose-Anne]

Flummery! What a fantastic word!

Luisa, you stole my thoughts right out of my head. For weeks--WEEKS!--I have been thinking about making fresh blueberry muffins, but I just cannot bring myself to bake with the gorgeous specimens I find at the farmer's market each week. All those fresh blueberries go straight into my mouth.

And about quarts and pints: it's two pints to a quart. Or four cups in a quart, which might be a handy way to remember it: quart = 1/4, 4 cups to a quart. I think the plastic clamshells are usually a pint in volume unless you are buying the itty-bitty ones, the ones that look like they contain so little fruit that you could eat it all while you finish picking out your groceries at the store.

[Tea]

You, my friend, are adorable!

I too would have been flummoxed by the flummery (sorry, couldn't resist). All I know is that one full Nalgene water bottle, filled with freshly picked berries still warm from the sun, is enough to make a pie. Come on over, we'll pick some:-)

[Moby]

If you have a rote Guertze recipe I would love it! I lived in Germany and love that stuff. Thanks.

[Sophie]

We would like to feature this recipe on our blog. Please email sophiekiblogger@gmail.com if interested. Thanks :)

You can view our blog here:
http://blog.keyingredient.com/

[Eileen]

I have to pass this recipe onto my nephew. He picked 12 pounds of blackberries near his property this summer and was always calling me for ideas on what to do with all of them. This sounds simple and delicious.

[Lisa-Marie]

I have a fairly low lying blackberry(called brambles here) bush in my garden. it started on one side, very small, and is now round the other side and 2 feet tall in some places. I have just taken a pound of berries off it, and its still jammed full! i think i may make bramble flummery!

And some jam.

And apple and bramble crumble.

I'd best be off to pick more then!

[Abbie Davis]

Thanks for keeping it simple! I am just learning and this is so delicious! Plus it makes me laugh to finally know what flummery is, as Nero Wolfe uses it in the A&E series this fits perfectly. Thanks again.