Sallie Ann Robinson's Blackberry Dumplings

(1)

This is a very special and easy dessert. Momma would make this for us after we spent hours picking blackberries, making all the work worth it. —Sallie Ann RobinsonFrom Sallie Ann Robinson's Kitchen: Food and Family Lore from the Lowcountry by Sallie Ann Robinson. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, September 2019. Reprinted with permission.

Sallie Ann Robinson's Blackberry Dumplins
Photo: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Yield:
4 serves

Ingredients

  • 1 pound fresh or frozen blackberries

  • 2 cups sugar

  • 2 cups water

Dough

  • 1 cup self-rising flour

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable shortening (Crisco or lard, but not oil)

  • ¼ - ¾ cup water

Directions

  1. Place the blackberries and sugar in a medium saucepot with 1 cup water, and bring to a boil over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it thickens to a sauce. Reduce the heat to low and keep the blackberries warm as you make the dough.

  2. In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, salt, sugar, and vegetable shortening with ¼ cup water. Add more water, ­up to ¾ cup, as needed until the dough is loose and soft enough that you can scoop it out with a spoon.

  3. Increase the heat of the blackberry pot to medium.

  4. Scoop 1 teaspoon dough at a time and drop it into the saucepot of blackberries. When the dough rises to the top of the blackberry sauce, use a tablespoon to turn it so the dough cooks evenly as it hardens. Drop in as many teaspoons of dough as you can at the same time, but leave a little room between them for the dough to swell. When all the dough is turned and has the consistency of a doughnut, the blackberry dumplings are ready to eat.

Related Articles