Blueberry Dumplings

August 13, 2014

Blueberry Dumplings

"You ought to have seen what I saw on my way
To the village, through Mortenson's pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!
And all ripe together, not some of them green

And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!"

~Robert Frost

The blueberries are ripe in Newfoundland--wild blueberries, those little globes of dusty blue, intensified blueberry flavoured berries, the best tasting blueberries in all the world! Now, you may take exception to that last statement but I'll not change it--THE BEST BLUEBERRIES IN THE WORLD! And, for the most part, free for the picking.

Don went out last night after supper and picked almost 4 litres in just under 2 hours. He's a good picker but, I, on the other hand am as slow as the proverbial cold molasses going down hill. I pick one berry to his three. So if I had gone last night there would have been one more litre (maybe).

As the blueberries were still sitting in the pail this morning awaiting my attention I decided we'd have a blueberry dessert following our dinner (lunch). I don't always make dessert during the week as we do have a tendency to eat the stuff until its gone, but with fresh wild blueberries sitting on the counter that rule flew out the window. I wanted something quick, not too sweet or fatty and of course something delicious. Blueberry dumplings fit the bill and I quickly put them together just before dinner time.

Blueberry dumplings are usually served hot or warm so they do need to be made about half an hour before the meal. The good news is they take only 10 minutes to put together before simmering the dumplings in the hot blueberries. You may even put the dumpling ingredients together early in the day and add the milk when you are ready to make them. Handle the dumpling dough with a light touch. Mix lightly until just combined for the best fluffy dumplings.

Blueberry Dumplings

Blueberry Sauce:

5-6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
½ cup water or fruit juice
¼-½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup milk or water + 2 tablespoons

In a large saucepan combine the blueberries, water/juice and sugar together. Add lemon rind if using. If you like lots of blueberry sauce use the larger amount of berries. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower heat when blueberries come to a boil.

While blueberries are coming to a boil mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together. Rub in the butter using your fingers or the back of a spoon. Add the milk and gently mix until just combined. The dough should be similar to biscuit dough--not sticky but not totally dry. Drop the dough by spoonfuls into the boiling blueberries. You should have about 8 portions. Cover the pan and lower the heat so the mixture will simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. DO NOT lift the cover until the 20 minutes are up. Remove the cover and let the dumplings sit about 5 minutes. Serve hot or warm with ice cream, pouring cream or whipped topping. (Of course, in Newfoundland, the favourite topping would be Fussell's canned cream.)

Makes 8 servings (or 4 servings for blueberry fiends).

Boil blueberries with a little water and sugar. Add lemon peel if desired. The sugar amount in the blueberry sauce can be decreased or increased to taste. I didn't want very sweet dessert so I used the lower amount of sugar. Bring the berries to a boil. While the berries are doing their thing mix the dry ingredients together for the dumplings. Add the milk and mix gently until just combined.

I made 8 dumplings. Just spoon out the dough by cutting out with the side of a spoon. Drop the dough into the bubbling blueberries. Cover for 20 minutes. Don't peek. I have glass covers on my pans so I took a picture through the fog so you could see the cooking dumplings. The finished dumplings will be about 2 or 3 times the size of the raw dough.

The dumplings are cooked and ready to serve. They are best served hot or warm. I like them on the hot side of warm. If they're too hot I always burn my tongue.