I had quite the 4th of July weekend. It began with a long road trip from Austin to Arkansas. I drove the entire span of Arkansas and I marveled at how different it is depending on where you are in the state. It was purty country.
The weekend can best be described as Foodapalooza. There have been so many divine dishes that I’m going to share with you over the coming days. This was one of them, and it involves dewberries.
Dewberries are related to blackberries. They are small and grow in brambles, are sometimes considered a weed, but they are a purplish-black, sweet, and the leaves can be turned into tea.
The berries are a bit tender which makes them great for something like pudding, because they melt into the rest of the dessert in a beautiful, tart, purple way.
My friends here in Arkansas noticed one year that there was a bumper crop of dewberries and took advantage and got a group together to pick all that they could. Men picked buckets and buckets of them. We discovered them over the weekend and pulled them from the freezer and made something special out of them this Fourth.
These are some of the things you will need: eggs, butter, vanilla, berries, sugar, cream, milk, cinnamon (not shown because I’m a bad photographer) and a sweet bread of sorts. A pinch of salt is good too.
You begin by greasing a baking dish. 13 x 9 or something in that ballpark will do.
Tear up the bread by hand and put it in the baking dish. It’s okay if it is overflowing, because you’re going to pack it in there. A sweet flavored bread is ideal here… like a Hawaiian bread or Challah.
Alternate with the berries as you put the bread in so that it is evenly incorporated.
Pour the sugar in a bowl.
Add the cream and milk.
Add the eggs…
Add the vanilla…
Add the cinnamon and salt…
And mix it all together!
Then do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around.
Pour the mixture over the bread and berries, making sure to evenly distribute it. Then press it down with a spatula to help the bread soak up all of the liquid.
You’re going to bake it at 350 degrees F for about 75 minutes and when it emerges it will look like this.
The berries will be melted into the bread and the whole thing will be moist and custardy below the surface. You’ll set that aside while you make…
The Sauce
This is only 3 simple ingredients: dewberries, sugar, and brandy.
You could add whiskey instead if you’re feeling frisky.
Add the berries to a pot, then dump in the sugar.
Give it a nice stir over the heat, and it will start to release its juices.
Once it has a nice jammy consistency, stir in the brandy.
It will look something like this when it is done… saucy jam, with an edge.
Give it a nice drizzle over a spoonful of bread pudding…
And take a bite! I even added a scoop of berry ice cream for good measure.
Give this a try sometime! It will work with any summer fruit, or even with raisins in the winter. The bread pudding isn’t too sweet, so that you can add the sweeter sauce as you please, depending on your tastes.
Enjoy guys!
“Dewberry Bread Pudding”
Ingredients
Instructions
19 Comments
Amanda
This looks incredible, Georgia! Gorgeous photos.
Marly
My sister makes a blackberry cobbler that’s pretty hard to beat, but this bread pudding is looking so delicious! I may have to call my sister and tell her that cobbler of her has a serious contender! I’ve never had a dewberry, but it sure looks worth the try!
Amanda
Have never heard of them and now I must try them!! 🙂
susan
I have never heard of Dawberries and now I am intrigued! I learn so much from you. I am so enjoying getting to know you through your blog and your experiences! Ahhh, the idea of traveling around a state so different from my own would be a welcome pleasure! Your bread pudding looks so delicious!
SMITH BITES
i have never, ever heard of a dewberry but i can only image how they taste – i am a lover of all things berry so am quite sure i’d be taken with these as well – yum!
Robyn | Add a Pinch
I’m ready to go hunt down the nearest dewberries for this bread pudding, Georgia! It looks scrumptious!!!
Maria
I love the color! Fabulous bread pudding!
Esi
I’m so in to bread pudding lately. This berry version looks wonderful
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
It’s amazing how many different varieties of berries there are to discover, this is a new one for me.
Sommer@ASpicyPerspective
Wow Georgia, this looks divine. I don’t believe I’ve ever had dewberries, but here in the mountains of NC we have all sort of wild berry varieties. We have a secret spot we like to stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway and collect buckets full of mulberries, wild blueberries and black raspberries.
Wenderly
Mmmmmm. I wanna lick those dollops of sweet sauce off that plate!
Lucy Lean
reminds me of blackberry picking from the hedgerows as a child in Devon, England – lots of purple fingers, tummy aches from too many not making it into the bowl and then making it into something delicious for tea – usually crumble but sometimes pie – can’t wait to make bread pud with such a scrummy looking sauce.
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme
What memories! I grew up picking dewberries in South Georgia. Lovely little wild cousins of blackberries they are. Of course, we’d eat as many as we picked but with what was left Mama would make a cobbler and, if there was enough, dewberry jam. I just know that this bread pudding would be divine.
Cookbook Queen
I live in Ozark, AR and I’m going to have to keep an eye out for Dewberries!! So glad you’re enjoying your time here!! 😉
Amy | She Wears Many Hats
I picked a ton of berries the year before last that I thought were blackberries but now am wondering if they were dewberries. They were small and totally in a big mess of weeds and briars. I made the best ice cream with them and cobblers. Hmmmm … may go back to where I found those and look a little more closely.
Kathleen
Oh my gosh this looks heavenly!
Winnie
I’ve never had dewberries, but this looks so delicious!
Miss bee
Dewberries grow in The spring black berries grow in the summer and black
Berries are larger than dewberries, use to pick them with my mother when
I was a kid we lived in east texas at that time .