Dessert before dinner

On this week’s Cooking with Bwog, our resident fruit fanatic Matt Powell reveals some of the wonderful things you can do with berries.

Strawberry Shortcake

Makes 4 shortcakes

Ingredients

  • 1 C cake flour
  • 2 tbsp. sugar
  • ½ tbsp. baking powder
  • A dash of salt
  • 4 tbsp. butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/6 C cream
  • Turbinado sugar (or other raw sugar)
  • Strawberries, sliced and macerated in 1 tbsp. sugar
  • Whipped Cream

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using your fingertips, cut the butter into the flour mixture. Crumble the butter into the flour until the texture resembles coarse sand. (Technique is similar to making pie crust).
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg and cream together until combined. Pour the egg-cream mixture into the flour-butter mixture. Mix with a spatula until just combined.
  4. Drop batter onto prepared baking sheet in four large heaps, spaced about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Slice in half, so as to make a sandwich. Layer macerated strawberries and cream into the shortcake. Serve immediately.

Put it in a sandwich

Blackberry Chutney

Makes a small jar-full

If you want to preserve your summer produce for later in the fall, jams, jellies, and chutneys are the way to go.

Ingredients

  • 6 oz. blackberries
  • 1/3 C diced red onion (about ½ of a small onion)
  • 1/3 C sugar
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp. dry mustard
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • A dash of red wine vinegar

Directions

  1. Combine blackberries, diced onion, sugar, and spices in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all of the berries burst. This should take about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the vinegar and cook for about 10 minutes, until it reaches a thick consistency, appropriate for spreading. If your chutney is not thickening, use a touch of cornstarch to fix the consistency.