Monday, August 17, 2020

BLACKBERRY ROLL BY MARTHA ELLEN

Martha Ellen's recipe which you can find by clicking here brought back a memory of my mother's rolls very similar to this one.  After wrapping the roll with a muslin cloth, she would steam them over hot water, and make the pastry using suet instead of butter.  She used blackberries and strawberries, sometimes on their own and sometimes together.  Dad grew rhubarb in his garden but these were used in Mum's baked pies.  Or he would cut us a stick, washing it thoroughly first, put sugar on a small plate and we would dip the stick of rhubarb into the sugar for a sweet and sour taste, biting off a piece until it was all gone.  This was something Nanny, his mother, used to give him as a child.  He also had a huge gooseberry bush and those would go into a pie also, but I liked to eat those on their own, one by one.  They were very sour but I liked them. Whenever we could smell blackberries cooking, we knew we were in for a treat, just as I did when I made Martha Ellen's recipe.
My photos aren't quite as pretty looking but it sure tasted delicious!  Thanks Martha Ellen!  You can read and see her photos at the link above, and I recommend you take a look at her recipe in case I have missed anything out.  I'm sure you will enjoy all her posts And great photos.   



Blackberry Roll by Martha Ellen


1/4 cup of sugar or more to taste
2-3 cups of blackberries
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 cup of cold butter  
2/3 cup of whole milk, or more if needed to make soft dough
2 or 3 tablespoons of melted butter
1 tablespoon of sugar


Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  

Mix together your blackberries and sugar in a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl mix together, flour, salt and baking powder.  

Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter is mixed in and the flour looks crumbly. 

Add as much milk as you need to form a soft dough.  Don't over mix as dough will become tough.

(Martha Ellen uses a muslin cloth and sleeve that goes over her rolling pin to roll out dough for biscuits or pie crust.  These can found in any good baking department, and she has had hers for over 30 years.  Martha Ellen keeps them in the fridge to make sure they are cold, and adds that they can be washed in your washer when needed.)

Roll your dough in a rough 12 by 15 or so rectangle.  Brush the melted butter on the rolled dough.  Then place your berry mixture on the rectangle.

Roll in jelly roll fashion, from the long side and seal the edges of the dough.  With seam side down, place your roll onto a baking dish.

Work quickly as the juice will want to escape. Make slits on the top of the roll and sprinkle It all over with sugar.

Martha Ellen baked hers for 25 minutes until it was lightly browned on top.  It can be topped with whipped cream or ice cream, but she said her Mama never did, and indeed it tastes great just as it is.

I made a simple sauce using a can of coconut milk, sugar to taste and a little cornstarch, heating all of this in a saucepan stirring constantly until it thickened slightly.  The next day we ate a slice on its own and wouldn't bother with the sauce again.







33 comments:

  1. I have never seen anything like this! So pretty and special.

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    1. Thank you Ginny, Martha Ellen's recipe was a real winner. Great for company too :)

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  2. That looks delicious. Sadly although I love all the berries they do not like me so I only ever use their juice which is all I can enjoy. Have a good week and stay safe. Diane

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    1. Thank you Diane, and so sorry you can't enjoy the berries. You have a good week and stay safe also.

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  3. Food can bring back wonderful memmories of childhood - looks yummy

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  4. Hello Denise,
    this recipe looks delicious and easy to make. Thanks for sharing, I will be saving this for another day. Take care, enjoy your day! Wishing you a happy new week!

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  5. sounds so delicious, we had wild blackberries in California, sadly the ones here are insignificant in size and taste.

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    1. Hello Linda, nothing more appealing to be than wild blackberries :)

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  6. Looks delicious to me! Last week Publix had blackberries that had been there too long and they were selling them really really cheap so I bought two containers and froze them and now when I eat my yogurt I dropped Frozen blackberries and of the yogurt and yum

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    1. Hi Sandra, that's wonderful :) They would go great with yogurt. I also like putting them in smoothies.

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  7. It looks good. I would not mind having a bite of it.

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  8. Oh my, those do look like "Memories of Childhood," don't they? And thus, they taste even better, because of the memories. ~smile~

    Let's enjoy the "Fruits of Late Summer"
    ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŒฝ๐ŸŒผ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŒผ๐Ÿ‰๐ŸŒผ๐Ÿ…๐ŸŒผ๐Ÿ†๐ŸŒผ๐Ÿˆ๐ŸŒผ๐Ÿ‘๐ŸŒผ๐Ÿ“๐ŸŒผ

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    1. How very true BB, couldn't have put it better myself :)

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  9. Yummy! I've never heard of this before!

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    1. I am happy Martha and I introduced it to you :) Thanks Tanya!

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  10. Oh Denise, I'm so honored you tried my families Blackberry Roll! Your coconut sauce looks divine, my friend--I must try it. I enjoyed hearing about your parent's use of berries in desserts. I don't think I've ever eaten a gooseberry--maybe I'll find them in the grocery. You have a darling signature berry basket--so creative!

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    1. And I am happy that you shared it in the first place Martha Ellen. Also glad you enjoy my signatures :) Thank you!

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  11. Sounds good...I loved hearing your memories, too.

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    1. That makes me happy Rose, I like writing my memories down more and more these days :)

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  12. Dziฤ™kujฤ™ Ci! To byล‚o bardzo smaczne :)

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  13. It certainly looks and sounds delicious.

    All the best Jan

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