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.