Blackberry Crisp - Recipe

    It is time to start picking our blackberries!  So I am getting ready for my blackberry recipes.  Crisp is one of our favorites.  Notice how crispy the crisp looks?  One secret to a great blackberry crisp is partially cooking the fruit with the sugar, spices, and tapioca starch.  The topping won't sink right into the crisp and disappear that way.  "Why tapioca starch?" did you say?  I use tapioca starch for a nice, clear filling.  It is not chalky at all.  Yummy!

Blackberry Crisp

(Serves 12)

14 c. Blackberries

1 c. White Sugar

2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

5 T. Tapioca Starch

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 c. Regular All Purpose Flour

1 c. Brown Sugar

1 c. Oatmeal

1/2 c. Margarine

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/4 tsp. Cardamom

     Thaw blackberries in the refrigerator overnight if frozen. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the blackberries including their juice, white sugar, cinnamon, tapioca starch, and salt in a heavy bottomed Dutch oven. Bring to a simmer stirring occasionally and gently to keep the berries' shape. When the sauce begins to thicken and become clear take off of the heat and cool to lukewarm. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oatmeal, margarine, cinnamon, and cardamom. Mix with your fingers to a gravel texture. Pour the berries in a greased 3 quart glass baking pan. Sprinkle on the topping leaving a small space in the center of the pan to see the berries. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn down to 350 degrees and continue baking till you see the juice bubble in the middle of the pan (the little space in the middle not covered with topping). This could be in just a few more minutes or for 30 more minutes depending on how warm the berries were when you started cooking. Let the crisp cool and serve at room temperature.


Note: We have a blackberry bush in the back yard and my son picks them every day when ripe. He rinses, air dries, and adds them to a sealed plastic bag in the freezer. Then they are ready for desserts throughout the year.