How to Make Simple, Delicious Blueberry Slump

Blueberries are now in season here in Michigan. (We grow over 1/3 of the country’s supply!) Visit a local farm where you can pick your own. You’re sure to find fresh picked berries at farmer’s markets, and many grocery stores offer locally grown fruit this time of year also.

Blueberry Slump. Don’t let the name fool you. This warm, syrupy fruit dessert is no slouch. It’s easy to make, and great when you want a fruity dessert on a summer’s night, but don’t want to turn on the oven. Made entirely on the stove top, warm blueberries in a sweet sauce cover pillows of fluffy dumplings. Garnish with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

You’ll want to use a large, heavy duty sauce pan or cast iron skillet to make this. First, wash your blueberries, make sure all the stems are off, and there aren’t any stray leaves in the mix. Add the clean berries to your pan. (You can use frozen berries for this also.)

Next add the sugar, water and lemon juice to the berries. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn it down on low, and let it simmer at least five minutes. I like my sauce thick and syrupy, so I let it simmer longer. Sometimes I even add a tablespoon of cornstarch if it seems too thin. It really depends on what you like. If you like a thinner sauce, simmer it for the minimum five minutes. I’ve also noticed some batches of berries have more liquid in them than others, so that can affect the thickness of the syrup and the cooking time as well.

While the berries are cooking, mix up the dumpling dough. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a bowl. Cut in the butter, then stir in the milk until the dough is just moistened and comes together.

Once your syrup reaches the desired thickness, drop the dumplings by the spoonful into the mixture. Cover your pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook at least six minutes. The dumplings are done when a toothpick poked through the center comes out clean.

Now just dish a dumpling out into a bowl. Smother it in the blueberry sauce and serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Store any leftovers in the fridge. If there are any leftovers. Yum!

Blueberry Slump Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups of blueberries

1/2 cup of sugar plus 2 tablespoons

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1 cup of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 tablespoon of butter

1/2 cup of milk

Directions

In a heavy pan combine blueberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.

While berries cook, make the dumpling dough. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining two tablespoons of sugar to a bowl. Cut in the butter. Add the milk and stir to moisten the dough.

Drop dumplings by the spoonful into the berry mixture. Cover, reduce heat and cook six minutes or until dumplings are done.