Frank’s Cajun–Country Blueberry Dumplings

Ingredients:

It’s blueberry time again, time to get over to one of the U-Pick-Um blueberry farms and gather up a mess o’ dem plump, little, sugary-sweet delicacies to fashion into a great dessert for the whole family.  And one of the best blueberry desserts I ever had was when I took Glenn and Leah Mistich’s blackberry dumpling recipe and converted it over!  Ohhh, man….this is so good you’d swipe it away from your sister-in-law’s baby!
                                   
2 cups granulated sugar (or the Splenda equivalent)
1-gallon fresh-picked blueberries
¼ stick real butter 
1 box plain white cake mix
½ cup bottled water
1 cup fresh, uncooked berries for garnish
1 canister real whipped cream
½ gallon vanilla ice cream

Start off by cooking down the blueberries.  To do this, simply mix the berries and the sugar together, place the mixture into a heavy-bottom saucepan, and cook over a medium flame—stirring constantly and crushing as you go—until the berry skins pop and a semi-thick syrup forms. 
Then when you’re ready to make the dessert, take an 11 x 14 Pyrex baking dish (or whichever dish suits the size dessert you’d like to make) and transfer the cooked berries to it (I like to add the berries to about an inch thick).

Meanwhile, prepare the cake mix, but substitute only ½ cup of water for the 1-1/2 cups called for in the recipe.  Now make note of this: Stir the mix until completely blended, but do not over-work the mix or it won’t fluff.  When the texture is just right, drop the batter by tablespoonfuls over the top of the blueberries (take your time and place them in the pan evenly all over, taking care to see that they are close to but not touching each other).

Now slide the pan into a preheated 375 degree oven and bake the dessert for 35-40 minutes until the dumpling tops are golden brown and puffy and the berries are hot and bubbly!

All that’s left to do now is to serve the dessert piping hot right out of the oven by spoonfuls (it’s a “spooned” dessert, not a “sliced” one) dropped into a cereal bowl.  Of course, it wouldn’t be “Naturally N’Awlins” if it weren’t topped with a big dollop of vanilla ice cream, a swirled mound of real whipped cream, and a sprinkling of fresh, chilled, uncooked berries for garnish.

Oh. . .don’t ask about the calories!  You really don’t wanna know!

==========

Chef’s Notes:
Prime “pick-your-own blueberry season” is in full swing right now at Blue Tara Blueberry Farms.  If you want to take your family to the farm for a day of pickin’, all you have to do is call 601-795-0034 for details and directions.

If you can’t make it out to one of the farms, you can always pick up all the blueberries you need right now at your neighborhood supermarket or at roadside produce stands.

If possible, try to buy “plain” white cake mix.  The different brands with the “added pudding” for moistness just don’t produce good dumplings for desserts.

To reduce the amount of sugar in your dumplings, you can substitute Splenda for the granulated white sugar (cup for cup).

If the berries you pick are extra tart, use 4 cups of sugar instead of 2.

It isn’t necessary, but you can run the cooked berries through a sieve to produce a smoother dumpling sauce.

And here’s lagniappe: if you got extra cooked blueberry sauce left over you and always use it as a topping for ice cream, pancakes, or waffles.

Simply store it in a Mason jar in the refrigerator until you need it.