Imagine having that sweet blackberry cobbler mid December and it taste like you just picked the berries….get ready because that’s what’s going to happen this winter!  Having this in your pantry, you’ll be minutes away from mouth watering Blackberry Cobblers or better yet – Blackberry Dumplings…..YUM!  This recipe takes whole blackberries and covers them in a blackberry sauce so that you have cobblers and dumplings in no time!

When my Dad called and asked if I could do something with really ripe blackberries, I stopped what I was doing and drove straight to pick them up.  Getting this many berries – don’t just happen every day.  These were too ripe to sell at the market, but perfect to preserve – only I had no time to waste…my evening plans quickly changed!  My parents know I’m a “no waste” type of gal, so they knew I’d find something to do with them!

Here’s the base recipe.  For the quantity of berries I had, I doubled it and it yielded 19 quarts and 1 pint.  Based on this recipe, I’d prepare 10 quarts or 20 pints depending on how you prefer to preserve it.  You can even can this in 1/2 pints if you’d like!  It’s all about preference.  Big family, big cobblers, quarts – that’s my preference.

• 8 quarts of blackberries (separated into 3 quarts and 5 quarts)
• 8 cups of sugar
• 1/2 cup lemon juice

Rinse and place 3 quarts of blackberries in a stockpot.  Set the other 5 quarts of berries aside.  Add the lemon juice and 2 cups of sugar to the stockpot and mix.

Cook on low, mixing constantly so that it doesn’t scorch or stick.  As the sugar dissolves, add more sugar, 2 cups at a time, stirring constantly.

Once all the sugar is dissolved use a mixer or stick blender to blend the berry mixture. This will give you the “soupy” texture that you need in order to be able to fill the jars around the whole berries.  Bring to a boil and boil for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, sterilize the jars and boil the lids and rings.

Rinse the remaining 5 quarts of blackberries. Loosely pack blackberries in jars, filling snugly but do not pack the jars. You want to be able to fill the jars with the berry sauce and the more “packed” the jars, the harder it will be to fill.

Pour sauce over the berries leaving 1/2 inch for headspace.  Remove any air bubbles.

Wipe the rims with a sterile cloth, place hot lids and tighten rings.

Waterbath quarts 20 minutes, pints 15 minutes.