Old-Fashioned Blueberry Grunt (1983)

• 
  5 cups  of blueberries, picked over
• 1 tbspn lemon juice
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbspn cornstarch
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tbspns sugar
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1/2 tspn baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 2 tbspns melted butter
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, or as needed 

Too the berries with the lemon juice in a wide, non-corrosive skillet or flameproof shallow baking dish. Stir together the cornstarch, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl, and stir this mixture gently into the berries until combined. Cover the pan and bring to a boil.

To make the dumpling topping, sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl. Gently stir in the melted butter, and then enough of the buttermilk to make a very soft dough. Stir just to combine; do not overmix. 

As soon as the berries being to boil, uncover th e pan, lower the heat, and drop rounded tablespoonfuls of the topping onto the berries, spacing them evenly. Cover the pan tightly and simmer for 15 minutes wihtout lifting the lid. Check to see that the dumplings have set; cool slightly.

Serve warm in bowls, with ice cream, whipped cream or heavy cream. Makes 6 servings.

(Note - "A grunt is similar to a cobbler, except that it is simmered, rather than baked. As it cooks, usually in a cast-iron skillet, the biscuit dough sets to form soft dumplings.)

More "Lost" Desserts

Appalachian Blackberry Dumplings (1987)

Caramel Dumplings with Cream (1978)

(Origin - "Old-Fashioned Desserts" by Richard Sax, published by Irena Chalmers Cookbooks, Inc., 1983.)