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Blueberry Grunt

  • Serves 6
  • Score

The majority of early desserts were made from fruits that grew wild and in abundance. A common method was to stew them, and add dumplings. Most often referred to as "grunt", sometimes as "slump" or "fungy", the dish often constituted the entire meal. It was made with apples, rhubarb and strawberries, but the most popular of all was Blueberry Grunt.

Ingredients

  • 4 cups (950 mL) blueberries
  • ½ cup (125 mL) sugar (or more)
  • ½ cup (125 mL) water

Dumplings

  • 2 cups (500 mL) flour
  • 4 tsp (20 mL) baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
  • 1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) shortening
  • 1/4-1/2 cup (50 mL-125 mL) milk

Directions

Blueberries: Put berries, sugar and water in a pot, cover and boil gently until there is plenty of juice.

Dumplings: Sift flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into a bowl. Cut in the butter and shortening and add enough milk to make a soft biscuit dough. Drop by spoonfuls onto the hot blueberries. Cover closely and do not peek for 15 minutes.

Serve hot.

Recipe courtesy Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens, Nimbus Publishing.

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