Blackberry Pickin'

Last week the teens in our homeschool group went north to pick strawberries at McPeak Orchards. There were four families represented with seven kids. We had a great time and came home with about 15 quarts of delicious, fresh red strawberries. I put up 7ish quarts and we ate the rest within a day or so. I wish I had taken pictures of the outing but all I've got is one of our two baskets to show you...







We didn't quite get our fill of picking berries so one of our MOT(mom of teen) offered to let us pick from her dad's dewberry patch not far from us. Again, I did not take pictures but that's a GOOD thing! It was 92 degrees, sunny, and windy. None of the kids picked for more than 5 minutes so it was just us hot, sweaty, windblown moms doing the dirty work. And it was DIRTY! I came away with just under five pounds but we are going back next week for more. I froze three quarts and made a "scone cake" with the rest(what was left after the girls had munched them anyway)...



(before butter)


(now that's better)

Blackberry Chocolate Chip Scone Cake

(it is important to note that the measurements are extremely approximate!)

2-2.5ish cups of flour(I use half white, half whole wheat)
1.25tsp baking powder
1/4tsp salt
1 loose cup(about 2/3 cup packed) light brown sugar
1 heaping cup of blackberries or dewberries
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
enough milk to make a think batter
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 egg
(I did NOT add any vanilla or cinnamon but both would have worked-I just plain forgot)
Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine dry ingredients and toss to mix and break up sugar. Add berries, chips, milk and egg and mix well. Pour into a buttered 9x9 or 9x13 pan(mine was a 9-inch straight sided round stoneware tart pan). Bake for about 20 minutes, testing at about 15-16 minutes with a cake tester. It might take longer than 20 minutes, I was facebooking and didn't pay attention. The edges were slightly pulled away and browned when they were done if that helps. Let them cool a bit and cut into serving sized pieces. Eat buttered with plenty of coffee!! Enjoy!