Blackberry Pastry Bread Recipes

BLACKBERRY BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl;
• Stir in blackberries.
• Whisk together sugar and next 5 ingredients in a medium bowl until thoroughly blended.
• Add to flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
• Pour batter into a lightly greased 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.
• Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes.
• Remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

BLACKBERRY PASTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Combine the milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the yeast in a large bowl; stir the egg yolks and whipping cream into the milk mixture. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
• Whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (This can also be done in a food processor: pulse the cold butter or shortening until it's the size of small peas. Turn mixture into a bowl and proceed.) Stir in yeast mixture until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured board. Divide the dough into three portions and shape them into balls. Toss blackberries with sugar.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
• Roll each ball out to a 9x12-inch rectangle. Spoon blackberries evenly onto the center third of each rectangle, width-wise. Using a knife, cut about 9 slanting lines along each side approximately 1 inch apart. Create a braid by folding alternating strips from each side, overlapping the berries. Place the pastry braid onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining two portions. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving.

BLACKBERRY BROWN BETTY WITH PECAN CRUMBLE

Steps:

• For the pastry cream: In a small saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla bean pod and seeds to a boil over medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, cover the pan, remove it from the heat, and let steep for 15 minutes.
• In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch together until very thick. Slowly drizzle one-third of the hot milk into the yolks, whisking constantly. Remove the vanilla bean pod. Return the yolk mixture to the saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking continually, until the mixture comes to a boil. Continue whisking while the mixture boils for 1 to 2 minutes.
• Remove from the heat. Whisk slowly until the mixture cools a bit, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in the butter 1 tablespoon at a time.
• The pastry cream needs to be chilled before using. One method is to cover the surface of the cream with a sheet of buttered parchment, or butter wrappers, and refrigerate it until it is very cold. The other method, which I prefer, is quicker: Set the bowl of pastry cream in a larger bowl filled with lots of ice and some cold water and allow it to sit until very cold. (Think of chilling a bottle of wine or champagne-you need some water to ensure even cooling.) If you choose this method, stir the cream occasionally for even cooling. The pastry cream can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated.
• For the crumble topping: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and bake until toasted, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and let cool. Coarsely chop 1/4 cup of the pecans.
• Put the remaining 3/4 cup pecans in a food processor along with 1/2 cup of the cake flour. (The flour will help keep the nuts from turning into pecan butter.) Pulse the pecans until they're very finely chopped. Add the rest of the flour, the confectioners' sugar, turbinado sugar, salt and baking powder. Pulse until mixed, 3 to 4 times.
• With the machine running, add the melted butter and vanilla. Pulse until large clumps form. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the reserved 1/4 cup chopped pecans. Refrigerate until chilled. The topping can be made several days in advance and can also be frozen for up to 1 month.
• To bake the betties, heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready eight 6-ounce ramekins or baking dishes.
• Divide the chilled pastry cream evenly among the ramekins. The cream should fill just under one-third of the ramekin. I like piping the cream into the ramekins, but using a spoon old-school works just as well.
• Evenly portion the berries on top of the pastry cream. Remove the crumble from the refrigerator. Break off clumps about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter, keeping the clumps about the same size, and divide them evenly among the ramekins.
• Arrange the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake until the berries start to bubble and the topping turns golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Remove from the oven, let cool for 10 to 15 minutes, and serve dusted with confectioners' sugar. You can also serve the betties topped with ice cream, whipped cream or creme fraiche, or you can pour a little warm heavy cream into each betty.

BLACKBERRY PASTRY BREAD

Steps:

• Combine the milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the yeast in a large bowl; stir the egg yolks and whipping cream into the milk mixture. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
• Whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (This can also be done in a food processor: pulse the cold butter or shortening until it's the size of small peas. Turn mixture into a bowl and proceed.) Stir in yeast mixture until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured board. Divide the dough into three portions and shape them into balls. Toss blackberries with sugar.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
• Roll each ball out to a 9x12-inch rectangle. Spoon blackberries evenly onto the center third of each rectangle, width-wise. Using a knife, cut about 9 slanting lines along each side approximately 1 inch apart. Create a braid by folding alternating strips from each side, overlapping the berries. Place the pastry braid onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining two portions. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar before serving.