Blogs / Local Bounty / Winter-Fall 2011 / Kiowa Blackberries from Pudwill Berry Farms

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Kiowa Blackberries from Pudwill Berry Farms

These big, juicy berries are bursting with flavor.

Blackberries from Pudwill Berry Farms ($5 a pint)
Available at the Rancho Santa Fe Farmers Market

My first experience with blackberries as a child was in a summer pie my mom or grandmother would make for us—a purely kid’s pie of vanilla pudding studded with the berries in a graham cracker crust. On a sultry summer evening, the cold creamy pudding and punch of sweet/sour juice from the blackberries followed by the chewiness of the crust was a delight.

That’s one of those happy lingering memories that isn’t replicable in adulthood. (I tried; my taste buds have evolved.) I don’t make the pie, but I still love that punch of juice from blackberries—and especially the early summer Kiowa blackberries grown and sold by Pudwill Berry Farms.

I picked up a box at the Rancho Santa Fe Farmers' Market and was stunned by their size—they may be the largest berry out there—and their juicy sweetness. I ate the entire pint in one sitting, but could imagine them bursting with flavor in a cobbler or topping homemade vanilla ice cream. Add them to a summer fruit parfait layered with burrata cheese and lemon curd. Or, if you’ve got kids, bake them my mom’s pudding pie.

Photos by Caron Golden