In this cooking video, my accomplished and talented guest cook Bernadette Dryden shows me how to make an intensely fruity, gorgeous gelato using fresh, local blackberries. I was amazed by how simple the process was, using a basic one-quart, hand-crank ice cream maker; it required neither salt nor ice, and it didn’t take much elbow grease either. Bernadette turned a pound of perfectly ripe and juicy berries, a little sugar, and a half-cup of cream into a dessert so delicious that I’ll have to acquire an ice cream maker before blackberries are in season again…or maybe in time for persimmon season. (Bernadette also makes a mean persimmon frozen yogurt gelato, which I’ve bookmarked in her wonderful cookbook, Cooking Wild in Missouri, published by the Missouri Department of Conservation.)

As you can see in this video, Bernadette has led quite an interesting life, and food has usually been at its very center. A former editor and publications supervisor with the Missouri Department of Conservation, she says she inherited her ease in the kitchen from her mother, by whose side she grew up cooking in High Hill, Missouri.

As she says in the introduction to her book, “I consider cooking the most important life lesson that I learned from my mother. She proved that simple, grassroots dishes can be wonderful, and that any food cooked with love and care and the freshest, best-quality ingredients possible can be superb—be it cornbread or crepes.” Although she protests that she is not a chef, anyone who’s tasted her cooking or seen pictures of some of the beautiful dishes she crafts in her kitchen knows she’s a very good cook.

Her devotion to seasonal, local foods, prepared with love and care, is reflected in her commitment to the local chapter of Slow Food USA. As a founding member and co-leader of Slow Food Katy Trail, one of the most active Slow Food chapters in the United States, she spends countless hours organizing Slow Food events, handling SFKT communications and public relations, and updating their blog and info-packed Facebook page.

Blackberry season may have already ended in mid-Missouri, but I suspect this will work with frozen berries…or the fresh peaches available right now…or there are always those persimmons to look forward to!

Bernadette's Blackberry Gelato

A fresh, creamy frozen fruit delight featuring seasonal berries.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pound (about 2 cups) blackberries
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream or plain yogurt (you can use low fat or whole-milk)
Equipment needed: Food processor and home ice-cream freezer.

Instructions

Mix blackberries and sugar in food processor until thoroughly blended. Then add water and blend well again. Taste for sweetness. Press mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a metal bowl, leaving solids in strainer. Set aside.
If using cream, whip in another bowl until it thickens slightly—to the consistency of buttermilk. Whisk cream or yogurt gently into the fruit mixture, combining thoroughly. Taste (of course); the fresh-fruit flavor should shine through. Add more sugar if it's not sweet enough (however, it's best to add sugar while mixture is still in the food processor and can be spun around again).
Cover and chill for at least an hour; overnight would be fine too.
Pour into container of your ice-cream maker and freeze per manufacturer's instructions. This makes about 3 cups of gorgeously purple-red gelato. Dip it up into your prettiest dessert dishes and top with pieces of the fruit.

Notes

Freshly made gelato will be rather soft, but ready to eat. If you like it a little more firm, put it in a plastic container with a tight-sealing lid and leave it in the refrigerator freezer for several hours. Letting it soften slightly after removal from the freezer will make the dipping easier.

Adapted from Cooking Wild in Missouri by Bernadette Dryden

Thanks go out to Jim Cunningham of Cunningham Farm in Fulton for the luscious berries we used in this video, and to Mary Brauch at Missouri Highland Farm for an earlier batch. And a special thanks to Bernadette and John Stewart for making it possible for me to use the lovely song “The Forrest Rose” from Thayne Bradford’s Memories for Another Day as the musical backdrop for this episode.

Have you ever made homemade gelato or ice cream before? Post a recipe or memory in the comments!