Monday, September 16, 2013

Raspberry Tapioca - With Blackberries?

 

One of the fun things about getting married to a man whose mom and sisters are awesome cooks is being introduced to a whole new set of great recipes!

Ed's family had completely different food traditions than my family which makes holiday meals even more special. One of their favorite foods is raspberry tapioca. I had never eaten anything quite like it - and it was love at first bite.

Maybe part of what makes raspberry tapioca so special is the knowledge that it is a labor of love. Ed's sister and her children stalk the fence rows in the summer, harvesting buckets of black raspberries that she cans in jars to be enjoyed the rest of the year as raspberry tapioca. I've done a little bit of raspberry picking in fence rows. Between the thorns, biting bugs, and poison ivy - it is a job for only the strong and the brave!

I'd love to have a patch of black raspberries on our property, and there is a few in our back pasture, but only enough to find a handful or two.

But this year, our thornless blackberries produced well. Could I can blackberries and make blackberry tapioca? It was worth a try.



I filled quart jars with blackberries, added 1/4 tsp of pure powdered stevia, and filled the jar with water. I canned the berries for 12 minutes. (My sister-in-law uses 1/4 cup of sugar per jar instead of stevia.) I tried not to fill the jars too full, but some juice still managed to squeeze out.

Now to try for tapioca...



I opened a jar and poured the contents into a sieve. The berries have lost a lot of their color.



Using a spoon, I mashed the berries, trying to squeeze out as much juice as possible. The result was almost three cups of blackberry juice and I added a little water to make a  complete three cups. I then followed my sister-in-law's recipe, replacing the sugar with honey, and finding that I needed to decrease the water.

 

After a try or two, Ed deemed it a total success! The flavor is a little different than raspberry but still rich and delicious.

Want to try it? Here is the recipe...



Black Raspberry (or Blackberry) Tapioca

1 cup water
3 cups raspberry/blackberry juice
3 T. lemon juice
8 T. tapioca
3/4 cup honey 
dash of salt
sweetened whipped cream

Mix water, berry juice, lemon juice, tapioca, honey, and salt. Let stand 5 minutes to soften tapioca. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and allow to cool 20 minutes. Stir well. Place in refrigerator and cool for several hours. Top with sweetened whipped cream.

If you prefer sugar instead of honey, the original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar with an additional 1/2 of water.

14 comments :

  1. That looks so good. What a great way to incorporate fruit into a classic favorite (tapioca)!

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  2. My grandma used to make tapioca with fruit like that. So yummy! I'll have to try it!

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  3. We make it too in our family; we always use the whole fruit and most often use a variety of berries all together (blueberries, blackberries and raspberries). It's delicious!!

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  4. Thanks for sharing this recipe. We have blackberries here so I look forward to trying it. I just wanted to mention to you an idea I had when I was reading your post. Do you have a steam juicer? If so you could juice some of the blackberries just for making the tapioca. That way you could skip the step of putting the berries through the sieve. Just an idea. Enjoy your day and God bless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great idea! I don't have a steamer, but it sounds like it would work!
      Gina

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  5. I had the privilege of tasting Gina's tapioca, and it is absolutely delicious!! I'm glad to have the recipe now. :)

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  6. What kind of stevia do you use? I just bought some NuNaturals, and didn't know if the measurements would be the same.

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    Replies
    1. I use pure powered stevia from Berlin Seed. Check your stevia and make sure it contains no fillers. If it is pure, it should be similar.
      Gina

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  7. This looks so good! I don't have a source of blackberries. I wonder if it would be good with blueberries, or if they are too mild flavored.

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    Replies
    1. I don't know. Guess you can always give it a try!
      Gina

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  8. What variety are the blackberry plants? I would like to plant some thornless berries as well.

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    Replies
    1. I don't know what variety I have. Mine came from starts that a friend gave me.
      Gina

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  9. Have you ever tried using Agave nectar in place of honey? It is a natural sweetener obtained from the agave cactus plant and the added benefit is it doesn't raise your glycemic index like honey or sugar would do. Just a thought. Thank you for your informative blog and the Lord bless you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Margie-
      I have never used agave nectar. I have heard conflicting reports on it so haven't took the plunge to try using it!

      Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
      Gina

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