Late Summer Menu Heirloom Tomato and Cheese Tart Fried Zucchini Blossoms with Ricotta and Basil Summer Minestrone Grilled Pork Chops with Fresh Asian Plum Sauce Mixed Berry Slump Main Recipe Index

Makes 8 servings

Old-fashioned American fruit desserts can have odd names--grunt, cobbler, and betty, to name a few. A slump is a berry compote simmered on the stove with dumplings on top. It's just the warm dessert to serve when you don't want to turn on the oven. Mix the berries to your liking, but don't overdo the strawberries, which loose much of their red color if cooked by themselves.

4 pints mixed berries, such as blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and hulled, sliced strawberries
3/4 cup sugar, or more to taste
Grated zest of 1 navel orange
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup water
Vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream for serving

Dumplings
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and thinly sliced
2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine the berries, sugar, orange juice, and butter in a nonreactive, heavy-bottomed large saucepan or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Cook until the berries give off their juices, about 5 minutes. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and return to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low.
2. Meanwhile, make the dumplings. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the butter, and using a pastry blender or a large fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture looks crumbly with a few pea-sized pieces of butter. Mix the milk and vanilla in a measuring cup, and stir into the flour mixture.
3. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoons into the simmering berries to make 16 dumplings. Cover the saucepan and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let stand, with the lid ajar, to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
4. Serve the berries in individual bowls, each serving topped with 2 dumplings and a scoop of ice cream. Serve warm.