What Are Bumbleberries And What Do They Taste Like?
So you've come to hear the tale of the mysterious bumbleberry. The name rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it? It sounds like a curiously tempting treat you'd be forbidden to touch while touring Willy Wonka's factory. According to Utah's well-established Bumbleberry Inn, located in beautiful Zion National Park, bumbleberries have a scrumptious, juicy flavor you can achieve by taking "burple" berries and mixing them with "binkle berries." Perfection.
At this point, if you're thinking, "Alright, now you're just making up sounds," you'd be right. The Inn goes on to playfully describe how ripened bumbleberries are found in the wild: "On a sunny summer day, the giggle bushes shake for hours and, if it's quiet enough, berries can be heard giggling uncontrollably." The lore behind the bumbleberry might sound cute and endearing to some — or creepy and straight-up hallucinatory to others — but it's pretty obvious that the bumbleberry doesn't exist. Though it isn't an actual berry, it is a real summer flavor you can pack into mouthwatering pies or perfectly flaky scones and serve à la mode. You can even infuse it into fresh-squeezed lemonade or preserve it as a tasty jam to add a tangy kick to your morning toast.
Bumbleberries are a mixture of all your favorite berries
Synonymous with mixed berries, it turns out that "bumbleberry" is just a word that describes any type of berries you may have on hand that you might "bumble upon" in your fridge. That's it! If you're baking something you'd like to use bumbleberries in, you don't even have to stick with just berries. As Cook's Info points out, bumbleberry pies "usually include other fruit as well, such as rhubarb and/or apple." With such a generous helping of fruit, you may be concerned that the tartness and sweetness might be too much to handle. However, when balanced with all the other fresh ingredients in your bumbleberry pie recipe, you'll be sure to pull something truly heavenly out of your oven.
Some of the best US pie shops, like California's beloved Mom's Pie House, serve bumbleberry pie, but bakers can just as easily make their own at home. Delighted Cooking suggests filling your pie with common berries like "blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, and/or blueberries," and you can always use frozen berries if you're short on fresh ones. Take notes from Club Foody's YouTube video that shows her process for creating perfectly neat lattices to hold in all that delicious fruit. Brush milk or cream over the crust, dust it lightly with sugar, and pop it into the oven at 400 F (via Club Foody). Soon you can enjoy your mixed berries in glorious bumbling pie form — just don't forget to add a sweet scoop of vanilla ice cream!