425796 Sun Jul 29 07:44:52 -0700 2007 8 31 Home Cooking 0 2793337 I was at my local greenmarket yesterday and they had blackberries, so I bought a pint. Surprisingly, they were pretty sweet - sometimes they aren't. So. last night, I attempted to replicate a blackberry/nectarine crisp I recently had while on vacation but used peaches instead (and through in some leftover blueberries for good measure), since that's what I had on hand. I did it off the cuff, didn't have a recipe available but remembered how to do it more or less. It came out really good (especially when topped with vanilla ice cream) considering I wasn't sure what was in the restaurant's crisp topping, however there was one problem. Blackberry seeds! The one we had at the restaurant had no seeds that I could remember. Mine of course, had a ton of them, which made it kind of unpleasant, at least for me. It made me wonder if restaurants have some way of getting rid of the seeds first? Passing them through a sieve? But of course, that would mean they would be mush. Are there kinds of blackberries which don't have as many seeds? Or, was my ratio of blackberries to peaches off - should I have had more peaches, less of the berries? Thanks! Sun Jul 29 07:44:52 -0700 2007 12099 sivyaleah 1 2793389 That's very strange. Here in the Pacfiic Northwest, where we have blackberries growing pretty much out of every crack in the sidewalk, I've never found blackberry baked goods to be particularly seedy, and I've never removed seeds - I don't think you could do that without distroying the fruit, and I don't think it's necessary. I'd guess it was those particular berries. Sun Jul 29 08:07:11 -0700 2007 2793337 11377 seattledebs 2 2793392 I live in NJ - perhaps it is the variety of blackberry. And, where I had the blackberry/nectarine crisp was in Napa - so maybe it does have something to do with being a regional type of fruit? Sun Jul 29 08:08:49 -0700 2007 2793389 12099 sivyaleah 3 2793496 I bought blackberries at Contes in Tabernacle, NJ. They did have seeds, but were delicious. I didn't think the seeds were overwheming, however. Maybe just the variety you purchased had an abundance? And speaking of peaches, I have yet to have a good one. I bought some of the first picking out of another place in Tabernacle and they were terrible, horrible, actually. No flavor and completely mealy. I look forward all year to peaches in the summer, and we typically have great peaches here in NJ. I wasted $5 on them and ended up throwing them out to the woodchuck, who seems to be enjoying them! Maybe this is not a good year for fruit here in NJ? Sun Jul 29 09:08:55 -0700 2007 2793392 95489 mschow 4 2793651 I haven't had any good NJ peaches yet either. I've been purchasing California peaches in the grocery and they've been amazing. I was in Napa a few weeks back and had the best peaches in years there - turned to my husband and remarked why can't we find these at home? I remember growing up and always having remarkable peaches. What's happened? Oh and the blackberries were very tasty, probably the best I remember in a long while. Oh well, win some, lose some. Sun Jul 29 10:47:44 -0700 2007 2793496 12099 sivyaleah 5 2793810 it was VERY cold this winter--night temps in the mid twenties for almost a month. Stone fruits like peaches and apricots need this. Then, during blooming, there was little rain (which keeps the bees at the hive rather than out pollinating) So, stone fruits have been over the moon this year. Roses have been spectacular as well. Time to candy some rose petals! Sun Jul 29 12:04:46 -0700 2007 2793651 11234 toodie jane 6 2793850 That could explain what went wrong in NJ. We didn't have a very cold winter here this year - and during bloom, if I remember right, it was raining way too much (we even had a major flood situation). We won't even talk about MY roses :-( But I did notice they were amazing in Napa and in Monterey! Sun Jul 29 12:25:26 -0700 2007 2793810 12099 sivyaleah 1 2794178 They could have used a sieve and rubber spatula possibly, or even a food mill to remove any unwanted seeds. You could do the same and use the puree to dot the topping of your peach crisp. You'll probably achieve the same result in taste and appearance since the "whole" berries cook down anyways. My other guess is that maybe it was just the variety of blackberries you purchased. With a little research, two varieties came up -- Thornfree and Black Satin. It's possible that different varieties have lesser seeds. You just have to be lucky I suppose, and get the one with lesser seeds. Ever have red raspberries loaded with seeds? Ugh. Awful. Sun Jul 29 14:46:08 -0700 2007 2793337 10609 Cheese Boy 1 2794373 I'm on the West Coast and am in the process of making a peach and blackberry rustic tart for dinner right now! I'm using the beautiful ripe peaches I bought at the farmers market this morning and Driscoll's blackberries, from Watsonville, CA, south of SF, which are also a little sweet with not too many seeds. (they don't say what variety it is). There are dozens of different types of blackberries grown in the US and I'm sure you just got a really seedy type. I do know that the Marionberry type of blackberry has less seeds (it's a cross of a couple of different berries) and is well thought of on this coast for baking -- there are people growing it up in the SF Bay area, so it's possible you may have had a marionberry in your Napa dessert, or even an olallieberry. I notice the seeds more when blackberries are cooked, because they give up their liquids and most of their bulk, so the seeds are left and seem more prominent than if they were fresh. For that reason, I'm going to add my blackberries near the end of my peach tart's cooking time, or maybe even sprinkle them over the finished peach tart, then top with vanilla ice cream. Don't give up -- good luck! Sun Jul 29 16:18:57 -0700 2007 2793337 13787 Moka