Matthew, Jack and I went blackberry picking this morning up in Tilden Park. They showed me their favorite “treasure trove” of bushes. We were intrepid (and have the scratches to prove it). We picked about 5 cups of blackberries, and were all smiles as we emerged from the thicket.

It was the essence of summer. The sun was hot, and the berries were delicious — small explosions of joy in our mouths. We also had a plan. When we got home, we made our favorite blackberry crisp, an adaptation of a recipe in the fine book “Berries” by Sharon Kramis, sadly long out of print:

Preheat oven to 350.

Filling: 4-5 cups of blackberries

2 tbs flour

3/4 cup sugar

Gently mix all ingredients together.

Topping: 1 cup of flour

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

dash of salt

In a separate bowl, mix all above ingredients. Add 1 beaten egg. Mix together until crumbly.

Melt 1 stick of unsalted butter.

Butter the bottom of a 9×9 baking pan. Add filling. Crumble topping over it. Pour melted butter over topping. Bake for 30-40 minutes. Make sure topping doesn’t burn.