Wild blackberries are the fruit of my childhood – their scent alone is enough to transport me to those hot summer days with my big sister when we would brave the thorny brambles to see who could collect the most blackberries the fastest. A welcome reminder of those cherished memories, the wild blackberries are now ripening here on the island and these blackberry Greek yogurt trifles are bestowing new memories to my heart’s deep fondness for blackberries.
We have been blessed with a lot of summer rain here on the island, which I knew would make for a much plumper yield than the minuscule berries that the rambling bushes here usually produce. The other day I was laying on our rooftop terrace, contemplating what I would create next for the blog. I had absolutely no idea what should come next, but I knew that if I took a stroll through the village that inspiration would come. That evening I went for a walk to the top of our village to find that the blackberries had begun to ripen and my heart was overflowing with gratitude.
My childhood was spent in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. The golden rolling hills were dotted with majestic oak trees. As the elevation grew the oaks would give way to towering pine trees. Surrounded by the three forks of the American River, our little community was such a sacred place to be raised. Of all the seasons, summer was always my favorite time of year. Summer days were for bike rides, swimming, and blackberry picking and the nights were for bbq dinners and sunset watching. My parents never succeeded at gardening where we lived because it was so difficult to compete with all of the wildlife that would wreak havoc on every garden my parents ever planted. So wild blackberries were the summer harvest that my big sister and I looked forward to. Wild blackberries are deeply meaningful to me because so many of my childhood memories are enveloped in the adventures we would take to pick them and in the various ways we would eat them as little girls who were not really allowed to do much in the kitchen.
As I harvested blackberries in the village my mind was flooded with all manner of emotions – nostalgia for the simplicity of those days of my childhood, longing for the times that my family was whole, and pure joy for the chance to taste this fruit that carries some of my fondest memories. After harvesting as many berries as I could while I snuck in peaks of the sun setting over my shoulder, I returned home to contemplate what I would create with my humble harvest.
Dreams of cobbler or pie would be just that – dreams. The berries here are small and difficult to reach, so with just under 1 pound of berries, making a puree to infuse into something was the best option. I remembered a trifle recipe that I saw on Food52 that featured blackberries and blueberries and I knew it would be the perfect inspiration for my humble blackberry harvest. Their trifle recipe is very adaptable as it is really more of a guide. Using ingredients that I could find here on the island, I came up with these blackberry greek yogurt trifles by substituting Greek yogurt for the sour cream and for the trifle layer, I dreamt up a lemon thyme semolina shortbread. Inspired by the copious amounts of lemon thyme that is growing in our little garden, the combination of the crisp buttery semolina shortbread infused with the bright citrus flavor of the lemon thyme was utter perfection.
The deep crimson blackberry puree turns the whipped cream and greek yogurt mixture the most gorgeous shade of lavender. Layers of lavender colored sweet yogurt cream and shortbread filled cups get chilled in the freezer just long enough to set the tops and you then have the perfect summer dessert. You could actually use any seasonal berry, but if you have the opportunity to pick wild blackberries you will get to experience the essence of this fruit that holds such a special place in not only my heart but the hearts of all of those who have braved the thorns to experience these summer jewels.
Print
BLACKBERRY GREEK YOGURT TRIFLES
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 4-6 glasses 1x
Ingredients
FOR THE BLACKBERRY YOGURT SWEET CREAM
- 16 ounces (500 g) blackberries + a handful for garnish
- 1 medium lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (455 g) heavy cream
- 1 1/3 cups (151 g) powdered sugar
- 1 cup (225 g) Greek yogurt
FOR THE LEMON THYME SEMOLINA SHORTBREAD
- 225 g ( 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup (125 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 175 g all-purpose flour, sifted
- 100 g fine semonlina
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, for sprinkling
Instructions
FOR THE SHORTBREAD
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 c (350 f). Grease and line a 20 cm (8 inch) square baking pan with non-stick parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Pause mixing to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. (I used a whisk in a mixing bowl to do this by hand)
- Beat in the vanilla extract, lemon thyme leaves, and salt.
- Add in the flour and beat until just combined, about 30 seconds.
- Press the dough into the prepared baking tin, making sure to spread it into an even layer and to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the teaspoon of granulated sugar over the shortbread.
- Bake, for 30 to 35 minutes, or until puffed, just firm, and lightly golden.
- Remove from the oven and let the shortbread cool for 15 minutes in the pan before carefully transferring it out and onto a wire rack. Slice the shortbread into even squares while it is still warm.
FOR THE BLACKBERRY YOGURT SWEET CREAM
- Place the blackberries in a medium pot, along with the sugar, juice of 1 lemon and vanilla extract. Bring the berries to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries have completely broken down and are very soft, 15-18 minutes.
- Strain the blackberry mixture into a bowl. You will need 1 cup of blackberry puree. If you have more than 1 cup, you can return the puree to the pot and bring it to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to reduce it slightly to concentrate the flavors. Leave the puree to cool while you prepare the cream.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream and powdered sugar to medium peaks, 3-4 minutes (I did this by hand and it took about 7 minutes). Add the Greek yogurt to the whipped cream mixture and whisk until just combined. Reserve about 1 cup of the whipped cream yogurt mixture in a separate bowl.
- Gently fold the blackberry puree into the whipped cream yogurt mixture.
- Building the trifles is free form; you can do it in any order you like. I started with the blackberry yogurt mixture, followed by a layer of shortbread, another layer of blackberry yogurt and finally a bit of the plain yogurt cream on top with a garnish of shortbread and fresh blackberries. Adding some fresh blackberries along with the shortbread layer would be absolutely divine, we just did not have enough blackberries to do so!
- Once all of your glasses are filled, freeze the trifles just until the top layer is firm; this should take about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Let the trifles sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving. Once the trifles have chilled in the freezer after assembling, I recommend storing them in the refrigerator if you are not going to eat them right away.
Notes
* adapted from Food52
- Prep Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 0 hours
It makes me so happy to read this especially today, on my birthday! I cherish the summer memories of our childhood in the foothills. BlackBerry picking was always my favorite! I’m going to make this recipe with Stella and Kaya! I love you, Bella. ♡♡♡
How crazy is it that I wrote this on your birthday! I can’t help but think of you when it comes to wild blackberries – sweet memories…love you sis!
Great post Bella, those photography skills.
Thank you so very much Cristina! I really appreciate it! <3
DANG!!!!!!!!
those BLACKBERRY GREEK YOGURT TRIFLES WITH LEMON THYME SEMOLINA SHORTBREAD look and sound A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-!!!
i could NOT agree with cristina more bella, those photography skills are freakin EPIC!!
thank you SO much!
as are your recipe development and content creation skills, btw, PAPA is THE INSPIRER!!!
aw shucks! Thank you!
Ohh…almost forgot to say, how CRAZY COOL is it how PAPA worked it out that the inspiration for this recipe and post to use up the minimal amount of blackberries you could harvest that conjured up all those childhood memories ended up coinciding with your big sisters birthday?!?!?!?
right!?! I had no idea!
i got a feelin that i already know the answer to this question, but did you even know that when you developed this recipe and created the content and posted the blog post that it would land on your sister’s birthday??? i think it was just straight serendipitous!!
I had no idea! I had originally planned on publishing this post the day before actually, but some stuff came up and I was not able to! So it was total serendipity that it happened on her birthday!
Wild blackberries are my childhood!!! That last sentence is pure magic <3
Aw…that is so awesome! Thank you so much Todd :)
Oh, Bella, what memories you brought back for me with this post. I can picture you and your sister involved in all the activities that you mentioned and some of them I even had the pleasure of seeing for myself. We were so blessed to have your family as our neighbor and thankful that God brought you into our lives as a friend of Angela’s. I still pick blackberries occasionally, but it’s not a priority like it was with the kids back then. Thanks for the memories sweetie! Love you and the beauty you bring to this world!
Thank you so much for stopping by the blog Barbara…Angela was the very first kid who befriended me when we moved up there, so she has always held such a special place in my heart. Your family was a huge part of my life and I could not be more grateful that we are still in touch. Love you guys so much and will think of you next time I go foraging for blackberries <3
Those direct light photos of the berries are to die for! And I totally get it. My memories are of stained purple fingers with my grandpa and driving to DQ in his beat-up boat of a classic green car to get soft serve. The best times.
Thank you so much Karlee! I smile every time someone shares their blackberry picking memories with me…its amazing how something so simple can mean so much :)
I’ve just foraged for wild blackberries for the first time this past week here in the UK – I ‘ve never seen them grow so abundantly! This is such a beautiful way of using them – love the combination of shortbread and yogurt cream, and such a good way to use that semolina I’ve got languishing in the pantry haha
Perfect timing! And semolina is such a great addition to shortbread – it adds another dimension of crunch that we absolutely love! Enjoy your bounty Claudia!
Girl! Your photos slay me.
Awwwww shucks! That means so much to me coming from you…I feel the same way about your photos! <3
Guess what i want… right . now.
YUM This looks so good!!!
-CK
haha! Thank you Christiann! I am on to making these for the third time! I just harvested another pound of wild blackberries! It has become my hubby’s favorite dessert!