Berry Roll (1916)

 The Myrtle Reed Cookbook (1916) 

BAKED BERRY ROLL

Sift two cupfuls of flour with two teaspoonfuls of baking-powder. Work into it a tablespoonful of butter and mix to soft dough with a cupful of milk. Roll into an oblong, cover with berries, sprinkle with sugar, roll up, fasten the edges and bake or steam, basting with syrup to which a little butter has been added. Serve hot with any preferred sauce.

Upon noticing my strawberry patch blooming, I thought it might be a good time to burn through some of the frozen strawberries in my freezer from 2021.  Then I noticed I was somehow out of white sugar?? How does that happen?!  

It was at this point that I noticed faults in the containment pastry, and spent about 30 seconds patching

Patching efforts were insufficient. Also I forgot to baste with buttery syrup. 

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Quick run-down on Myrtle Reed: she was a romance author and poet, who died tragically from suicide in 1911. She once wrote, “The only way to test a man is to marry him. If you live, it’s a mushroom. If you die, it’s a toadstool.”  Her estate was divided between eight charities she had been patron of during her life. During her funeral, her flat was robbed of everything valuable. Her cookbooks were published after her death. The one linked above is written in a  dryly humorous style that makes me think she must have been fun.  

Verdict: This is indeed a simple and quick dessert!  It took me about 10 minutes to put it together, and about 30 minutes at 350 F.  It’s kind of dry, but that makes it soak up sauce better.  Melted ice cream, in this case!  It’s pretty much biscuit with berries and sauce inside.  Husband, two girls, and I all liked it, and felt that it would be a welcome, if stodgy, addition to a meal. Youngest Child hid under the table and gnawed on the heel slice like a squirrel.