I have written before about my mother’s blackberry cobbler, prepared in a little yellow casserole dish. She pressed a butter crust on the bottom and up the sides of the dish, filled the center with berries and sugar and let heat and nature turn the berries into a deep purple syrup that we topped with vanilla ice cream (store-bought, I’m sure). This dish remains one of my fondest food memories.

Blackberries, also called brambles because they grow on those pesky sticker bushes, are the largest of the berries. Blueberries are round and smooth-skinned, juicy and sweet. Raspberries are composed of many connecting drupelets, each with its own seed. All of the berries are terribly fragile.

When you are shopping, turn the container over and look for mold growing between the berries. If you can’t find good berries, just wait.

Once you get berries home, refrigerate and use them the next day or they will begin to mold, turn soft (blackberries and raspberries) or shrivel (blueberries). Use them in recipes or throw a few onto your morning cereal, stir a tablespoon of the blueberries into your pancake batter, or boil the berries gently with a tablespoon or two of sugar for a minute or so for a delectable ice cream topping.

In recent years, berries have become a luxury dish because of cost. When shopping for berries for recipe testing, the price was $2.99 for a pint of blackberries, $2.99 for a pint of raspberries and $4.99 for a pint of blueberries. For those who, like me, enjoy picking berries, several area farms allow berry picking during the summer months. Call the Bamboo Farms and Coastal Gardens (921-5460) for more information about area farms or berries grown at the gardens.

The good news is that we could consider our berry fetish medicinal in nature. Berries, it turns out, are the new wonder food. Low in fat, high in fiber, high in potassium and low in sodium, berries are not only delicious, they are recommended by nutritionists as the perfect snack food. Research on blueberries in particular points to promising results in improving memory skills, reversing memory loss, promoting urinary tract health, reducing eyestrain and improving night vision. The one drawback is the seeds in both blackberries and raspberries, that make them troublesome for those with dentures or sensitive teeth.

Any dessert made with fresh berries is a treat. Caterer Susan Mason is known for serving fresh berries in a long-stemmed glass with a traditional English custard poured over. Yum. Garibaldi’s restaurant has served a cookie cup filled with homemade ice cream and topped with fresh berries. Delectable.

As I began testing for this issue, I had in mind a hot berry trio, baked in a custard and cradled in a butter crust. My family, it turns out, was unimpressed, so I ate one whole tart myself. My son, Zack, suggested a cold berry pie. But what kind of filling? I settled on that old Southern favorite, custard cream, the basis of so many delicious cold desserts. This crust, by the way, got raves.

Almond Crust
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
one-half cup butter
1 egg, beaten

Custard Cream
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 cup Grand Marnier
1 cup whipped cream, whipped
1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping
1/2 pint fresh raspberries
1/2 pint fresh blackberries
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1/2 cup red current jelly
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Place almonds in the bowl of a food processor. Process until they are in very small pieces. Add flour, sugar and butter. Pulse until thoroughly mixed. Add beaten egg and pulse until crust forms a ball. With floured hands, press into a 10-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom.

Bake at 350 degrees for 16 minutes, until crust is firm and lightly browned.

Remove crust from oven and allow to cool completely before adding custard cream.

To make custard cream: In a small glass dish, dissolve gelatin in water. Stir well. Place egg yolks, sugar and Grand Marnier in the top of a double boiler. Cook over low to medium heat until thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Add gelatin to hot mixture and stir well. Allow to cool to room temperature. Whip cream with vanilla until stiff. Combine custard and whipped cream, stirring well. Mixture will be soupy.

Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for about an hour. It will thicken considerably; pour custard into crust and smooth out.

Allow custard to chill in crust for about an hour. It will be light, but firm. Arrange fruit on top of custard. Heat jelly and lemon juice in a glass bowl in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of the fruit with the melted jelly. Serve immediately.

Makes 8 servings.