I do enjoy telling stories of my misspent youth, and one of my favorite topics is getting beaten up by blackberry brambles.

These briars are no joke. Picking blackberries in the Virginia summer was a sweaty affair, made more so by the clothing we were obliged to wear: long sleeves and pants, hats and gloves, with everything buttoned up as tightly as possible. The thorns would not only draw blood, but they would also catch you and not let you go. I am told that a sheep caught in a blackberry bush will die unless rescued by its human.

Regardless, every year we suited up and went in, on account of my mother’s blackberry roll. At least that’s what we called it. It was basically a white cake with blackberry goo poured on top before baking. It goes well with ice cream or fresh whipped cream (which my mother would make with a hand-cranked mixer, but I may have already mentioned that she was one tough lady).

Imagine my surprise when I learned that a friend of ours in Craig, Alaska has a huge blackberry thicket in his front yard. Imagine my further surprise when I learned that the blackberries were ripe in October (and stayed that way far into November—this bush had been imported from somewhere down south, and it had no idea what it was doing).

Even though I had long since figured I was done with berries for the year (having picked the last huckleberries in early August), I went with my husband and Younger Son over there to get some blackberries. I described for them my childhood experiences with blackberry bushes, especially that part about having to wear long pants and sleeves during the Virginia summer. Did I mention that the summers in Virginia are very hot?

Anyway, we got some blackberries without getting overly lacerated, and I texted my sisters to see if they still had Mama’s recipe. They both did (but of course they both did!) but Mary was quicker on the draw.

Here you go: Milly Jervey’s Blackberry Roll

                Cake recipe: 1 ½ cup flour; 1 ½ tsp baking powder; ¼ tsp salt; ½ cup oil; 1 cup sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup milk. (Laura’s version said, “mix the daylights out of the batter”) Pour the batter into two greased cake pans.

                Topping: 2 ½ cups berries; ¾ c sugar; 1 ½ cup water. Bring to a boil, and then pour on top of the cake batter.

                Bake for 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees. Put a mess of vanilla ice cream on your piece and be prepared to be working the seeds out of your teeth for some time. I promise you won’t mind.