Blueberry Grunt

This oddly named dessert promises juicy berries topped with biscuity dumplings—and there's no need to turn on the oven. But the reality is more often than not a soggy, bland mess. Here’s what we discovered:

Test Kitchen Discoveries

• To thicken the filling, we cooked down half of the berries until jammy, then stirred in the remaining berries before topping the mixture with the dumplings. A bit of cornstarch further tightened the filling without making it stiff.
• Replacing the milk with buttermilk added a nice tang. The buttermilk also reacted with the baking soda, making the dumplings much lighter.
• For light and fluffy biscuits, place a clean kitchen towel under the lid during cooking to absorb condensation.
• Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on the cooked dumplings before serving for a final burst of flavor and crunch.