A Berry Good Time

Now is the time to be happily black and blue as the berries are coming to market at their high tide. Blackberries need no introduction: eat them right out of the green carton or toss them into a clafouti for dinner or bake in a pie like the old nursery rhyme suggests.  There isn't much more you can do except of course shower vanilla ice cream with them.

Blueberries come in two distinct sizes: high bush and low and the difference is crucial. High bush, cultivated blueberries are significantly larger--more water content--and are for eating out of the box or turning into chutney or showering on ice cream. If you chose to put them in a pie, remember to add extra flour to soak up all the water they will release. It's easier to bake with the tiny wild blueberries that grow on very low to the ground plants, essentially in Maine and the upper peninsula of Michigan. These are flavor bombs that don't have much water to release, just sharp blueberry taste. They're traditionally used for all sorts of baking, including muffins. Fortunately they freeze very well and most commercial bakeries keep boxes of them in the freezer.  Fortunately too what you can bake with them also freezes well, if you prefer to save them that way. Nothing like a fresh blueberry muffin in a February snow.

Last post gave you the best blueberry muffin recipe so back up for that. Here are a few other ways to preserve the glory of right now.


Sour cream blueberry cake
This is an old crowd pleaser of mine perfect as "coffee cake" or brunch dessert or snack or dinner finale. And it's a champion freezer. I included the recipe in the book How to Fix a Leek....which I still have copies to sell so ask me.

This springform baked cake serves 8 easily.

Butter a 9” springform cake pan. Preheat oven to 350º.

In a food processor or mixer combine

4 oz unsalted butter             

1 c sugar

Add:

2 lg eggs

¼ tsp ground nutmeg           

½ tsp cinnamon                     

Mix together:

1 tsp baking powder  

1 tsp baking soda

2 c all-purpose unbleached flour

          

Add to the butter mix and process quickly only until blended. Do not overwork the flour.

Add:

1 tsp vanilla

1 c sour cream

Process just until blended.

Spread ½ dough evenly in the buttered pan.

In a small bowl combine:

1 c wild Maine blueberries   

½ tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp grated orange peel        

3 tsp light brown, turbinado or raw sugar

1 tbsp flour

Spread this over the dough.

Cover with remaining dough and level.

Top with this mixture:

½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

¼ cup sugar                 

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Bake at 350º 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

Blueberry Chutney

This is my way of preserving the big high bush blueberries and serving up a lip smacking condiment with winter meals. it's particularly yummy with fried, spicy or roasted chicken, roast pork or pork chops, ham, rice with lentils. It's also at its best on the Thanksgiving table beside that roast turkey. I have posted this before because it's a keeper. And it makes a great gift especially when you're invited to dinner.

2½ c blueberries                                

3 whole cloves

1 c cider vinegar                               

 2” fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1¼ c light brown sugar                       

1 sm onion, diced

2 Macintosh apples, chunked *           

¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper

¼ tsp allspice                                     

¾ tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp chili powder                            

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp salt                                           

1 tsp. minced orange peel

Combine all ingredients in a large non-aluminum saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until thickened. Pack into preserving jars and seal according to manufacturer’s instructions. (Pint or 4oz jam jars are best.)

*Secret: all apples are not interchangeable. Here you need one that dissolves, ergo a Mac. When you want one that holds it shape, say in an apple tart, use Granny Smith because it doesn't break down.

Cream Cheese Pie with Blueberry Topping

This is another way to enjoy the high bush larger blueberries. You can share the joy with 6-8 people.

   

1  9” pre-baked pie crust (made of graham crackers or ginger snaps or regular pie dough or a combination of any)

12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp finely minced orange rind

½ cp granulated sugar

1/3 c whipping cream

2 lg eggs

1 ½ pts fresh blueberries, washed and dried

½ cup red currant or apple jelly

Optional: splash of rose water

Preheat oven to 350º.  

 In or with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until it’s soft and smooth. While beating, add vanilla, orange rind and sugar. Beat in cream, then eggs one at a time. Scrape the bowl sides with a rubber spatula and beat just enough to make the mixture smooth. Pour into the crust, level and bake 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  Refrigerate for at least one hour to use the same day, or overnight to use the next day.

Melt jelly in a small pan over medium heat until it boils. If using rose water, add now. Simmer one minute.  Using a pastry brush, cover the cream cheese filling with a thin layer of jelly and set the rest of it aside to cool. It should slightly thicken. When it does, put in the berries (or put everything in a larger bowl) and with a rubber spatula carefully coat the berries with the jelly.

Pour the coated berries and jelly onto the pie and move the berries around to make one even layer of berries and jelly that reaches to the crust all the way around, totally covering the top of the pie. (You can to this with your fingers or a dull spreader.) Refrigerate a few hours before serving. Overnight is okay too.

Blackberry or Black Raspberry Clafouti

This yummy and simple dessert from Provence is usually made with cherries. But who wants to pit them? So I adapted it to blackberries and it's sensational. If you have a farmer who can supply black raspberries (they aren't available commercially), try them instead of blackberries.  Blueberries won't work because they will turn the pudding blue and that will turn you off visually. You could do it with firm, large raspberries too. 

And btw, clafouti is a cross between a pudding and a light cake. So simple kids can do it in a snap.

serves 6-8

3 cups blackberries or black raspberries                

1 tbsp vanilla

1¼ cup milk                            

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar                         

 2/3 cup sifted unbleached flour

3 extra large eggs                   

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350º.

Butter a 7-8 cup pie plate or baking dish.

Put all ingredients except blackberries in a blender or food processor or in a bowl with an immersion blender and make into batter. Spread blackberries all over the buttered baking dish and pour the batter evenly over them.  Bake 1 hour or until the clafouti is puffy and brown and a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool slightly before serving. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve.  Eat the leftovers for breakfast.

Blackberry Custard Pie

I made this up as an alternative to clafouti.

It's good for 8.

In a food processor--and mind you, I did this in a mini one, so know you don't need fancy expensive equipment-- combine

1 1/3 cups flour

1 stick unsalted butter cut into pieces.

Process just until coarsely blended.

Add

2 tbsp light brown, turbinado or raw sugar

pinch of salt,

1 extra large egg

 2 tbsp milk

 1/4 tsp nutmeg. (Ginger fans:add 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated.)

Process into lumps.

Preheat oven to 350º. Butter a 9-10" pie plate. If you have a metal one with holes in the bottom, this crust will be crisper. If you don't, you can try baking it empty for 10 minutes or not, as you see fit.
Press the dough into the pie plate all the way up the sides and a little over the top so you can crimp it between your thumb and first finger to make it look pretty. Be sure it is even all around. Now optionally you can bake it 10 minutes if you want to make it crisper in the end.

Otherwise pour in 3-4 cups of fresh, clean blackberries and distribute evenly.

In a medium size bowl, combine

4 egg yolks

1/3 c white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

 2 c any combination of the following that produces a thick liquid: heavy cream, yogurt, ricotta, mascarpone, creme fraiche. I used up 1 cup of heavy cream I had on hand, mixing it with 1 cup yogurt. (As it happened 1/2 of that was lemon yogurt and it added a delightful tang to the pie.) Mix all this together with a hand beater or whisk.

Pour into the pie shell.
Bake at 350º about 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Serve warm or at room temperature just as it is or if you want to jazz it up and can take the calories, top it with whipped cream.