blueberries

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

March 28, 2012 by Rebecca 17 Comments

I have the privilege of being able to make the cake for the upcoming wedding of my brother and his wonderful fiancée this summer. Besides being excited to be such a big part of their day, I’m thrilled that I’ll be occupied in making sure the cake is just-so and therefore will hopefully not be sitting at the table sobbing from joy over the nuptials and having a massive aging crisis over the fact that my baby brother is now wed.

Ahem.

I have to say that I am a seriously fierce big sister. I’m hyper protective of my little brother and more than just a little bossy. (I’m looking more charming by the moment, aren’t I?) I remember one time Luke had to talk me and another of our sisters out of beating up a kid who had punched him. In retrospect, it’s probably for the best. I had never thrown a punch in my life and didn’t have a clue how to do so. I probably would’ve ended up getting creamed. Nothing screams “pick on me!” like having your big sisters fight your battles and then lose them for you.

I gave the secret stink-eye to girls he dated over the years but then came Elvi. The second I met her I knew. I knew that my brother was going to marry her. And if he didn’t? Well, we were going to adopt her as a sister and he’d be on probation. Luckily, my baby brother is a smart guy.

Aside from being a talented artist (see my header above for an example! Shout out to Elvi!), she’s just plain fun to be around. She has an infectious laugh and a fresh perspective on almost anything. For example, in our food obsessed family, my first question was, “What flavour cake do you want?” She looked at me funny and said, “You know. I hate to admit this, but I don’t really care how it tastes. I just want it to look a certain way.”

While I picked up my lower jaw from the floor and fixed it back in place, I considered what she had said. Well, obviously! She is an artist. The real deal. With studio space and everything. She’s visual! Heeeeyyyy… Does this mean I get to decide the cake flavour?

“Hey, Elvi, does this mean I get to decide the cake flavour?”

She said yes. SHE SAID YES. That was almost as good as her saying yes to my brother. I talked snickerdoodle cakes, carrot cakes and all sorts in between. She didn’t care as long as it had the specified form! Jack. Pot.

And then it hit me. Blueberries and lemons. Nothing screamed my brother more than blueberries and lemons. Blueberries because I’m fairly sure my brother starts panting with anticipation about a week before blueberry season. There is no safe blueberry around him. Lemons because, well… There’s more than one reason, but here’s a warning. The story I’m about to share is not appetizing.

When we were little we had a station wagon. The drive to the grocery store was pretty lengthy (as in more than a half hour) and over winding country roads full of C.O.D. curves*. Luke -about four or five years old at the time- had a squirrely travelling stomach in the best circumstances and was just about exhausted from a day of “being in town” and out of his routine. He was sitting in the ‘way back’ of the wagon (the rear facing rumble seat) and called to mom that he was hungry. She told him to dig into the bags and eat one of the little single serving containers of lemon yogurt (here comes that lemon!) Luke ate it and promptly threw up over the back of the car, his sisters and everything else he could look at while his head made like a rotating sprinkler.

*Come Over Dear curves. In other words, you’re taking a hairpin turn that requires you to lean against your nearest neighbor in the car.

So lemon and Luke. What can I say? It’s an association.

But there’s more. Lemons equal sunshine. My sunshine haired baby brother who always looked like he had a halo around his head because of his white blonde hair. And Elvi is sunshine. She brings light and joy to the room just like the sun does. I cannot think of a better cake to represent the two of them.

This is my first experiment along the road of providing the perfect wedding cake for two of my very favourite people and I do believe we already have a winner. The tender, fine lemon cupcakes are dotted with juicy, sweet and tart blueberries and topped with a cloud of whipped cream and a pinch of fresh lemon zest. These bright, sunshiney cupcakes are a little burst of spring and freshness.

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

Yield: 24-28 cupcakes

Serving Size: 1 cupcake

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes

These bright, sunshiney, tender lemon cupcakes are dotted with juicy, sweet and tart blueberries and topped with a cloud of whipped cream and a pinch of fresh lemon zest for a burst of spring and freshness!

Inspired by and adapted from both Sweetapolita and Julievr at Babble Blogs

Ingredients

1 cup butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
grated zest and juice of a lemon
1 cup milk, divided
2 cups of fresh blueberries (or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained), tossed with 3 tablespoons of flour

To Serve:

2 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar
additional lemon zest

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Line 24 muffin tins with muffin papers (you may have enough batter to make a few extra cupcakes, so if you have more tins and papers, keep them handy.)

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a stand mixer or in a bowl with a hand mixer or sturdy spoon, cream together the softened butter, sugar and lemon zest on high speed or until light and fluffy and even. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs -one at a time- beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and lemon extract.

Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture, mix in well, add about 1/3 each of the milk and lemon juice and mix well. Repeat until they are used up, ending with the milk and lemon juice.

Shake any excess flour from the blueberries and gently fold them into the cake batter. Fill the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full of batter. Tap the pan gently on the counter two or three times to settle the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cupcakes spring back when gently pressed in the center and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out without gooey batter on it.

Turn out of the pans onto a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Store the cupcakes, unadorned, at room temperature in a tightly covered container for 3-4 days.

Just Before Serving:

In a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer or whisk) on high speed, whip the whipping cream and confectioner's sugar until it holds a peak when the beater is removed from it. Pipe or dollop the whipped cream onto the cupcakes and top with a pinch of fresh lemon zest.

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2012/03/28/blueberry-lemon-cupcakes/

Recipe printed from Foodie With Family | Rebecca Lindamood http://www.foodiewithfamily.com

Filed Under: Cakes, Comfort Food, Desserts, kid food, Party Food, Rebecca, Recipes, Vegetarian Tagged With: blueberries, dessert, family-friendly, kid friendly, seasonal, Vegetarian

Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

January 25, 2011 by Rebecca 19 Comments

I got a bit of an unpleasant surprise while reading cereal box ingredient lists at the store the other day.

Let me back-track for just a moment or two, though. For years upon years upon years, drawing close to a decade and a half, I’ve been making a particular bran muffin. More of a Bran-ish muffin really… Why Bran-ish? Because it doesn’t fit in the normal bran muffin box. It’s lighter both in color and gut-bombability than the average bran muffin, gently sweet and über-easy. In fact, it’s simpler and more convenient than just about any other muffin in existence (aside from the ones you buy.) No cutting in of fats, no measuring ingredients with bleary eyes and un-caffeinated hands in the morning, no hungry children curled around your feet moaning while you try to rustle up breakfast*. Mix your wet ingredients, mix your dry ingredients, mix them together and stash in the refrigerator for up to six weeks. No joke.

*This recipe does not come with a guarantee that your children will wait patiently for the muffins. Mine don’t. I guess I should’ve just left that out. I got carried away. Please forgive me.

You may have encountered a version of this recipe before on the cereal box of a major breakfast cold-cereal manufacturer. It’s been around for what seems like eons. But this is where my unpleasant surprise popped into play.

I grabbed a box of my normal All-Bran and perused the ingredient list. HFCS. Ack. It’s presence had escaped my notice previously but once I know it’s there, I don’t buy*. I checked the store brand version. HFCS. I checked plain old bran flakes from all possible manufacturers. HFCS. Double Ack. I decided to play around with other cereals… Fiber One didn’t have HFCS nor did the store brand version of Fiber One. I opted for the store brand. Before you balk, Wegman’s (cue heavenly chorus singing the attributes of Wegman’s) store brands are almost always as good as or better than major manufacturer’s products.

*I am aware that educated people disagree on the matter of whether High Fructose Corn Syrup is a health hazard. Good people can disagree. I have read a great many research studies on the subject and decided that there is enough uncertainty to make me feel better eliminating as much of it from my family’s diet as possible.

I came home, mixed up my muffin batter and commenced griping my story to The Evil Genius. He grabbed the box and said, “HFCS! Ha, just kidding. But really? There’s aspartame in here.”

Aspartame in cereal? Seriously, Wegman’s? EW. Leaving aside any health concerns that are presented by aspartame, let’s just talk taste. It tastes chemically sweet. And not in a good way.

The muffin batter had already been mixed up, though, and I don’t waste, so we started baking anyway and hoped for the best. In a result that shocked no one, they were grossly and strangely sweet. The thing I found curious was how the high-fiber cereal didn’t break down at all after sitting in the refrigerator overnight or after baking. When the muffins were pulled open, they looked like I had made the batter with dried cat food pieces. They were unappetizing, to say the least. I know when I’m licked.

I decided that there were two options; find another all bran (small caps, not ™, thankyouverymuch) cereal or give up on these muffins. My little local grocery store did not have anything I wanted to use but unsurprisingly, Amazon had an option; an HFCS/Aspartame-Free real bran cereal. I took a leap of faith and ordered a package of six boxes. And happy days, the cereal worked perfectly in the muffins. No more cat-food, sickly-sweet aspartame muffins for us!

Why go to all the trouble for this muffin? Well, if the convenience of having it ready to bake off in mere moments doesn’t convince you, maybe the flexibility will. You can bake them plain, as is, with the batter straight from the refrigerator, or you can gussy them up a bit. Stir in frozen blueberries, raspberries, other berries or fruits, sprinkle with raw sugar or leave unadorned. Any way you choose, they’re the simple, perfect solution to a hot breakfast or afternoon snack.

Are you having trouble finding an HFCS or artificial sweetener free cereal? Try our new favorite from Amazon. If you click on the link below and buy it from Amazon.com, we’ll get a very small commission. It doesn’t change your price at all, but disclosure feels good. Come on, gimme a hug.

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Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

Scroll to the bottom for an easy-print version of this recipe!

Gently adapted from the Kellogg’s All-Bran Muffins recipe
Yield: About 54 Plain Bran Muffins, or more than 60 Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

5 1/3 cups all-natural bran cereal (I recommend Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ
2 1/4 cups raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt
4 cups buttermilk (You’re culturing your own right? No? Try this dead-simple method.)
1 cup neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
4 large eggs, beaten

Optional additional ingredients for baking:

frozen berries, small pieces of frozen stone fruits such as peaches or plums, or small diced apples or pears
chocolate chips
raw sugar for the muffin tops (You can use granulated white sugar if necessary.)

To prepare muffin mix:

In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until evenly moist. Scrape the muffin mix into a large container (of about 1 gallon capacity or larger) with a tight fitting lid.

Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using. Label the container with the date the batter was mixed.

You can store and use the batter for up to 6 weeks.

To bake Plain Bran Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the prepared muffin wells 2/3 full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.

To bake Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.

Scoop the desired amount of muffin batter into a bowl and gently fold in your chosen fruit or chocolate chips.

Fill the prepared muffin wells 2/3 full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.

Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. There may be some fruit juice on the skewer, but there shouldn’t be any sticky batter.

Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack or towel.

Six Week Bran Cereal Muffins

Author: Rebecca Lindamood

Recipe type: breakfast, bread, quick bread, snack

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 32

Muffin batter that throws together in minutes and is usable for six weeks?!? You bet! Have fresh muffins whenever the urge strikes when you have this on hand!

Ingredients

5⅓ cups all-natural bran cereal (I recommend Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat germ
2¼ cups raw sugar (can substitute white granulated sugar if necessary)
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 pinch salt
4 cups buttermilk (You’re culturing your own right? No? Try this dead-simple method.)
1 cup neutral oil (like canola or vegetable oil)
4 large eggs, beaten
Optional additional ingredients for baking:
frozen berries, small pieces of frozen stone fruits such as peaches or plums, or small diced apples or pears
chocolate chips
raw sugar for the muffin tops (You can use granulated white sugar if necessary.)

Instructions

To prepare muffin mix:
In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until evenly moist. Scrape the muffin mix into a large container (of about 1 gallon capacity or larger) with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before using. Label the container with the date the batter was mixed. You can store and use the batter for up to 6 weeks.
To bake Plain Bran Muffins:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. Fill the prepared muffin wells ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.
To bake Bran and Fruit Muffins or Chocolate Chip Bran Muffins:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line muffin tins with paper sleeves or spray the muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray.
Scoop the desired amount of muffin batter into a bowl and gently fold in your chosen fruit or chocolate chips.
Fill the prepared muffin wells ⅔ full. If desired, sprinkle lightly with raw sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes for standard sized muffins or 10-12 minutes for mini-muffins. Muffins are done when a straw, skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. There may be some fruit juice on the skewer, but there shouldn’t be any sticky batter.
Allow muffins to rest in the tins for 5 minutes then gently turn out onto a cooling rack.

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Filed Under: Breakfast Foods, Happy Healthy and Wise, Healthy Foods, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes, Snacks, Stretching your dollars Tagged With: blueberries, Breakfast, budget friendly, dessert, Frugal Food, kid friendly, kids, quick and easy, quick meal

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

May 3, 2010 by Rebecca 9 Comments

The following is a partial re-print of my column that appeared in today’s Record-Eagle.

~~~ ~~~

The Evil Genius oftentimes has been asked, frequently in my presence, how he avoids weighing 500 pounds eating my cooking. His response has been to grab his belly, moan a little bit, and say “I could easily!” He slid a little into uncomfortable weight territory over the winter and thus has declared himself to be on a health kick. He’s been riding his bike, playing more sports with the boys, watching his food intake and (gasp!) skipping dessert most nights.

All well and good, but the dessert thing I’ve found distressing. I am a baker. I am the sugarplum fairy, for crying out loud. Desserts are what I do. I have always been a little (read: a lot) snotty about healthy desserts. “You want a healthy dessert? Eat an apple!” But even more urgently, he had a birthday coming up soon. Birthdays equal mega-desserts. I didn’t want to serve my husband a cup of granola for his birthday.

My dearly beloved’s disturbing new edict left me with two options; pout or learn to make some spectacular and healthy desserts.

Healthy desserts it was.

In order to compensate for my lack of buttercream and caramel sauce, I went for big, bright fruit flavors and low carbs to accompany them.

I kicked off my healthy dessert experiment with blueberry frozen yogurt. And guess what? The guys couldn’t tell that it was frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. (Sadly, yes, that is my benchmark of success for a healthy dessert. Does it taste healthy? If so, toss and start over.) The conversation went something like this:

Boys (in unison): “Mom, can I have more blueberry ice cream?”

Me: “It’s frozen yogurt.”

Boys (in unison): “No it isn’t. It’s blueberry ice cream. Can I please have some?”

Me: “Yes, you can have a lot. Because it is frozen yogurt.”

Boys (in unison wearing “I-Know-Better-You-Trickster-You” facial expressions): “OK, can I have another scoop of the blueberry (air quotes) frozen yogurt (more air quotes) right now?”

Husband (hesitating after the first bite with spoon suspended over bowl): “Are you sure this is low calorie? It feels fattening. It tastes like your regular desserts. Should I be eating this?”

Well, score one for me. I guess that maybe this old dog can learn a few new tricks. And I sheepishly admit that perhaps, maybe, I was ever-so-slightly, just-a-wee-bit wrong about healthy desserts. But I reserve my right to bust out a cheesecake, custard or poundcake smothered in buttercream every now and again. On that, I will not bend.

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt is as creamy as ice cream thanks to thick Greek yogurt, but if blueberries aren’t your thing, you can easily substitute with an equal amount of peaches, strawberries or raspberries. If you do, be sure to adjust the flavoring (vanilla, Crème de Cassis, Grand Marnier) to agree with whatever fruit you’ve used.

You have two options; you can strain the blended yogurt base to remove the blueberry seeds for a smooth and creamy frozen yogurt or you can go a little more rustic and leave them intact. Either way, it’s delicious. If you have a one-quart ice cream maker, you can easily halve this recipe.

For a printer-friendly, photo-free version of this recipe minus my tendency to blather, click here!

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

3 cups Greek yogurt (whole or 2 percent)
1-½ cups sugar
6 cups frozen or fresh blueberries
1 Tablespoon Crème de Cassis, Grand Marnier or pure vanilla extract

Add yogurt, sugar and blueberries to your blender and blend until smooth. If you’re using frozen berries, it may take a little coaxing to get them all blended. If it doesn’t “want” to blend, shut off the blender and move the contents around a little with a wooden spoon or spatula. Remove the spoon, replace the lid and blend again.

If a smooth product is desired, pour and force the yogurt base through a stainless steel, fine mesh strainer. It will take a while, so be prepared! I like mine strained because I think frozen blueberry seeds are not so pleasant on the old teeth. If you like a more rustic yogurt with bits of blueberry and seeds throughout, skip the straining. Either way, you need to refrigerate the yogurt base for 2-4 hours prior to freezing.

When you remove the yogurt base from the refrigerator, run a whisk through the mixture quickly to make it easier to pour. (The yogurt base has a tendency to firm up in the refrigerator so that it’s almost a Jell-o like consistency. Running the whisk through it will loosen it up a bit.)

Pour the yogurt base into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. (In my Cuisinart ice cream maker, it took 25 minutes and was ready to serve immediately.) Transfer to a freezer-safe container with a lid. This makes about two quarts.

If you have any yogurt left over, store it tightly packed in the freezer with a piece of plastic wrap laid directly on the surface of the frozen yogurt.

To serve as we did for The Evil Genius’s birthday, lay a warm crepe on a plate. Add a scoop of blueberry frozen yogurt to the bottom left corner of the crepe. Fold the right half of the crepe left over the scoop of yogurt. Fold the top quarter down over the scoop. Top with a sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar or a dollop of blueberry compote or blueberry sauce.

Of course, you can skip all that folderol and pile the scoops on top of a cone. One way or the other, you’re in for a deceptively healthy treat! Obviously Rowan didn’t mind missing out on the crepes…

Filed Under: Desserts, Uncategorized Tagged With: blueberries, dessert, fro-yo, froyo, Frugal Food, homemade frozen yogurt, kid friendly, kids, party food, quick and easy, Vegetarian

Blueberry Butter Tarts with Mascarpone Ice Cream

August 6, 2009 by Rebecca 12 Comments

We have a winner! And I have my power back! Yes. I was without power for nearly two days. With two stinky dogs, sixteen stinky chicks, five stinky chickens, five stinky kids and two marginally less stinky adults, our power came back none too soon. No power translated to no pump for the well, no lights, and *gasp* no computer. We made due by enjoying each other’s company, eeking out our water, making hot dogs on the grill, reading lots of books and playing lots of board games. Not bad, not bad… But I was eager to come back here and announce the winner of the Raspberry Cake Bar Gift Basket that was so kindly offered by our friends at Shelf Reliance/THRIVE. After plugging our comments into the random.org sequencer, we have a winner. Drumroll, please !

(Insert drumroll here.)
Our winner is: Traci! If you’re reading this, Traci, please email me with your mailing address and I’ll forward it on to the nice folks at Shelf Reliance/THRIVE. And may I just suggest that the rest of you check out their website? I highly recommend their freeze-dried pineapple.

It is officially blueberry season around here and I have blueberries coming out of my ears. Almost literally. I border on obsessed with blueberries. I eagerly watch the local papers and bulletin boards at grocery stores for any clues about when blueberry patches open up. I gear up the boys by repeatedly reading Bruce Degen’s “Jamberry”. I tantalize everyone’s tastebuds with talk of blueberry crumbles, cobblers, ice cream, smoothies, muffins, pancakes, waffles, and dumplings. And for The Evil Genius, I keep mentioning blueberry daiquiris. (What? It’s a very manly, evil drink. As evidenced by the fact that he loves them. Hello.)

Last week, while picking up our new baby chicks from the local feed mill, I saw it. IT! The sign saying the blueberry patch was going to open the following Monday; in three days! I drove home at warp speed. (Well, as ‘warp’ as you can get in an ancient purple Ford Windstar.) I counted, washed and prepped my pint jars; grabbed backpacks; located all of our Sigg bottles and miraculously found the necessary caps; popped the cooler into the back of the van; and grabbed the checkbook. It took me three days to do this. Have I mentioned I have five kids? And that they’re human locusts? They eat everything in their path except for the Legos which I’m pretty certain reproduce asexually whenever I’m not looking. But that’s another cup of coffee. Back to the blueberries.

Monday morning, at the crack of 9 a.m. I loaded all the kids into the van. By 10 a.m., I had re-loaded them in the van after feeding them their breakfasts. Whoopsie. I was a little excited to head out there… By 12 p.m., I had them all strapped into their seats. (This had to happen multiple times for some of my children [who shall remain unnamed] who remembered they had to feed the dogs, grab their water bottles from the top of the piano[?], grab a book in case they felt like reading in the patch, and/or ‘go potty’ after being strapped the first time.) And by 1 p.m., we were on our way. After backtracking to drop off an overdue book at the library, we finally made it to the patch at the bright and early hour of 1:45 p.m. The patch was only open until three. By the time we got down the half mile path to the blueberry patch it was 2 o’clock and we knew we had to haul keister.

I have to brag on my kids for just a minute. They are championship blueberry pickers. They have been trained (very loosely speaking) from a very tender age to pick berries and they are good at it. Each of my boys has visited the berry patch from the time they were in strollers or backpacks. When they were tiny, I carried them on my back to the patch and let them ride along while I picked. When they were old enough to eat solids, I’d position their stroller in a shady spot in front of a berry bush and let them pick and eat while I picked for the freezer and jam jars. The eldest three now pick like maniacs. They fill buckets nearly as quickly as I do. I still win because I’m taller and can reach further into the brush. I don’t expect that to last for long, but for now, the bragging rights are still tenuously mine.) We have a couple traditions we observe. The first berry picked when entering the patch is picked with our teeth; straight from the branch. I promise you’ve never had a berry that tastes as good as that first sun-warmed blueberry. And as we leave the patch, we each take and eat one blueberry from the last bush on the way out. I’m not sure how we got started doing either of those things, but they’re as much of a part of our summer as Independence Day, shorts, sprinklers and corn on the cob.

With buckets tied to our waists, we all threw ourselves into the task and picked ‘like the wind’. (That was how Aidan kept exhorting his brothers to work more quickly, “Pick the like the WIND guys! We only have… Wait, Mom? How much longer can we pick?) Rowan, who picks more like a gentle breeze than the wind, managed half a bucket despite his tiny size and three years of age since, unlike most of his brothers, he doesn’t eat his berries as he picks them. Ty observes the inaugural eating-of-the-berry tradition, but that’s as far as he’ll go with the eating. He lost a few when he ‘accidentally’ threw them at the back of Aidan’s head, but he assured me they were the squishy berries and he would “never, EVER throw a good berry!” and still filled his bucket. Aidan and Liam each filled a bucket. Leif might have, but he surely ate ten berries to every one that landed in his pail. I filled two buckets and gathered the troops for our weigh in at the scales. When the final tally was in, we had managed to pick twenty-three pounds in a little under an hour. As we headed back for the trail to get our bounty to the van, the owner told us that he expected it to be a very short season, so we should get all our picking done in the next couple days. We had put a twenty-three pound dent in our usual ninety-pound goal, so we felt pretty good.

Driving home, an involuntary “Booyah!” and fist pump escaped me. Where did THAT come from? My inner super jock? I’m not a ‘booyah’ kind of girl. I’m more of a “Heck, yes!” type. Blueberries move me, I tell you. (And they move Leif in different ways since he eats so many of them. But I digress.)

Blueberries are one of the main foods I preserve. They’re so easy to pick, freeze or make into jam. Having a freezer stocked with blueberries and shelves lined with purple blueberry jam is like having money in the bank.

…And here I interrupt myself again. Having food laid up for the winter is always like having money in the bank. I was really excited to learn earlier this year that one of my good blogging buddies, Natalie from Hot Off the Garlic Press, was tapped to be a spokesperson for Shelf Reliance/THRIVE Foods. This is a company that I can dig. They specialize in food storage, food rotation and emergency preparedness products. If you’ve hung around here at Foodie With Family much, you know this is near and dear to my heart. We live in the middle-of-nowhere and we have sketchy, unreliable vehicles. When the hard winter hits, which it inevitably does, I need to know that I have food to feed my mammoth family for however long we’re socked in by snow. How does this tie in with Shelf-Reliance/THRIVE and Nat? A little while ago, Nat contacted me on behalf of Shelf Reliance/THRIVE and asked if I’d be interested in getting some samples to try out and hosting a giveaway of their products. Food giveaway? Heck, yes! (See? I told you I’m not a booyah girl.) They sent me some goodies; freeze dried pineapple chunks, sweet corn and strawberries, and dried whole eggs. Useful and tasty things, all, but let me tell you about those freeze-dried pineapple chunks. We eat through food quickly at this house, but those pineapple chunks literally disappeared in a split second around the campfire. The boys, The Evil Genius, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and I did our very best locust impersonations as we descended on that poor unsuspecting bag of pineapple chunks and inhaled it. They were amazing. Buy some. (And order extra for me, please!) Oh my goodness, am I off topic now or what? Tune in to the end of the post for more on the giveaway and now back to our regularly schedule blueberry programming.

I went straight to work after I got home. I made two batches of jam, froze* several sheet pans full of blueberries and still had a few cups left over. Blueberry tarts were in order.

*Want to know the absolute best, bar-none, method of freezing blueberries so you can take just what you need from the bag without breaking out your ice pick? First, pick at a place that doesn’t spray their berries. That makes the next step possible. Second, lay the unwashed- YES! UNWASHED!- berries on rimmed metal sheet pans and put them in the freezer. When the berries are frozen solid, quickly transfer them to labeled zipper-top bags. And that’s all there is to it! Since the berries haven’t been sprayed, you don’t have to wash chemicals off of them. And best yet, since you’re stinking them in the freezer, any bugs that might’ve hitched along for the ride will die and fall away from the berries. Because you didn’t wash the berries, they won’t stick together and having frozen individually, they’ll rattle around like delicious little marbles in their zipper-top bags. How much time did you just save between not washing them and not having to pry them apart? You can thank me by sending blueberry muffins.

My favorite blueberry tarts start with a fabulous crust. The recipe for my favorite tart crust ever can be found here. And when I have a blueberry tart, I want to taste fresh blueberries and feel like I’m eating them straight from the field; I want them to pop in my mouth. I cooked down some of the underripe blueberries* with the tiniest bit of lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch and folded that in with the rest of the fresh berries. The end result was a sweet butter tart crust topped with bursting-with-juice blueberries coated with sweet, sticky blueberry syrup. Pure summer bliss. Long sigh.

*Why underripe? Because they have the highest level of naturally occurring pectin in blueberries. It’s an old jam-maker’s trick. Toss a handful of underripe berries in with your jam and you end up with a firmer setting, thicker jam.

You might think that would be fabulous enough, right? No way! Gild that lily, baby. I topped it with Mascarpone Ice Cream. Mascarpone Ice Cream is only four ingredients blended together and frozen in an ice cream maker; Mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, heavy cream and dulce de leche. Did I really do that? Yes. Yes, I did. And I don’t regret it even though my thighs may long pay the price for the glorious amount of calories I consumed in the process. The dulce de leche is a background player in the ice cream lending sweetness and just a hint of caramel to the creamy mascarpone base. When I tell you this is the richest, most decadent ice cream I’ve ever made will you please believe me? On second thought, don’t believe me. Make it yourself. If velvet were edible, delicious and could be made into ice cream, this is what it would be. When you throw a scoop of this on top of the Blueberry Butter Tarts you will think you’ve died and gone to heaven. This dessert is officially on my list of items I would eat for my last earthly meal.

A note about the Mascarpone Ice Cream. This stuff freezes up harder than a brick. Unlike most ice creams, this is one you want to serve relatively quickly after churning. You can store it well in the freezer, but you’ll have to plan to have it soften up on the counter for between fifteen minutes to a half hour, depending on the temperature of your room, before serving.

For a photo-free, printer friendly version of this recipe, click here!

Blueberry Butter Tarts with Mascarpone Ice Cream

Ingredients for the tarts:

8 individual sized fully-cooked butter tart shells or 1- 9″ fully baked butter tart shell (click here for the recipe!) You may recognize this crust as being the same one used in the Grapefruit Tarts and the Chocolate Truffle Tarts

4 cups of blueberries, washed and picked over

1/2 cup of water plus 2 Tablespoons of water, divided

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup (or more, to taste) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

To make the tarts:

Combine 2 Tablespoons of water with the 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch with a fork or small whisk in a measuring cup. Set aside.

Put the berries into a large mixing bowl. Measure out 1 cup of the berries, including as many of the underripe ones as you can find, into a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat.

Add 1/2 cup of the water to the berries in the pan, cover.

When the berries and water reach a boil, remove the lid, lower the heat and simmer, stirring constantly, until most of the berries have burst and the liquid has begun to thicken, about 4 minutes. While stirring constantly, add the cornstarch mixture, the sugar and the lemon juice to the pan. Simmer until the juices become thick and translucent, about 1 minute.

Remove from the heat and pour over the remaining berries in the bowl.

Toss gently to coat thoroughly. Spoon the blueberry mixture into the tart shells.

Look at how gorgeous the blueberries look. Glistening, juicy, sweet, and vibrant; they’re so inviting. Actually, they’re inviting me to plunge my face into this tart.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap or a cake dome and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or more prior to eating. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Store uneaten tarts at room temperature for up to two days.

While the tarts are resting, you can make your ice cream…

Ingredients for the ice cream:

12 ounces fresh mascarpone

8 ounces cream cheese

2 cups plus 1/2 cup heavy cream, divided

2/3 cup dulce de leche

To make the ice cream:

Add all ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth. (Alternately, you can whisk them in a stand mixer or use a hand-blender to combine the ingredients until smooth.) Freeze according to the directions for your ice cream maker. This is best served freshly churned. If you need to freeze it for later use, allow to soften on the countertop for between fifteen minutes and a half hour prior to serving.

And because good enough is never great enough, throw that Mascarpone Ice Cream on top of your Blueberry Butter Tarts. Throw a bunch of it on top. I did. Ask my girth. Since it’s growing big enough to speak for itself…

Hey! I didn’t forget about the giveaway. Those neat folks over at Shelf Reliance/THRIVE Foods have kindly offered to give away a gift basket full of tasty and practical things to one of my readers. This Raspberry Cake Bar Gift Basket is stinkin’ adorable.

The contents of this basket? Oh my word. Listen to how they describe it on their site:

Now you can easily give your friends and loved ones the gift of great-tasting THRIVE with our Raspberry Bars Gift Basket. This tasty gift comes with all the THIVE ingredients you’ll need to make mouth-watering raspberry bars. Make someone happy today by sharing the joy of THRIVE Food Storage!

Each Raspberry Gift Basket includes:

1 Pouch of THRIVE White Sugar
1 Pouch of THRIVE Butter Powder
1 Pouch of THRIVE Whole Eggs
1 Pouch of THRIVE White Flour
1 Pouch of THRIVE Freeze Dried Raspberries
1 Raspberry Bars Recipe Card
1 Sturdy Mixing Bowl
1 Wooden Mixing Spoon

Adorable AND practical AND delicious. And they want to give it to you! Thanks for watching out for my peeps, THRIVE.

All you have to do to be entered in the contest is leave a comment below telling me what you’d do with this gift basket. Keep it for yourself? Give it to some newlyweds or your Grandma? What would you do? The suspense is killing me!

For an extra entry, sign up for the Shelf Reliance newsletter and leave a comment saying you did. The winner will be announced here by next Monday, August 10th.

Filed Under: Desserts, Food Preservation, Kitchen Techniques and Hints, Rebecca, Recipes Tagged With: berry picking, blueberries, Food Preservation, food storage, last meal foods

Blueberry Cobbler

October 22, 2008 by Valerie 2 Comments

I meant to post this a while ago, but life got in the way. I’m getting ready to repeat this particular dessert in a couple of days with some frozen berries, and remembered that I had never gotten around to sharing this with you all. So here ’tis!

A few weeks ago, Jim picked what appeared to be the last of the berries in the patches near us at camp. He ended up with a good couple of cups of black raspberries and a handful of wild blueberries.

(Aren’t they purty?)

We ate a few of them as is, but the rest went into a very simple berry cobbler, taken from Jane Brody’s Good Food Book, which I purchased several years ago. It could not be simpler to make, and is fairly quick to whip together for a quick dessert or treat to share with unexpected guests. I usually make it with frozen blueberries or with a frozen triple berry mix (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries are the favorites). It’s especially good served warm with a small scoop (or two!) of vanilla ice cream on the side. (I know, I keep putting the ice cream in there…)

Blueberry Cobbler

From Jane Brody’s Good Food Book

2/3 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

2/3 c. skim milk (I use whatever is on hand)

2 T. butter, melted

2 c. blueberries (I use fresh or frozen)

1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the milk, and mix the batter until it is smooth.

2. Pour the melted butter or margarine into a 1 or 1 1/2 qt. casserole type baking dish. Pour in the batter, and sprinkle the blueberries on top.

3. Bake the cobbler in a preheated 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until it is lightly browned. Spoon out the cobbler onto individual dishes to serve.

Some of my tweaks: VANILLA!! I always add vanilla to this–it tastes fine without it, but I find I miss the vanilla flavor if I don’t put it in. Also, I put my baking dish into the oven while it is preheating, and let the butter melt right in it–saves cleaning a pan, and gets the cobbler off to a good start in it’s baking–we like the brown crispy edge it gets when prepared this way. And of course, I add a good 1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg to the batter–great flavor partner to be the berries. Grated lemon rind makes a nice touch if you have one on hand–just whisk it right into the batter.

Filed Under: Desserts, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: blueberries, dessert, Valerie

Val’s Berry Cinnamon Rolls

September 16, 2008 by Valerie 9 Comments

We have had an exceptional summer for wild berries up here. The upper peninsula has had several years of drought in a row, affecting both wild and domestic berry growth. But this past year brought lots of snow with plenty of rain following. Bumper crops of wild berries all around us, near our home and in several places at the camp where we work. Wild blueberries were especially abundant, and for wild berries, they were unusually large:

Earlier in the season we were able to harvest a good supply of red raspberries and now, at the end of the summer, we’ve been able to collect good amounts of black raspberries. But we are near the end of it all, and Jim went out a couple of mornings ago and picked what may be the last of the season for us, mostly black raspberries with a handful of blueberries.

It took me a little while to figure out what I wanted to do with these; I knew I wanted to bake something, I just wasn’t sure on what I should settle. Scanning my shelves, my eyes lit upon a large bottle of ground cinnamon, and I KNEW!! Cinnamon biscuit pinwheels with the berries rolled up with the cinnamon sugar inside the tender biscuit dough–we have a winner!

My mother used to make this version of cinnamon rolls (without the berries) as a semi-regular breakfast roll. She used a plain shortening-based biscuit dough, and left them plain once baked. Plain was very good–waking up to the smell of cinnamon wafting down the hall from the kitchen, eating them warm from the oven early on a cool morning, there was nothing better. It was definitely a tradition I carried away with me. But I made a few changes to the recipe over the years.

First, with the concern about trans fats (and also because I really, really like it) I switched to butter, replacing the 1/3 c. shortening with 1/2 c. butter. I added sugar to the dough (I know, adding insult to injury, but hang on, it gets worse); eventually a teaspoon of vanilla joined the milk added to the dough, and as the final over-the-top move: Maple butter frosting. Yep, pretty deadly, these rolls.

And the berries? Well, one apartment I lived in during my early adult years had a kind of woodsey wilderness behind the building where I would go for walks now and then, and I stumbled across a huge thicket of blackberry bushes in full fruit–these things were huge, nearly the size of my thumb. I ate some, gathered some, froze as many as would fit into my little apartment-sized refrigerator, made a few jars of jam and preserves, and when I came to the last cup or so, decided to toss them into the cinnamon rolls I was about to bake to share with some friends. Well, it was amazing. The tartness of the berries against the richness of the dough, cinnamon sugar and that maple glaze melting into the warm rolls–indescribable. So I still use berries with this recipe when they are available. Fresh are best, frozen berries do tend to add a little too much water to the recipe, but are usable–you may just have to bake the rolls a little bit longer. Ready to begin?

Rich Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls with Berries and Maple Butter Frosting

1/2 c. granulated sugar, divided

1 T. cinnamon

3/4 c. cool room temperature butter, divided (1 and 1/2 sticks)

2 c. all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 c. milk (a little more may be needed)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

3 Tablespoons butter

1 cup confectioner sugar

1/4 c. real maple syrup

Milk, if needed

Preheat oven to 400F. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan, set aside. Melt 1/4 c. butter in a small saucepan, set aside. Combine 1/4 c. of the sugar with the cinnamon, also set aside.

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and the remaining 1/4 c. sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut in remaining 1/2 c. butter (1 stick), until mixture is crumbly in texture. Combine vanilla with milk. Make a well in the middle of the flour/butter mixture, and add milk all at once, lightly stirring dough with a large fork till it begins to come together around the fork. If it seems too dry, drizzle over a bit more milk and lightly toss–it is important that the dough be moist. Here is what it should look like before you knead it:

(Hmmm… it should look moist like that, but it is really not that yellow–so much for auto contrast in fixing the picture! Anyway, I hope you get the idea.)

Back to the recipe–Scrape the very sticky dough out onto a very well floured board or counter, toss the dough in the flour till all sides are covered, and lightly knead five or six times. Checking to make sure there is still plenty of flour on the board, pat or carefully roll out the dough to oa 9×12 rectangle.

Brush with melted butter, using all the butter, please! Evenly sprinkle top with the cinnamon sugar mixture, then top that with the berries you have selected, gently but firmly pressing the berries into the dough (it helps prevent escape!)

Beginning at the long edge, and with the help of a bench scraper (needed because this is a very tender dough), begin rolling the dough up, pinching the dough together as it cracks and breaks (and it will) and when the roll is nearly complete, finish by bringing the dough up from the other side so you can pinch the seam together more easily. It should look like this when you are through:

With a very sharp or good serrated knife, cut the roll into 12 even pieces. Some berries may fall out, but they can be easily put back into the rolls. Place the rolls, cut side up, in the cake pan–it will be a VERY snug fit. 9 rolls on the outside, and 3 in the center seems to work best, and you really do have to tuck them in tightly against each other, like this:

Place pan in the oven and bake rolls for 15 to 20 minutes. Check them at 15, and if the center rolls are still doughy, leave in a little longer. Here is the baked version:

They should just be browning; you don’t want them to get to dark or they will not be as moist as they need to be. Let them sit for about 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate or cutting board, using that to get them right side up again onto a serving plate or board. While they are cooling, make the frosting: Cream the 3 tablespoons of butter till smooth, add confectioner sugar and maple syrup, stirring all together until smooth. It should be thick, soft but not runny. If it seems too thick, add a few drops of milk to lighten it. Drop the frosting in blobs over the warm rolls once they are on the serving platter.

Once it has softened a bit, spread the frosting evenly over the rolls, letting it run a bit over the sides; it will melt down into the rolls as well, and you will see the berries poking through here and there.

Let it cool just a few more minutes, and then serve! Wonderful with coffee or tea, and definitely not just for breakfast–also makes a lovely dessert!

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Bread, Breakfast Foods, Desserts, Valerie Tagged With: biscuits, blueberries, Breakfast, cinnamon, raspberries

Cornmeal Blueberry Muffin Souffle

September 10, 2008 by Valerie 7 Comments

Well, remember those blueberry cornmeal muffins from my earlier post last week? The last time I made those, I made a LOT. More than our guests could decently eat in the time they were with us, and more than we could handle all on our lonesome. My freezer would not allow any more foodstuffs to be stored, most of the nooks and crannies being filled in with quart-sized bags of blueberries and black raspberries that my husband so nicely picked for our later enjoyment. And they were beginning to get a little dry–even a few seconds in the microwave did not perk them up very much. But my inner frugalista could not bear the thought of introducing them to the local compost pile. SO, what could I do with them?

One of the things we really enjoy is a good bread pudding, and that is the first thing that came to mind, but muffins are quite different from the yeast breads we normally use for this purpose. But, since no other ideas came to mind, I thought it was definitely worth the risk. With the help of some milk, a few eggs, a little sugar and spice, the muffins were transformed from slightly dry bits of breadstuffs to a beautifully light, souffle-like custardy dessert which, when topped with a simple blueberry syrup, made a great ending to an otherwise simple meal. I highly recommend making extra muffins just for this purpose! And I’m thinking some other muffins might work just as well (those bran apple muffins come to mind…).

Cornmeal Blueberry Muffin Souffle

6 standard-sized cornmeal blueberry muffins

4 eggs

1/3 c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

Pinch of salt

2 1/2 c. milk

1 t. vanilla extract

Preheat over to 325 F. Break muffins into large chunks in a buttered 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Whisk eggs thoroughly, add sugar, spices and salt, and whisk again to incorporate. Stir in milk and vanilla, mix till completely combined. Pour over muffins, and let the mixture sit for a few minutes to give the muffins time to absorb some of the egg mixture. Push down any floating pieces to make sure all sides have been exposed to the custard. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a clean knife inserted near the middle comes out mostly clean. Let cool a bit before serving, or chill until ready to serve. (We liked it best served slightly warm.) Serve with Simple Blueberry Sauce.

Simple Blueberry Sauce

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/3 cup sugar

grated rind of one lime

juice from one lime

dash salt

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Place berries, sugar, lime rind, lime juice and salt in a small saucepan, and heat until the mixture boils and berries begin to burst. Lightly crush some of the berries, boil for one minute, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. May be served warm or cold, and any leftover should be refrigerated. Great with ice cream, pound cake, angel food cake, pancakes, etc.

Normally, I’ve used lemon with any blueberry sauces I’ve made, but all I had at hand at the time was a lime, and we loved it! Gives a nice twist to the dessert.

Filed Under: Desserts, Getting Creative With Leftovers, Recipes, Valerie Tagged With: blueberries, Cornmeal, leftovers

Slow-cooker Vanilla Bean Tapioca

September 8, 2008 by Rebecca 2 Comments

In today’s Record-Eagle column, I ran a recipe for Slow-Cooker Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding. (I’ll link to the full column when I’m back from vacation, but in the meantime the recipe is posted below.)

Slow-Cooker Vanilla Bean Tapioca

This pudding takes the perennial favorite tapioca pudding and dresses it up. Served warm, it’ll heat you up from the inside out on chilly fall days. Using a real vanilla bean gives the pudding a sumptuous velvet-like texture and flavor. If you don’t have access to vanilla beans, I weep for you, but you can still make a delicious version of the recipe by substituting for the beans with 2 teaspoons of real vanilla extract.

Ingredients:

¼ cup fine pearl tapioca (not granulated)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ of one vanilla bean
2 cups milk**
2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk, beaten in a medium bowl
non-stick cooking spray or butter for greasing the slow-cooker

**Low fat milk works fine in this, but it’s silkier and richer if you use whole milk or a combination of whole milk and half&half or even GLORY, GLORY heavy cream.

Method:

Heat milk in a microwave safe container until very hot. Spray slow cooker crock with nonstick cooking spray or butter generously. Split vanilla bean lengthwise and use the blunt spine of the knife to scrape the ‘seeds’ from the bean pod. Add the vanilla bean and ‘seeds’ into the crock along with the tapioca, sugar, and milk. Stir well, put cover on the slow cooker and cook for 1 1/2 hours on low, or until tapioca is soft.

Use a spoon to carefully break up any clumps that have formed in the crock. Slowly pour a ladle of the hot tapioca mixture into the eggs while beating vigorously with a wire whisk. When it is fully incorporated, pour the mixture slowly back into the crock while whisking. Recover and continue cooking on low for 30 minutes more. When the time is up, vent the lid, turn the heat off, and allow to sit for 30 minutes more. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled. If you choose to chill the pudding, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface before refrigerating.

If you want to make this pudding something pretty enough for a special occasion or dinner guests just dollop some of the warm pudding in the bottom of a wine glass. Top with a layer of blueberries equal in height to the layer of pudding and continue on until you reach the top of your glass.

The pudding is great alone, but when you layer it with fresh blueberries in parfait form? Spectacular. If you have a sprig of mint the top of this parfait is where it belongs. If you don’t have mint, don’t sweat it. No one will care when they’re eating this!

Can you see all those little flecks of vanilla in the pudding? This is one of my new favorite week-night desserts. It’s so easy to make and the vanilla is so silky.

Filed Under: Desserts, Rebecca, slow-cooker Tagged With: blueberries, pudding, tapioca, vanilla bean