Blueberry Pie

This year, the blueberries were the first plant to produce fruit in our garden. It started with one delicious handful a day, then quickly turned into bowls full of fruit every other day. We ate them plain, on yogurt, made jam, and made this blueberry pie for dessert. Blueberry pie is one of my all time favorite desserts, and this one is packed with juicy homegrown blueberries and a sweet crispy crumb topping.

The filling is simple, with very little added to the fruit so the blueberries really shine. The crumb gives a little bit of sweet crunch, and looks extra pretty with blueberry juice oozing through the top. A slice of pie after dinner on the patio is my idea of the perfect ending to a summer day.

Blueberry Crumble Pie

adapted from Epicurus 
  
One single pie crust. I use America's Test Kitchen fool proof pie crust.

Filling :

2/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

5 cups (1 pound 10 ounces) fresh blueberries

Topping

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly

Use a 9"–9 1/2"-diameter glass or metal pie dish. You will need pie weights or dried beans to bake the crust.

preparation

Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 13" round. Transfer to pie dish, gently pressing dough onto bottom and up sides of dish. Fold overhang under and crimp edges decoratively. Pierce bottom of crust in several places with a fork, then chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Line a large baking sheet with foil and place on a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 375°F. Line crust with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove parchment and pie weights. Bake until crust is pale golden, about 12 minutes longer. Transfer crust to a wire rack; let cool.

Filling:

Whisk 2/3 cup sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add blueberries and lemon juice; toss gently to coat and evenly distribute. Let filling stand, tossing occasionally, until berries release their juices, 20-30 minutes.**

 Topping:

Whisk flour, remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Add melted butter; mix topping with fingertips to blend.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375°. Spoon blueberry filling into crust, then sprinkle topping over. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and topping is golden, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cover with foil after 30 minutes if browning too fast.

**Use cook pie crust and frozen blueberries by weight. If using frozen blueberries precook filling on stove top until filling comes to a boil.

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Link:Foodie Friday

Double Blueberry Tart

Nothing says summer more than the abundance of fresh fruit available in Southern California. We are spoiled with piles of fragrant strawberries, perfectly ripe peaches, and dark sweet cherries, to name a few. When you can get several baskets of fresh blueberries for just a few dollars, you have the chance to try some new recipes- if you can stay away from the old favorites!

 

This double blueberry tart is one of our family favorites. Everyone loves the fresh blueberry flavor, and I love that it is one of the fastest desserts to put together. It travels well and is perfect for a BBQ or a picnic at the beach during the long summer evenings.

 This tart only has a few simple ingredients and comes together quickly. The filling gets thick and sweet, and is excellent stirred into some Greek yogurt in the morning, and spooned over some ice cream after an afternoon of swimming. The recipe comes from The Best of Sunset published 1987, and I have been making it every summer since then!

Double Blueberry Tart
adapted from The Best of Sunset (1987)

6 cups blueberries
9 tablespoons sugar- you can use a bit less if the berries are super sweet
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1  tart crust
Slightly sweetened whipped cram

1. Combine 4 1/2 cups of blueberries, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring often until the berries are as thick as soft jam, 12-15 minutes. Let cool. When filling has cooled, pour into a fully baked tart crust, spreading evenly over the crust. Top with remaining fresh blueberries to completely cover the surface.
Serve topped with whipped cream.

Sweet Tart Dough
via Baking: from my home to yours

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
9 tablespoons butter
1 beaten egg yolk

Combine flour, sugar, salt and butter in the bowl of a food processor, pulse until mixture is crumbly. Add the egg yolk and process until dough just comes together. Turn the dough out on your work surface and lightly knead until all the dough comes together. Gently press dough into a 9 inch tart pan. Freeze for 30 minutes. Press a lightly buttered sheet of foil against the crust (the freezing eliminates the need for weighs).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 5-8 minutes until golden brown.

Blueberry Panna Cotta

We have been pretty busy the last couple of weeks getting Mini Me ready to go off to college. We did take time to have a little BBQ with our friends Mr. and Mrs. A. and to enjoy the lingering summer weather. This panna cotta was a great make ahead dessert, and since Mr. and Mrs. A try to follow a sugar free diet, it was easy to make one that they could enjoy. Everyone loved the silky smooth and creamy dessert and it was the perfect ending to a beautiful outdoor meal celebrating the end of summer.

For a dessert made entirely from heavy cream, this was not at all heavy. It had a wonderful lightness that was perfect alongside the sweet berries. We made them in small ramekins, and it was the perfect individual portion.

Panna Cotta

via David Lebovitz

4 cups (1l) heavy cream (or half-and-half)
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water

1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
2. Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.
3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them chill at least four hours.
* This was a fairly firm panna cotta and I would reduce the gelatin to 3-1/2 teaspoons next time

Blueberry Sauce:

Juice the orange in to a small sauce pan. Over medium, bring to a boil and reduce by 1/3 volume  Add one and a half cups fresh or frozen blueberries, boil until thick. Taste and sweeten as desired. We also added a splash of Grand Marnier after we took it off the heat. Chill before serving.

You could do this with any number of fruit/flavor combinations throughout the year, depending on the season. The leftover sauce is a good ice cream topper, and is great mixed in yogurt for an easy and delicious breakfast treat.

Sugar Free Panna Cotta


1 cups heavy cream
3 cup half-and-half or milk
1/2 cup splenda
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water
Flavor with zest of an orange


1. Heat the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan or microwave. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. (If using organge zest add it to the cream (or vanilla bean, scrape the seeds from the bean into the cream and add the bean pod.) Cover, and let infuse for 30 minutes remove bean pod if using. Rewarm the mixture before continuing.
2. Lightly oil eight custard cups with a neutral-tasting oil.
3. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Pour the very warm Panna Cotta mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
5. Divide the Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups, then chill them until firm, which will take at least two hours but I let them chill at least four hours.

Links: Foodie Fridays at Designs by Gollum
          Fresh, Clean and Pure Friday at La Bella Vita

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

It's citrus season in California. My trees are full of ripe grapefruits, tangerines, limes and oranges. Alas my new little lemon tree is fruitless, but there are plenty of lemons to be had from friends and neighbors.

 My oldest daughter, Mimi Jr., made this lemon buttermilk cake for me this week. She is turning into a very fine baker. Mimi J found the basic recipe  in an old issue of Bon Appetit magazine (February 2005). As this delicate lemon  cake bakes  a  lemon curd  sauce forms on the bottom of the baking dish. The cake is so velvety smooth it melts in your mouth. The lemon sauce has just the right tang, to balance the sweetness of the cake and the blueberries are the perfect finishing touch.  This cake is like sunshine in a dish and  will surely make your winter  a little warmer.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

adapted from Bon Appetit

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup sugar divided

4 large egg yolks

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 large egg whites.

Fresh berries

Whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. butter an 8x8x2 inch glass baking dish. Blend buttermilk, 1/2 cup sugar egg yolks lemon juice, flour, butter and salt in blender until smooth.

Using an electric mixer beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Gradually add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.  Gently fold the buttermilk mixture into white in 3 additions, batter will be runny.

Pour batter into prepared dish.  Place dish in a roasting pan. Pour enough not water into roasting pan to come half way up the sides of dish.  Bake until entire top is evenly browned and cake moves very slightly in center but feels slightly springy to touch, about 45 minutes.  Remove dish from roasting pan, place dish on cooling rack and cool cake completely. Refrigerate 3-6 hours, until cold. Serve with fresh berries and lightly whipped cream.

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Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

It's almost the end of the local blueberry season. Since my last lemon blueberry cake was such a hit, I wanted to try another lemon blueberry cake before the blueberries are gone from the markets.

While visiting over at Dragon’s Kitchen http://dragonskitchen.blogspot.com/ I ran across this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Cake. It was so completely different from my previous lemon blueberry cake that I decided to give it a try.

This cake disappeared almost as fast as the last one. I am lucky this time; they saved me a piece to photograph the next morning.

The cake was delicious, it had great texture but was a little lite on the lemon flavor, so next time I would increase the lemon juice and zest. Also I would add the blueberries after the cake is in the pan, scattering them over the cake batter hoping they won't all congregate on the bottom of the pan.

Lemon Blueberry Cake

Recipe by Dragon

Ingredients:
2 ¾ cup of flour
1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of baking soda
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¾ cup of sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 cup of buttermilk
½ cup sour cream
1 ½ cups of blueberries tossed in 1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 blueberries for garnish

Glaze:

1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
4 teaspoons of lemon juice
3 teaspoons of limoncello (or replace this with 3 teaspoons of lemon juice)
1 tablespoon of maple syrup (or corn syrup)
Lemon zest for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 12 inch bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add sugar and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Add sour cream, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and beat until combined.
4. Beat in flour in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat for 2 minutes on medium-high. Fold in blueberries. Spoon into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 350 for 50 – 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan. Turn out and cool completely.
6. For the glaze, in a small bowl, mix together confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, limoncello and syrup until smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cake and let it roll down the sides.
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Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake

Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Why an empty cake plate you ask?

Well, there has been an abundance of blueberries in our area, so I searched the web for a lemon blueberry cake and found this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake on Monica's blog, Lick the Bowl Good. It's a beautiful three layer cake, with homemade blueberry jam as the filling and a light lemon buttercream frosting. I made a few minor modifications to the original Sky High recipe, my tasters (the kids) thought the buttercream tasted too much like butter, so I added 1/2 cup powdered sugar and that seemed to please them. Also, as per Monica, I omitted the ginger and added lemon zest. My version of the recipe is below. The cake was so good that by the time I went to photograph it, all I had was an empty cake plate. It truly was an excellent cake. So, if you want to see pictures of what this beautiful cake looks like, drop by Lick The Bowl Good and while your there you'll see an awesome blog get more great recipes.

Lemon Blueberry Marble Cake

adapted from Sky High

Cake
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp lemon extract
7 egg whites
3 cups cake flour
4 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1¼ cups milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter the bottom and sides of three 8 inch round cake pans(I used 9 inch pans). Line the bottom of each pan with a round of parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

1. In a mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon extract until light and fluffy. Gradually add the egg whites 2 or 3 at a time, beating well between additions and stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk gently to blend. In 2 or 3 alternating additions, beat the dry ingredients and milk into the butter mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl several times. Beat on medium-high speed for about 1 minute to smooth out any lumps and aerate the batter.

3. Scoop 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl. Divide the remaining equally among the 3 prepared pans, smoothing the tops with a spatula. This gives you a smooth surface to work with.

4. Add 2½ tbsp of the lemon blueberry jam to the reserved batter and blend well. Drizzle heaping teaspoons of this blueberry mixture over the batter in the pans. Use a skewer to swirl the blueberry mixture in short strokes to drag it down through the lemon batter without mixing it in.

5. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer stuck in the center comes out clean and the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Let the layers cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to cool completely.

Blueberry Lemon Jam

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
¾ cup sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1½ tsp grated lemon zest

1. Puree the blueberries with any juices that have exuded in a blender. Pass the puree through a coarse strainer to remove the skins.

2. In a heavy medium saucepan, combine the blueberry puree with the sugar, lemon juice, and zest .

3.Bring to a gentle boil over a medium heat, stirring often for 20 minutes, or until the preserves have thickened and are reduced to 1 cup.

To check the proper thickness place a small amount of a saucer and put in the freezer until cold. Drag your finger through it. If a clear path is made through the preserve then it is ready. Let the preserves cool before using. (Can be made up to 5 days in advance).

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 eggs
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1/2 cup powdered sugar


1. In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat.

2. In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; be careful to avoid hitting the beaters or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15-20 minutes.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating well between additions. As you’re adding the last few tablespoons of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter.
Beat in the lemon juice, zest and powdered sugar, the frosting is ready to use.


Assembly: To assemble the cake, place a layer, flat side up, on a cake stand. Spread half of the lemon blueberry jam over the top. Place a second layer on top of the first and spread the remaining jam over it. Finally place the third layer on top and frost the top and sides with the lemon buttercream. Decorate with fresh blueberries and serve.