Showing posts with label Blueberries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blueberries. Show all posts

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Blueberry Buttermilk Scones . . .


I can hardly believe that the new school year begins in just over two weeks. My younger son, the 14 year old, prefers that I refrain from even bringing up this topic. Whenever I happen to do so, he glares at me as if I've just suggested it might be fun to tour a maximum security prison.



He's going to be in the 9th grade, just entering high school, and the scuttlebutt he's heard regarding the increased homework load has him a little less than enthusiastic about the whole scenario. I suppose it's fear of the unknown that's driving his mood, and you know what they say  about that--our imagined fears are almost always far, far worse than any reality.  Luckily, he's a highly capable, intelligent kid and I know he'll be just fine but, in light of his frame of mind, I've decided to try and lay off the school-related comments for now. We'll let the illusion of endless summer continue on the home-front for a few more days. I figure it can't hurt.



So, in that spirit, and probably up until summer's officially packed it in, I'm going to keep on baking summery foods, like today's blueberry buttermilk scones. These are tender and mellow, just like a lazy summer afternoon.



Blueberry Buttermilk Scones

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)


2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 and 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt (if using kosher salt, add in a pinch extra)
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into chunks
1 egg, large
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. lemon extract
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (I used frozen Maine blueberries; they're small and sweet)

3 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter, for brushing on the scones
3 Tbsp. coarse/sanding sugar, for sprinkling

In a small bowl, stir together the buttermilk, whipping cream, and lemon juice.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In the large bowl of a food processor, blend the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda by pulsing quickly a few times. Add in the butter chunks, and pulse to form a coarse textured mixture. (Or, if you prefer not to use a food processor, do these two steps by hand, cutting in the butter with a pastry blender.) Dump all of this into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Into the well add the egg, the extracts, and the buttermilk mixture. Stir to make a soft dough. Fold in the blueberries and stir just to combine.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough gently a few times, incorporating more flour as needed until the dough is firm and no longer sticky.

Pat the dough out into a circle that's 1" thick all over. Using a pastry wheel or sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 to 12 wedges, like a pie. Place the pieces on the parchment covered baking sheet. Brush melted butter over the top of each piece and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake the scones for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Definitely best the first day, when they're very fresh. 


Recipe full disclosure! This recipe was adapted from one in Marcy Goldman's book, A Passion for Baking (2007, Oxmoor House). Her original recipe is for a blackberry-blueberry scone made largely with heavy cream, and topped with a honey and butter glaze. I changed the formula by using only blueberries, by reducing the amount of heavy cream and adding in buttermilk instead, by adjusting the extracts used, and by omitting the honey-butter glaze and opting for melted butter and coarse sugar on the top of the scones.

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Friday, April 23, 2010

All Happiness Depends on Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake . . .

"All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." -- John Gunther

What befits an unhurried breakfast on a sunny spring morning more perfectly than a slice of fresh homemade coffeecake? A relaxed breakfast can be just the gentle launching pad one longs for at the start of such a day.  

Best enjoyed in a quiet cozy nook with someone you love, or lounging alone in the most pleasant corner of your own backyard, this is the kind of meal that leads you to appreciate morning's finest attributes.

"Full many a glorious morning have I seen." -- William Shakespeare, Sonnet XXXIII

Adapted from Margaret Fox and John B. Bear's book, Morning Food, this recipe isn't complicated, but it does take time to assemble. By necessity, I made a few minor changes to the original formula, though nothing that radically altered the intended character of the finished product.

Instead of using yogurt, I subbed in sour cream with a little milk; instead of using apple juice in the mixture with the berries, I used strained orange juice with a smidgen of added sugar. I also omitted lemon zest from the batter, because I didn't want a strong citrus factor. And, as usual, I reworded the instructions here and there.

The resulting coffee cake was pretty darn delicious, I must say. Not too sweet, not too cream cheesy. And the thin, crunchy almonds in the topping? Well, let's just say "yum" and leave it at that.

Oh, yes--one more thing I must divulge. You know the kind of recipe that, once completed, impels you to express deep and abiding love for your high-capacity dishwasher? Well, I won't lie to you, this is one of those. Mmm hmm, it's a bit of a dirty-dish factory.

That, however, is not sufficient reason to avoid making this treat. Often, the end justifies the messy means, and that's more than true in this case. So, go get yourself some blueberries--fresh or frozen will do--and pull out your springform pan. And have yourself a lovely breakfast.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour, or spray with baking spray, a 9" springform pan.

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I used frozen Maine blueberries; they're tiny and very sweet.)
1/4 cup orange juice, strained to remove pulp
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. water
2 and 1/4 cups All-Purpose flour (I used unbleached)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt (I actually used slightly more than this, but less than 1/2 tsp.)
3/4 cup sour cream (I used regular)
3 Tbsp. milk (I used 2 percent)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg, beaten
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup sliced almonds

In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring to a boil the berries, orange juice, and 2 Tbsp. sugar. Over very low heat, simmer for 3 minutes, stirring periodically.


Combine the cornstarch and water in a little bowl. Add 2 Tbsp. of the blueberry mixture into the bowl and stir, then pour this back into the saucepan. Continue to simmer and stir for about 1 minute, until the mixture is reduced to about 3/4 cup; set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, place the 3/4 cup of sugar and the flour; pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add in the cold butter chunks, and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.

Separate out 1 cup of this mixture and set it aside in a small bowl; this will be used later for the topping.
Dump the rest of the flour mixture from the food processor bowl into a large mixing bowl. Into this, stir the baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In another small bowl, by hand, mix together the sour cream, milk, the beaten egg, and vanilla. Pour this  into the flour mixture in the large bowl, and stir to combine. The batter will be quite thick.


Using a small offset spatula, spread the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan and then up the sides about 1/2 an inch or so; you want to create a shallow well.

Pulse the cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, egg, and lemon juice in the food processor until smooth. Spread this on top of the batter to within about 1/4 inch of the sides.
Now pour all of the blueberry sauce on top of the cream cheese mixture. Use the spatula to spread it around; it needn't reach too close to the sides of the pan.

Into the bowl with the reserved flour mixture, add the sliced almonds and toss them around to combine. Sprinkle this all over the blueberry sauce and the exposed batter edge; the top should be completely covered.

Set the springform pan on top of a sheet pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the filling seems set, and the cake is topping is light golden. Cool the cake in its pan, on a rack, for 10 minutes.

Remove the sides of the pan and let the cake cool the rest of the way on the rack. When it's cool enough, slide it off the bottom of the springform pan onto a serving dish.

"To him whose elastic and vigorous thought keeps pace with the sun, the day is a perpetual morning."  -- Henry David Thoreau



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Friday, March 12, 2010

Joyously Jumbo Blueberry Muffins!

There's something unusually fun about making enormous muffins. I don't know what it is, exactly, but the very lack of delicacy is curiously liberating. They're a hoot to prepare, and a real hoot to serve.

The day I made these, I had to pick up my older son from school to take him to a doctor's appointment, and I waited in the parking lot for him to emerge. The sun was shining that afternoon, and a beam of warm light was pouring directly into the car window on the passenger side, right onto the seat he would soon occupy. Since I'd brought one of the surprisingly endowed muffins for him to munch en route to the appointment, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to set that hefty creation right in the beam of sunlight.

So, there it sat--a majestic specimen, sugar crystals twinkling up at him the moment he opened the door. His reaction was perfect. You'd have thought the Hope diamond was ensconced on that white paper napkin instead of a simple baked good. His expression was one of complete astonishment not only at the yumminess before him, but amazement at the muffin's girth. His eyes opened wide in disbelief. Pretty funny. No one can appreciate a gigantic blueberry muffin, at the end of a long school day, like a hungry teenage boy. Bless his heart.

Okay, so they're big.

Anyway, I know they're huge. I don't want you to think I'm advocating that anyone wolf down a whole one of these babies as if it were a normal-sized serving. It's really the equivalent of two muffins in one--let's be clear about that. I don't want anyone getting a belly-ache because they didn't know when to say when. Can't have that on my conscience. We're each responsible for our own consumption, okay? (Say it with me. "We're each responsible for our own consumption." Very good.)

About the recipe . . .

This recipe is one I adapted from Marcy Goldman's book, A Passion for Baking. I changed the recipe by omitting the lemon and orange extracts, increasing the salt slightly, increasing the total amount of blueberries, and modifying the method for panning up the muffins. I also rewrote the instructions somewhat.

My family loved these nice moist muffins in every respect--LOVED them! I'd be willing to bet that yours will too.


Joyously Jumbo Blueberry Muffins

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Set rack in middle of oven.

This recipe will make 12 jumbo-size muffins (2 pans of 6 each), or 24 regular size muffins (2 pans of 12 each).

Line muffin pans with XL paper liners and coat the top of the pans, between the cups, liberally with baking spray. Place the pans on parchment-lined cookie sheets (though it may seem like overkill, doing this greatly reduces the chances of the muffin bottoms over-browning, a danger with jumbo muffins since they need to bake substantially longer than smaller muffins).

2 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
4 eggs, large
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
5 cups All-Purpose flour (I used unbleached)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 and 1/4 cups, up to 3 cups. of semi-frozen blueberries (If you like your muffins to be loaded with fruit, use 3 cups or a little more if you dare!)
1/4 to 1/2 cup of coarse sugar for dusting the tops

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, blend the oil, melted butter, and sugar together.


Quickly add in the eggs and vanilla extract and blend well.


Remove your bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour mixture. Or, if your mixer has a slow "stir" speed, use that.


On low speed, blend in the buttermilk and sour cream.

The batter should be kind of thick.

If you prefer, you may stir the berries into the batter at this point, but doing so may turn the batter blue here and there, which is fine if you don't mind. (I, however, do mind! ) Another option is to fill the muffin cups about one third of the way full with batter, then scatter some berries into each cup. Then, cover those berries in each cup with another spoonful of batter, and then add another bunch of berries on top of that. Finally, top all of that off with a last little dab of batter. Sprinkle coarse sugar generously over the top of each muffin.

Bake the muffins, if jumbo sized, for 15 minutes at 425 degrees, then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and continue baking 12 to 16 more minutes. The muffin tops should be lightly golden, and a toothpick inserted deeply into the center of one of the middle muffins should come out mostly clean. The muffins should also spring back when lightly pressed with your finger. (They'll bake in half the time, if they're not jumbos.)

Let them cool in their pans for about 5 minutes before you attempt to remove them. If the large muffin tops are a little stuck to the top of the pan, slide a knife blade gently underneath to loosen them first. Let them cool further on a rack. Delicious served warm or cold!



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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Berry Merlot Sorbet . . . with Citrus-Shortbread Cookies

They say that the Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, compared tasting a particular wine to "tasting the stars!" Whether he ever really said that, though, seems to be up for debate. But unsubstantiated or not, that's the very phrase I remembered when the first tiny spoonful of this lusciously icy, pungently sweet sorbet hit my tongue. That may sound like corny hyperbole, but I wouldn't make something that corny up. I swear.

Now, given the typical choice between a petite scoop of premium ice cream and one of sorbet, I've historically been more likely to select the former.

That, however, was until this week when I made my first homemade sorbet. (Ice cream, I'm sorry. It's been fun, but I've found a new friend.)

There simply aren't enough adjectives to describe the glorious flavors in this recipe. Have you ever before had a reason to simmer raspberries, blueberries, orange and lemon slices, together with a split vanilla bean, sugar, and a fragrant cinnamon stick? No? Well, neither had I. Add into that concoction a generous splash of Merlot and a modest splash of Chambord, and the result is truly cosmic.

About the recipes . . .

Adapted from a recipe in pastry chef Sherry Yard's sumptuous book, The Secrets of Baking, this sorbet is an experience in itself. One might rightly say it's divine. And since divinity shouldn't have to travel alone, we're serving it up alongside citrus-shortbread moons and stars.

What with the intense sweet-tartness of the sorbet, these uncomplicated cookies provide a nice counterpoint. They come to us via Chef Todd English's book, The Olives Dessert Table.

The sorbet, which requires making a sauce/syrup first, does take some time but it's worth the wait. And I was pretty pleased with the shortbread recipe, too. The dough is extremely cooperative and easy to handle, considering it's rolled out and then cut with cookie cutters--no heroics or profanity required (you know what I'm talkin' about).

I know it's still March, but before I shut-up I just have to tell you: This combo virtually shrieks summertime. Shrieks it!



Berry Merlot Sorbet, with Citrus Shortbread Cookies

(For a printable copy of these recipes, click here!)


To make the sorbet, begin by preparing the berry sauce. The sauce recipe should yield up to about one quart (four cups). You'll need half of that to prepare one batch of the sorbet. The extra sauce can be stored for future use.

Sauce Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 lbs. fresh, or 20 oz. frozen, berries (I used half frozen raspberries and half frozen blueberries; Sherry Yard's original recipe calls for all blackberries.)
1 orange, peeled and sliced
1 lemon, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup, plus 2 Tbsp., granulated sugar (Just use 1/2 cup if you're using frozen berries, per Sherry Yard.)
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped (I used a whole bean and all of its seeds.)
2 cups Merlot wine (I used Charles Shaw Merlot, from Trader Joe's--only about $4 a bottle!)
1/2 cup water
1 three-inch cinnamon stick
3 Tbsp. Chambord (raspberry flavored liqueur)
1 pinch of salt (less than 1/8 tsp.)

Bring the berries, orange, lemon, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, Merlot, and water to a boil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Microwave the cinnamon stick on high for 10 seconds, or heat it up in a small pan until fragrant; add it to the sauce. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it steep for 30 minutes; this allows the flavors to infuse.

Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and press out the juices into a medium-sized bowl. (Don't let the fruit get into the juice, and don't puree the mixture either. Sherry Yard notes that doing so will make the sauce cloudy.)


Place the bowl of juices over another larger bowl filled with ice, and let it cool completely.


Stir in the Chambord and the salt.


This sauce can be used immediately, or it can be refrigerated in an airtight container and kept for up to 3 days. Frozen, it will last for 3 months.

To prepare the sorbet:

2 cups of warm berry Merlot sauce
2 Tbsp. fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (The original recipe says to use lime juice, but I used lemon instead.)
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1 pinch of salt (less than 1/8 tsp.)

Whisk together all of the above ingredients in a large bowl. This is the base for the sorbet.

Pour the sorbet base into an ice cream maker and churn the mixture according to the manufacturer's directions.

When finished, the sorbet will be quite soft and not scoopable. Pack it into a freezer container to let it firm up for at least 4 hours before serving. (Mine, in fact, was still quite liquidy after churning; there is no way it could have been scooped or served at that point. It firmed up well in the freezer, though. I froze it overnight.) The prepared sorbet can be kept, well covered, in the freezer for up to 3 months.


Citrus Shortbread Cookies

This recipe will yield about 2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending upon their size.

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
zest of 1 lemon, chopped
zest of 1 orange, chopped
1/4 lb. of unsalted butter at room temperature (1 stick)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp., All Purpose flour (I used bleached)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix together the sugar and the zests for 3 to 5 minutes.


Add in the butter and mix until creamed. Scrape down the bowl and the paddle, then add in the vanilla extract.


Mix just to combine. Add in the flour and salt, and again mix just until combined.


Gather up the dough and shape it into a round disk. (You do not need to chill it.)


On a floured surface, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/4". (The book says to roll the dough to 1/8" inch, but I wanted my cookies to be slightly thicker and not completely crispy. If you want them thin and crisp, go with 1/8".) Dust off any excess flour, and cut the cookies into shapes using flour dusted cookie cutters.

Using a wide spatula, transfer the cookies onto your lined cookie sheet. Bake them just until the edges start to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let them cool on the sheet.


Recipe Full Disclosure!
The sorbet recipe has been adapted from two recipes in Sherry Yard's book, The Secrets of Baking, 2003, Houghton Mifflin. The first one, for blackberry-Merlot sauce, is on page 285. The second one, for blackberry sorbet, appears on page 297; it incorporates the sauce as one ingredient. My main alteration included substituting a combination of raspberries and blueberries for the blackberries.
The citrus shortbread recipe comes from the book, The Olives Dessert Table, by Todd English, Paige Retus, and Sally Sampson (Simon & Schuster, 2000). I didn't alter that recipe, but adhered to the original.


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