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Tag Archives: blueberries

It’s Strawberry Season! Make This Strawberry-Blueberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

I love the selection of fresh summer fruits and vegetables. It is a great time to go to the farmer’s market or local grocery store to pick up some things like peaches, plums, corn watermelon, and of course, berries. Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, among others, all thrive this time of year and you can make great use of all of them in fruit salads, smoothies, parfaits and all kinds of other snacks and desserts. I had some strawberries and blueberries on hand this past weekend, along with some rhubarb, and decided to try out this recipe from America’s Test Kitchen for a strawberry-rhubarb cobbler, though I added in the blueberries for a little added flavor. This one is super easy to make and can be done in less than hour to give you a great dessert.

Strawberry-Blueberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

For the Filling:

1 quart fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled

1 pint fresh blueberries, rinsed

10 ounces rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/3 cup buttermilk

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss the strawberries, blueberries and rhubarb together with the sugar, vanilla extract and cornstarch until blended and place the filling in a deep-dish pie plate. Place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet and bake the filling until the fruit releases its liquid and is hot and bubbling around the edges, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the flour, cornmeal, 1/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set this bowl aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla together and set it aside. In a third small bowl, mix the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar with the ground cinnamon and set it aside.

When the filling is ready, stir in the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until the two are just combined and no pockets of flour remain. Remove the cobbler filling from the oven and give it a stir. Pinch off pieces of the dough and sprinkle them on top of the hot filling to cover the filling to your liking. Sprinkle the tops of the filling with the cinnamon sugar.

Place the cobbler with the topping back in the oven and continue to cook the cobbler until the topping is golden brown and cooked through and the filling is once again hot and bubbling, about another 15 to 20 minutes. Cool the cobbler on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

You can top this off with some homemade whipped cream to really make it special. America’s test Kitchen actually clumps the topping together to form a biscuit-like topping, but I thought it would be better with just spreading the topping around like I did. To me it is just an aesthetic thing unless you like the whole biscuits on top. In either case, do how you like it. The cobbler tastes great as the fruit releases all its juices and you get the flavors of the strawberries, blueberries and rhubarb. i think this would work well with just about any type of fruit, such as peaches, plums, apples, pears and the like as well, so you can experiment with it and try different things.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!.

Your Personal Blueberry-Lemon Cakes

03 Jul

Blueberries are in season right now and you can get them at a really great price. Not only are they great in things like fruit salads or your morning oatmeal, but you can do many different desserts with them. While I do love to make blueberry pie, I was looking for something a little bit different recently to make with some of the fresh blueberries I got. I came across this recipe from Williams-Sonoma and it sounded pretty good so I thought I would give it a try and see how they came out.

Individual Blueberry-Lemon Cakes

2 cups blueberries

1/4 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup water

1 teaspoon cornstarch

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/4 cup buttermilk

5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the inside of 6 small ramekins with butter. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries and the 1/4 cup of sugar and cook, stirring until the sugar is mostly dissolved, about 3 to 4 minutes. in a small bowl, whisk together the water and cornstarch and it into the saucepan. Bring it to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and 6 tablespoons of sugar. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, butter, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add the flour mixture, whisking until the batter is just combined.

Spoon 1 tablespoon of the blueberry mixture into the bottom of each ramekin. Top each with 1/4 cup of the batter and then 1 tablespoon of the blueberry mixture. Place the ramekins on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the tops of the cakes are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let the cakes cool completely in the ramekins before serving.

These cakes came out great. The blend of the blueberries with the lemony flavor of the cake is wonderful. You could easily double this recipe to make more if you want to make some for a larger crowd or even place them in larger ramekins if you want bigger portions. You can dust the tops with some confectioner’s sugar and serve them with some fresh whipped cream or some vanilla ice cream. in any case, it makes for a quick and easy dessert that you can make in no time at all.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again next time for some more recipes, including another blueberry recipe I just tried from Bon Appetit for blueberry hand pies. It’s very easy to make and they taste great too.I also have some other recipes I have tried recently for a new roasted chicken, braised short ribs, some roasted green beans, watermelon agua fresca and more, so keep checking in to see what’s next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!