Tag Archive: Blueberries

Blueberry Pancake Syrup

Written on July 22, 2013 by in Sauce

Blueberry Pancake Syrup

Fresh fruit in the Summer is great. It really is. But turning that fruit into a maple pancake syrup is just a little bit better.

After I made homemade strawberry syrup, I couldn’t eat it fast enough. It’s a great sweetener for pancakes, ice cream, yogurt, oatmeal—just about anything. After giving it a try I can say that making the recipe with blueberries is just as good.

Blueberry Pancake Syrup Serving

You can use fresh or frozen blueberries for this recipe—it doesn’t make a difference. Unlike the strawberry version, you need to strain the syrup once it’s cooked to get the skins out. Don’t waste the solids though! They’re full of sugar and make a great jam-like spread for toast or mixing into yogurt.

Blueberry Pancake Syrup Pancakes

Blueberry Pancake Syrup

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 1 1/2 cups):

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup water
  • 2/3 cup blueberries
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Blueberry Pancake Syrup Boiled

Method:

  1. In a small pot over a burner, combine the sugar and water and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
  2. Boil the water until the simple syrup reduces to about half of its original volume.
  3. While the water is boiling, puree the blueberries and maple syrup in a blender or food processor until they make a smooth sauce.
  4. Off of the heat, combine the blueberry puree and simple syrup and whisk together. Whisk in the vanilla and cinnamon as well.
  5. Put the pot back onto the stove and continue boiling until the syrup reduces to about half of its volume again. Don’t over-reduce the syrup to be quite as thick as maple syrup because once it cools off of the heat it will thicken.
  6. Strain the sauce through a sieve to remove the blueberry skins.
  7. Store any extra sauce in a sealed container in the refrigerator when not enjoying.

Blueberry Pancake Syrup Yield 

3 Comments - Leave a comment!

Red, White and Blue Stuffed Strawberries

Written on May 24, 2013 by in Dessert

Red, White and Blue Stuffed Strawberries

When you’re a food blogger, you constantly have to choose between making and blogging a holiday recipe a week in advanced and looking crazy celebrating all by yourself or making a recipe for the actual holiday and posting it a few days later late to the game. Usually I choose the latter but this time I happen to be early to the party; here’s a red, white, and blue recipe a month and a half before July 4th for you.

The Nutella cheesecake strawberries I made last month were a huge hit with my friends. I got asked to make them again but I always like trying something new. Instead of Nutella, these strawberries are filled with white chocolate cream cheese. At times I think I like white chocolate more than dark, and this is one of those times. It goes perfectly with the sweet berries.

Red, White and Blue Stuffed Strawberries Ingredients

Every time I make these stuffed strawberries, the first half come out looking sloppy and the second half look fine. You just have to get into a rhythm and figure out how to do it best. Getting the filling to the right consistency will also make it easier.

Red, White and Blue Stuffed Strawberries

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1lb fresh strawberries
  • 3/4 cup(6oz) white chocolate chips
  • 5 Tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 Tablespoons milk, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup blueberries

Red, White and Blue Stuffed Strawberries White Chocolate

Method:

  1. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the white chocolate.
  2. Beat together the melted white chocolate, milk, and cream cheese until smooth.
  3. Beat in the powdered sugar until it’s fully incorporated.
  4. Move the cream cheese mixture into a pastry bag or Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. If the mixture is still runny, put it in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
  5. Cut the strawberries twice perpendicularly almost all the way through.
  6. Squeeze the filling into the strawberries starting from the bottom and moving the tip up.
  7. Garnish with a blueberry on top.
  8. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. These won’t last long even in a refrigerator so eat relatively quickly. 

Red, White and Blue Stuffed Strawberries Serving  

7 Comments - Leave a comment!

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake

Written on June 29, 2012 by in Dessert

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake

Happy (almost) 4th of July! I know I’m five days early, but consider this my obligatory patriotic post.

A few weeks ago I went to an American citizenship party for some friends who recently passed the citizenship test. There was grilling and beans and red, white, and blue napkins so of course there had to be flag cake.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake Collage 2

A family friend at this party recently had to cut gluten out of her diet; one of her favorite foods is chocolate cake so naturally I knew the cake I made had to be chocolate. I’d never experimented with almond flour and coconut flour in the same recipe but I thought I’d give it a shot. The texture was just like any good ol’ fashioned American sponge cake. You’d never guess it was gluten-free and grain-free.

The frosting also got a lot of praise, too. Then again, how can something with butter, cream cheese, and a pound of sugar not be good?

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake Slice

Make sure to use fresh fruit and to assemble it as close to serving as possible. The more the cake sits out, the more the juices from the strawberries runs into the frosting, and no one wants a runny flag.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 9 x 12 cake):

For the cake:

  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 1/4 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 6 extra large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons hot water

For the frosting:

  • 1 4oz stick of butter, room temperature
  • 1 8oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1lb box of powdered sugar

 Fruit topping:

  • 1 half pint blueberries
  • 1lb fresh strawberries

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake Collage 3

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
  3. While the chocolate is melting, mix together the almond flour, coconut flour, sugar, and oil.
  4. Mix the melted chocolate into the flour mixture completely.
  5. Crack the eggs into the batter and beat each in.
  6. Add in the vanilla, baking soda, and salt.
  7. Add in the hot water and mix until the batter is smooth and slightly runny.
  8. Grease a 9 x 12 baking pan. Pour the batter in in an even layer.
  9. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the center of the cake has set. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely before frosting.
  10. Combine the butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and half of the sugar in a large bowl.
  11. With an electric mixer, beat together the ingredients until the sugar is entirely incorporated.
  12. Slowly add more sugar into the mix until all of it is mixed into the frosting.
  13. Spread a few tablespoons of powdered sugar on top of the cake and brush it all around to prevent the frosting from tearing the top of the cake.
  14. Spread the frosting out all over the cake in an even layer and around the sides.
  15. Make a square of blueberries in the top left corner of the cake.
  16. Remove the stem from each strawberry and cut each in half. Lay them out top to bottom in horizontal lines in a flag pattern.
  17. Refrigerate until ready to serve.  

Gluten-Free Chocolate Flag Cake Finished

There were practice American citizenship tests at the party. I scored a 12/20. I think that’s good enough not to be deported, right? Too bad how to make a flag cake isn’t part of the test.

17 Comments - Leave a comment!

Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce Recipe

Written on December 5, 2011 by in Side Dish

Nov 26th 076

Let’s look past the fact that Thanksgiving was now 2 weeks ago. You might want to make cranberry sauce for Christmas, or just for anytime, right? Maybe? Sure.

I wanted to make a sauce with a twist. Since my whole family is from northern New Hampshire, I tried adding some blueberries into the cranberry sauce. And a little ginger because who doesn’t like ginger? Orange juice replaces some of the sugar with a less refined sweetness to round out the flavor of the sauce.

And since I figure somebody’s going to wonder or ask: No, that’s not my plate. Yes, I am still a vegetarian. But I did carve the turkey for the second year in a row because I’m damn good at it.

Thanksgiving Cranberry Sauce

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes around 6 cups):

  • 24oz fresh cranberries
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 2 cups orange juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2-inch fresh ginger peeled and grated
  • 6 Tablespoons cane sugar

Nov 26th 093

Method:

  1. Combine the cranberries, blueberries, and orange juice together in a large pot.
  2. Cover the pot and bring the contents to a boil. Keep boiling until the juice evaporates.
  3. Once finished, pour the cranberries and blueberries into a food processor. Add in the salt, ginger, and cane sugar and puree until smooth.
  4. Move the sauce to a container and leave it out to cool. Once at room temperature, place the sauce in the refrigerator to until eating.

Nov 26th 069

Next time I make this I want to swap another cup of cranberries for blueberries to make the flavor more prevalent. Nobody noticed there was blueberries in the sauce; I didn’t even notice and I made it.

5 Comments - Leave a comment!