Tag Archives: blackberry

Black & Blueberry Crisp

After a whole bunch of scheduling mayhem, we finally booked our annual vacation to Swan’s Island, Maine, this week, so that is low-key all I’m going to talk about for the next 72 days or so. Sorry, not sorry.

Oh yes, I have Maine on the brain, which for me means allll the summer berries. What better time to break out my favorite thrifted dishes from Iverstudio and make a Black & Blueberry Crisp? This will surely tide me over until I can pack up a vehicle and escape New York City. Right? Riiiight???

Anyway…

Crisps are one of the simplest desserts out there. Easier than pie in every way and just as good, they are perfect for beginner bakers and seasoned pros alike. Just mix up a simple pie filling, put it in a buttered pan, bury it in oaty, nutty crumbles, and bake until…well, crisp.

Scoop the warm crisp into cute dishes, and finish with vanilla ice cream and more berries. Devour while determining how many vintage Maine sweatshirts is a reasonable number to have in your Etsy check-out cart. Is it four? I hope it’s four.

Black & Blueberry Crisp
makes about 6 servings

Filling:
2 cups fresh blackberries (about 12 ounces)
2 cups fresh blueberries (about 12 ounces)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
juice of 1/2 lime

Topping:
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup chopped nuts of choice (I used hazelnuts), optional
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For Serving:
vanilla ice cream, optional 
more blackberries & blueberries, optional 

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch casserole dish with butter. Set aside.

Make the filling. Combine blackberries and blueberries in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, salt, and lime juice. Stir together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon and let sit while you prepare the topping.

Make the topping. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together oats, flour, light brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon, and salt. Add melted butter and stir until everything is saturated and clumps form. 

Transfer berry filling into the prepared casserole dish. Scatter topping onto the berries.

Bake 28-30 minutes, until topping is browned and berries are tender & bursting. Let cool 10 minutes before serving in bowls with vanilla ice cream and more berries, if desired.

Cover and refrigerate any leftovers for up to 4 days. Reheat before serving.

Black & Blueberry Galette

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Black & Blueberry Galette While there is a time and place for a traditional crimped and latticed pie, my kitchen in the middle of a heatwave is not it. That said, there are a ton of berries at the markets right now, and it would be a real shame to miss tucking them all into a flaky shell, now wouldn’t it? Black & Blueberry Galette Galettes to the rescue! They’re pie’s no-nonsense, rustic sisters–we’re talking all the flavor and beauty of pie with less than half the work. You don’t even need a pie plate! Simply roll out some pie dough, mound a fruit filling in the middle, fold up the edges and bake ‘til golden and bubbly. Boom, done, galette. Black & Blueberry Galette I used my All-Butter Pie Dough for this glossy beauty, but I know pie dough scares the bejeezus out of some of you. Also, I can’t blame anyone for not wanting to mess with temperature-dependent dough in the middle of summer. I’ll admit that trying to keep tiny bits of butter from melting is not my favorite warm-weather activity either, but when all is said, done, sliced & served, it sure is worth the effort. Black & Blueberry Galette Generally speaking, I think baking should be an enjoyable process, so if making dough from scratch is going to ruin the fun of making a galette, by all means, take the easy way out. Use whatever pie dough you like here, even the refrigerated store-bought stuff. I am pretty sure a sheet of puff pastry would work, too. Whatever your dough of choice, just remember to keep your surfaces floured and your dough cold.

Cold dough = cold butter = super flaky crust. Black & Blueberry Galette I used blackberries and blueberries in this galette for a multitude of reasons, chief amongst them that these varieties looked the best at my local green market a few weeks ago. They also happen to remind me of Maine—I love when food and nostalgia line up. I went with a 50:50 ratio of blackberries to blueberries, but you should feel free to play around with the amounts, use all of one berry or the other, or swap in some raspberries. When it comes to galettes and summer berries, there are no bad ideas. Black & Blueberry Galette

Black & Blueberry Galette
makes 1 galette, about 8 servings

1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons cornstarch
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 recipe All-Butter Pie Dough, or other good single-crust pie dough
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon water
coarse sugar, for sprinkling
whipped cream, for serving (optional)
vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Arrange oven racks in the upper and lower positions. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Combine blackberries and blueberries in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, salt, and lime juice. Stir together with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon and let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Flour a surface and a rolling pin. Roll pie dough out until it is 1/8-inch thick. Trim edges so that you have a 12-inch circle. Transfer to prepared pan. Mound filling in the middle of the dough, leaving at least 2 inches of excess on all sides. Fold dough over the sides of the filling to contain it. Scatter butter over exposed filling.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg and water. Brush mixture on exposed pie dough. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake galette on the upper rack for 25 minutes. Move to the lower rack. Bake for 20-25 more minutes, tenting with foil if anything begins to brown too quickly. Crust will firm up as the galette cools.

Let galette cool completely in the pan on a rack. Remove to a cutting board. Slice and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Galette will keep covered at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to four. Black & Blueberry Galette

Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

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Blackberry Shortbread Wedges It’s never fun to come home from vacation, but I think I did it right this time. Returning over the holiday weekend left me ample time to relax, grocery shop, meal prep, put up all the new things I bought in Swan’s Island and Portland, and watch all of The Good Place season 2. I’m calling it a success. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

Getting back into the groove yesterday wasn’t too terrible, but a piece of my heart is definitely still in Maine. You know, where it’s not 95 degrees. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

Two days before I packed up to go home, my sister and I walked a good stretch of the North Road at a snail’s pace, picking upwards of a quart of tiny wild blackberries in about two hours. It might sound dull, but I can assure you that Eliot and I were anything but bored. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

The vast majority of the berries we found were the blackberries we expected, but we also spotted a blueberry patch and two teeny raspberries. All the apple trees were starting to turn, too. Maybe one day I’ll vacation a little later so I can enjoy them. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

I’ve written before about how I consider baking (and cooking) to be a form of active meditation; I feel the same way about foraging for berries. It’s easy to get lost in the simple process of plucking them from bushes and interacting with nature in a very tactile way. Berry-picking is probably the only time in my life where I am able to peacefully, fearlessly coexist with bees and that I’m not mad about a few good scratches from thorns. If anything, they’re little badges of honor. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

I’ve made pies with my foraged berries the last three years I’ve been on Swan’s Island, but decided to keep it easy this year, opting instead for these Blackberry Shortbread Wedges.

They’re a slight adaptation of my Sweet Cherry Shortbread Bars (and their apple counterpart), this time baked in an 8-inch round pan. The resulting wedges (or bars or whatever you want to call them) are served up almost like pie, and have a thick, buttery shortbread crust that is difficult to stop eating. You could certainly serve these at room temperature, but my fellow vacationers and I preferred them straight from the fridge. There’s just something about the combination of cold, tangy blackberry filling and rich shortbread. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

You’ll notice in the photos that I didn’t line the pan with foil or parchment—that’s only because I didn’t have any at our house. Instead, I greased and floured the pan and then sliced and served them directly from the pan. You may follow my lead here, or line the pan with foil and lift them onto a cutting board before slicing. I’ve written instructions for both methods in the recipe. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

However you choose to go about making these, I urge you to do so in these last weeks of summer. We saw pumpkins for sale as we drove out of Maine on September 1st, and while I am all for pumpkin after September 20th, I’m going to enjoy these end-of-season berries while I can. Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

Blackberry Shortbread Wedges
makes one 8-inch pan, 8-12 wedges

Filling:
3 cups fresh blackberries
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of Kosher or sea salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Shortbread:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

Place oven racks in top and bottom positions. Preheat oven to 375F. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan, or line with aluminum foil, leaving overhang, and grease with butter. Set aside.

Make blackberry filling. In a medium mixing bowl, combine blackberries, lime juice, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cornstarch. Set aside while you make the shortbread.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add cold butter. Use your fingertips to rub butter into flour until the largest pieces are the size of small peas. It will be powdery, but should hold together when pinched. Set aside 1 cup of the mixture for topping.

Pour remaining shortbread mixture into prepared pan. Spread it around to cover the bottom of the pan before using your hand to pack it down into an even layer. Prick several times with a fork. Pour blackberry filling over the top, leaving behind any excess liquid. Spread berries into an even layer.

For the topping, use your fingers to pinch together small portions of the reserved shortbread mixture. Scatter them over the top of the blackberry layer.

If your pan is on the shallow side, place it on a rimmed baking sheet to collect any light overflow. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 20 minutes. Move bars to the top rack and bake for an additional 10-12 minutes, until barely golden. Tent with foil if anything begins to brown too quickly. Let cool in the pan on a rack until they reach room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 90 minutes, or until cold.

If pan was buttered and floured, slice and serve wedges directly from the pan. If it was lined with foil, use overhang to remove to a cutting board. Peel off foil before slicing and serving.

Leftover Blackberry Shortbread Wedges will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. They will soften over time.

Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

Friday Favorites: Berries

Cornmeal Pancakes {Vegan & Gluten-Free} with Blackberry Compote

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It took me seven tries to get these pancakes right.

About a month before we left for Maine, I declared to my travel buddies, VJ and Adam, that I was going to make a a pancake recipe that we could all enjoy. They sort of smiled and nodded because I had clearly lost my mind–VJ is a gluten-free vegan and Adam is a bit of a picky eater, so this basically seemed impossible.

Never one to let logic stop me, I set to work. I looked at my pancake recipes and a couple more from around the internet, and then I had six consecutive fails. Every problem pancakes could have, these had: too dry, too bland, too thin, too many ingredients, too stuck to the pan–you name it. I had one batch that was somewhere in the realm of “okay” and as vacation drew near I figured it could work in a pinch, but I was less than enthused about it. I’d crack the code one day, but it wasn’t going to be in time for this trip.

But then, there was cornbread. On the second night of vacation, we decided to grill out. Grilling is not my forte, so Adam took the lead there and I worked on side dishes. I threw out a few ideas to VJ; sautéed spinach was a definite winner, but she sort of lost her mind when I mentioned veganizing my already-gluten-free Southern-Style Cornbread. I had never attempted a vegan version of that recipe, but I figured it would be easy enough. I could swap almond milk soured with vinegar for buttermilk, use a few tablespoons of vegan margarine in place of butter, and I could crack open a can of chickpeas and use the aquafaba in place of the egg. It’s that last change that made that cornbread so good, and when VJ asked for my overhyped Cornmeal Pancakes last Wednesday morning, it’s that change that made a solidly “okay” recipe into one I’ll make again and again.

Have you heard of aquafaba? It’s having a bit of a moment right now–it made The New York Times. If you’re in the dark about this miracle of modern baking, I’m sure you’re not alone. Literally translated, aquafaba means “bean water.” And that’s exactly what it is–the liquid from cooking (and canning) chickpeas. If you have a can of chickpeas (or any bean, actually) in your pantry, you have aquafaba in your house right now. Who knew?!

Before you go clicking away from this blog forever, hear me out. I know using the cooking liquid from chickpeas in baking sounds absolutely bizarre, but it actually makes a lot of sense, scientifically speaking. Like eggs, aquafaba is super high in protein and very viscous; when whipped, it can even hold stiff peaks! You don’t need to break out your mixer for this recipe though–just three tablespoons of liquid aquafaba help these Cornmeal Pancakes to stay fluffy and keep them from being too crumbly. And since aquafaba doesn’t have a distinctive flavor like other vegan egg replacers (I’m looking at you, flaxseed), it doesn’t distract from the slightly sweet corn flavor 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

These Cornmeal Pancakes, y’all. They’re light and fluffy with crispy edges and a rich corn flavor. Oh, and they’re beautiful too.

You could certainly serve them with butter (or vegan margarine) and maple syrup…

…but I am all about this Blackberry Compote.
It only has four ingredients and takes less than ten minutes to prepare, and it’s basically like topping your pancakes with pie filling (but with much less sugar).

However you choose to serve these Cornmeal Pancakes, I hope they make your friends and family as happy as they made mine.

Cornmeal Pancakes {Vegan & Gluten-Free} with Blackberry Compote

Photo courtesy of Valancy Jane.

Cornmeal Pancakes {Vegan & Gluten-Free}
makes about 12 pancakes

1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
3 tablespoons aquafaba (chickpea canning liquid)
1/3 cup neutral-flavored oil (I like canola), plus more for cooking
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For Serving:
butter (vegan or regular)
pure maple syrup
Blackberry Compote (recipe below)

In a liquid measuring cup, combine unsweetened almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Let sit 5 minutes or until curdled.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together cornmeal, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add almond milk mixture, aquafaba, oil, and vanilla, and whisk until combined.

Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add batter to the pan in 1/4 cup increments, leaving space between pancakes. Let cook until the edges no longer look raw, about 2-3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Remove to a plate. Repeat process with all remaining batter, adding oil to the pan as necessary.

Divide pancakes among serving plates. Top with butter, maple syrup, and/or Blackberry Compote. Serve immediately.

Blackberry Compote
makes about 2 cups

12 ounces fresh blackberries
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of 1/2 lime

In a small saucepan, combine blackberries, sugar, and cinnamon. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until a sauce forms (about 5 minutes). Use a potato masher to mash blackberries until the desired texture is reached. Bring to a boil for 1 minute before removing from heat. Stir in lime juice. Let cool completely.

Compote will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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Tag Archives: blackberry

Black & Blueberry Crisp

Black & Blueberry Galette

Blackberry Shortbread Wedges

Friday Favorites: Berries

Cornmeal Pancakes {Vegan & Gluten-Free} with Blackberry Compote