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Two Flats of Blueberries. One Very Good Week Ahead.
Published about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader,
Two flats of blueberries came home with me this weekend. That is more blueberries than two people can reasonably eat before they turn, and I knew it when I bought them. I do this every July. The first really good local berries show up, sweet and almost too soft to carry home gently, and all sense leaves me at the market. But a flat of blueberries is not a problem. It is a week of breakfasts, a pie, a jar of jam for the back of the fridge, and a cake that makes Monday feel like a reason to bake. If you also came home with more than you can eat fresh, good. A week of breakfasts, a pie, and a jar for the back of the fridge all start with the same flat.
A Week of Blueberries
Buy them dry and dull, not shiny-wet. A dusty bloom on the skin means they have not been washed and bruised yet. Wash only what you are about to use.
Freeze a tray before you do anything else. Spread them on a sheet pan, freeze, then bag. You will want them in January more than you want them now.
Use the firm ones raw, the soft ones cooked. Save the perfect berries for the top of something; send the bruised ones into jam, buckle, or cobbler where looks do not matter.
Reach for lemon with blueberry, every time. A little zest and juice brightens the berry and keeps the sweetness from going flat.
Bake the one that turns Monday around. Pick the coffee cake or the buckle from the recipes that follow, then send the rest of the flat everywhere else.
Be sure to serve this blueberry buckle while still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream—the perfect creamy, cold complement to the syrupy, juicy berries.
This easy blueberry custard pie combines a creamy, custardy filling with ripe, juicy blueberries. The sweet filling is baked in a pie crust and you can even swap in a store-bought one if you'd like.
Blueberry lemon bars have a creamy filling of fresh berries and tangy lemon, layered in between pie crust and a crumb topping. Made to slice and share, they’re like little pieces of pie that you can eat out-of-hand. Both hands, if you like.
This cobbler topping is essentially a sugar cookie atop bubbling juicy fruit. Crisp but soft, flavored with browned butter and brown sugar. It’s the easiest way to cobbler with whatever fresh fruit you have on hand.
This blueberry mascarpone tart from Donna Hay screams sunshine. A sweet pastry crust is filled with sweetened lemony mascarpone cheese and topped with fresh blueberries.
Crunchy cinnamon-and-sugar streusel plus a sweet vanilla glaze top classic homemade coffee cake. Mmm. There's also a pretty great variation using cranberry and raspberry, at the bottom of the cake. Give them both a try.
These blueberry pecan muffins with crumb topping are easy and even arguably healthy seeing as they boast nuts, fruit, and, if you make the crumbly topping, oats. Most important, though, they're some of the best we've had. Here's how to make them.
Why, hello! Leite's Culinaria is the James Beard Award-winning site that helps home cooks and bakers put dinner on the table and laughs in the kitchen. Hungry for more? Join 40,000 food lovers and subscribe.
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