Baking with Blueberries

I've been baking a lot. With blueberries.
Without further ado...the recipes:

Blueberry Scones:

2 cups all-purpose flour1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt2 tablespoons sugar

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut in chunks

1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones

1 cup fresh blueberries

Lemon Glaze:

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1 lemon, zest finely grated

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough.Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 3 by 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2 then cut the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you 4 (3-inch) squares. Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream.Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown. Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.Technically you should make this simple lemon glaze in a double boiler (i.e. over a pot of simmering water with a heatproof bowl set on top) but it's even simpler to zap it in the microwave. Mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the lemon zest and butter. Nuke it for 30 seconds on high. Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones. Let it set a minute before serving.

Blueberry Pie

3/4 cup white sugar - or less depending on the sweetness of your berries

4-5 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
a dash of lemon juice

5 cups fresh blueberries

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over blueberries.

Line pie dish with one pie crust. Pour berry mixture into the crust, and dot with butter. Cut remaining pastry into 1/2 - 3/4 inch wide strips, and make lattice top. Crimp and flute edges.
Put tin foil around edges of crust.Bake pie on lower shelf of oven for about 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

SadlyTheBlueberriesDontCancelOutTheButter,

Mrs. B.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is an old classic of mine.. As soon as I see those Rhubarb at the market, I want to make this pie. It is actually my own recipe that I have perfected over the year and I am now at the stage that I feel comfortable sharing it.

You need:

Crust:

Two egg yolks (dont throw away the whites)

2 cups flour

10 tbsp Butter (softened)

0.65 cup sugar (sorry, this is just the perfect amount)

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tbsp milk

Filling:

4 stalks of Rhubarb

half a standard size pack of strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

Mix all the crust ingredients except milk by hand, you will have to press into the dough to get it all mixed. When you feel like it is mixed good, add the milk little by little to create a coherent and just sticky dough. Roll into a ball and refrigerate for 1 hour.

While you are waiting for the dough, cut the rhubarb into 1 inch pieces and quarter the strawberries. Stick the rhubarb and a couple of strawberries in a pot with the sugar and start to simmer, if you need a little help getting the "jam" going add a tsp of water. Stir, add strawberries little by little you are looking for a consistency that is thick the strawberries will start to turn to mush. If you like it chunky grab some of the strawberries and rhubarb pieces out of the mix while you leave the rest to simmer. Leave to cool.

Pre-heat oven to 400. Roll out dough save 1/3 for the top and place in pie dish, whip the egg whites until you get peaks and spread over the dough. Place in the oven for 7 minutes. When you get it out the egg whites will be light brownish in places. Add the filling and your latticed top.

Bake for further 20 minutes. Leave to cool slightly and serve with Vanilla ice cream, sour cream or whipped cream.

Velbekomme..