Raspberry Blueberry Crumble

If I had enough foresight, this picture would show a red, white, and blue dessert and be a perfect recipe to share on the Fourth of July.

But alas, my patriotic spirit was overcome by my desire to quickly take a picture and dig in to this scrumptious dessert.  Io I forgot to add the white ice cream to my red raspberries and blue blueberries,  But, when you do it at home, it will be a perfect dessert to celebrate the upcoming July holiday.  It’s so simple by so delicious: fresh berries, a little bit of flour and lemon to thicken and bring out the juices all topped with brown sugar, oatmeal, and butter.

RASPBERRY BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE
From My Mom

INGREDIENTS

2 cups raspberries
1 cup blueberries*
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
Pinch of salt
4 1/2 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/4 inch size pieces
Ice cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, stir together raspberries, blueberries, flour, and lemon juice. Set aside.

In a food processor, combine light brown sugar, oats, salt, and butter. Process until crumbly and combined. In a large pie dish, spread the berries in an even layer on the bottom. Sprinkle crumble topping on top. Bake for 30 minutes, until fruit is bubbling and crumble topping is golden brown.

*Use any combination of berries that your heart desires.
Let cool slightly. Serve warm with ice cream.

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Vanilla Pavolva with Berries

It’s back to the grind for me, my friends.

It’s that time of year when it is just plain scary to enter the hallowed halls of Walmart- even more than usual.  Everyone please remember to watch our for the wild children running down aisles begging their parents for the next cool batch of school supplies (anyone else miss gel pens), large families stocking up for the academic apocalypse, college students buying an inflatable chair for the dorm/prison cell, and

And let’s not even get started on the parking lot.  Instant road rage.

The school year is definitely back in gear, and I am having a small adjustment period to being back on a more normal schedule.  Sometimes I feel super productive and ready to get work done, and other times all I want to do is sit on my couch and binge watch Orange is the New Black.

This semester marks the start of a lot more new work for me.  I will start seeing clients in therapy within the next week, and earlier this week I held the first day of my Introduction to Psychology class.  Here hoping these students enjoy me as much as my pretend students I instructed when I was seven years old.  Because they loved me.

These new tasks have put a lot of work of my plate, which doesn’t leave me as much time to put delicious food on that plate.

This pavlova was a dinner for me during this first week back.  A treat for all my hard work.  This was a perfect recipe for a busy night.  All you do is whip up some egg whites and sugar (delicious) and then bake it for a little bit over an hour.  Then you can use that hour to get some work down (or watch Orange is the New Black- best show ever).  Then enjoy a delicious meringue treat.  Topped with summer berries this is perfection.

Eating dessert for dinner- I think I am setting a wonderful examples for my pupils.  The lessons they could learn from me.

VANILLA PAVLOVA WITH BERRIES
Slightly Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

INGREDIENTS

100 grams egg whites
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup super fine sugar*
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For serving: berries, whipped cream

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 250°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Draw a circle that is 6 inches in diameter on the parchment paper.

In a small bowl combine sugar and cornstarch.  In another small bowl combine vinegar and vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whip egg whites and a pinch of salt on low speed, slowly increasing the speed to medium, until soft peaks form.  This should take 2-4 minutes.  Increase speed to medium-high and slowly adding in sugar-cornstarch mixture.  Then slowly add vinegar-vanilla mixture.  Whip until stiff peaks form, 6-8 minutes.

Use a spatula to spread the whipped egg white mixture into a 6 inch circle.  Leave a slight indentation in the middle for the berries and whipped cream.  Bake for 75-85 minutes.

Let cool slightly.  Serve with berries and whipped cream.

*If you don’t have superfine sugar, you can run normal granulated sugar in a food processor.  Also, I have made this with granulated sugar, and it has generally worked.

Blueberry and Sour Cream Pie Revisited

Since I have a never ending list of new recipes to try, I don’t remake dishes very often- especially desserts. There are just too many new possibilities that old ones fall to the wayside. However, when I do make really good dessert and repeat it, I notice how much easier it is the second time around.  I made this pie for our New Year’s Dinner earlier this year, and I remember thinking it was a pretty difficult recipe.  But this time around, everything went much more smoothly.

This time around, I found a much better pie crust (a pate sucree actually, how fancy) and I revamped the struesel topping to be even better.  This pie is still absolutely divine.  Something about the combination of blueberries, sour cream, and almond just works.  And if you want to justify this for a holiday pie, just say that the white sour cream represents snow and the blueberries represent snow flakes.  It’s a stretch, but no one will protest this pie replacing a more traditional holiday treat after they take that first bite.

BLUEBERRY AND SOUR CREAM PIE

Pie Adapted from Bon Appetit Desserts

Crust Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust:
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk
4-6 tablespoons ice water

For the Pie:
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries

For the Topping:
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup sliced almonds
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

For the Crust:

In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt.  Sprinkle cold butter on top and process until an evenly distributed crumb mixture forms.  At egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of water and pulse.  Add more water if needed until a soft dough forms.  Turn onto plastic wrap and press into a small disk.  Chill for at least 1 hour.

For the Pie:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Grease a 9 inch pie pan.  Turn pie dough onto lightly floured surface and roll out to a 10 inch circle.  Press pie crust into pan, crimping the edges and removing the excess.  Freeze for 20 minutes.  Prick bottom of the pie with a fork.  Line pie with foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights.  Bake for 15 minutes, then remove beans/weights.  Cover the edges of the pie with foil and bake for an additional 7-10 minutes, until sides are set.

While the pie chills or bakes, prepare the sour cream filling.  In a large bowl combine sour cream, sugar, flour, egg, almond extract, and salt.  Whisk together until smooth.  Fold in blueberries.

After crust is baked, pour filling into hot pie crust.  Keep the edges of the pie covered and bake for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping.  In a small bowl combine butter and flour.  Mix together with your fingers until small crumbles form.  Stir in almonds and sugar.  Once filling is baked, spoon the topping on top of the warm filling.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, until golden brown.  Let cool to room temperature.

Corn, Green Bean, and Blueberry Salad

This is summer in a bowl.  All of the sweet produce of summer is cooked together and lightly dressed.  It’s fresh, light, and lovely.

I love salads like this where you throw vegetables and fruit together (not necessarily always with lettuce, don’t limit yourself!), but this summer salad is taken to the next level with the toasted hazelnuts.  Don’t forgo the hazelnuts.  I was planning on leaving them out, but by pure chance- or fate- I had some hazelnuts already sitting in the fridge left from my hazelnut macarons (yummm, those are coming soon).  The crunchiness and nuttiness really adds a whole new nuance to this salad.  And if you are feeling a little indulgent, some warm goat cheese stirred in would also be delicious.

Now get a move on- summer is almost over and you haven’t made this yet!

CORN, GREEN BEAN, AND BLUEBERRY SALAD

Adapted from The Chew

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 ears of corn, shucked
2 cups green beans, cut into thirds
1 spring onion, chopped
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Crumbled goat cheese, optional

DIRECTIONS

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, corn, and green beans.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 5-7 minutes, until corn begins to develop some color.  Add leeks and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Turn off heat and carefully stir in blueberries, honey, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil.  Top with toasted hazelnuts and crumbled goat cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.

Serves 3-5 as a side dish.

Strawberry and Chicken Poppy Seed Salad

It is official: I am no longer a working girl.  Well, at least for the next few weeks anyway. This past Friday was my last day working as a front desk worker at urology practice.  I got to work with some fun people who I’m going to miss, and I’ve learned also learned a little bit about urology, medical insurance, and the working world.

One thing I learned about being a working girl is that some days you just come home plum tired and burnt out.  And on those nights you are just not into making dinner for yourself.   Those nights are the nights when you constantly ask yourself “How many more days until the weekend?”.  Those are the nights when you should make this salad.  While some chopping is involved, this salad is simple, fresh, and filling. The faster you eat dinner, the fast you get to go to bed and get some sleep, right?

Before we get to the recipe, I have an announcement: Cinnamon Freud is now on Facebook, Pintrest, and Instagram!  For those of you who are so inclined to learn more about my food centric life musings, hit me up there!

STRAWBERRY AND CHICKEN POPPY SEED SALAD

Inspired by Panera Bread

Vinaigrette adapted from How Sweet It Is

INGREDIENTS

For the Strawberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:
4 strawberries, hulled and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Pinch of salt

For the Salad:
4 cups spinach
8 ounces cooked chicken, sliced
1 cup chopped pineapple
8 strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 cup blueberries
1/4 cup toasted pecans

DIRECTIONS

For the Strawberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette:

In a large measuring glass, combine strawberries, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey.  Using an immersion blender or a food processor, process until is reaches the desired consistency, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in a pinch of salt and poppy seeds.  Chill in fridge for at least 20 minutes until ready to use.

For the Salad:

In a large bowl combine spinach, chicken, pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, and pecans.  Pour strawberry poppy seed vinaigrette over top.  Toss.

Serves 2 as a main dish.

Sour Cream Blueberry Pie

When it comes to food, I am a dessert girl.  My sweet tooth knows no bounds.  And when it comes to desserts, I am a pie girl all the way.  I love pies- a flaky, butter crust with a sweet filling is like a little slice of heaven for me.

At first, I doubted this recipe.  Sour cream and blueberries in a pie?  Then, I thought it’d be okay.  Then as I was mixing up the filling, I knew it would be good.  Then, as I was baking the pie, I knew it would be excellent.  As I waited for the pie to cool, I knew this would be one of the best pies I’d had.

And it was.

Do not doubt this pie recipe.  It’s sooooo (that is 6 Os there) good, and it’s not like any other pie I have had before.  It’s creamy, sweet, and delicious.  The recipe has a pecan crumble topping, but I honestly think the pie would be better without it.  Their recipe for pie crust was good but not great, so my search for the best pie crust continues.

SOUR CREAM BLUEBERRY PIE

Slightly Adapted from Bon Appetit Desserts

INGREDIENTS

1 pie crust
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cup fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Partially bake your pie crust according to your recipe instructions (typically about 20 minutes).Preheat oven to 400°F.

In a large bowl, whisk sour cream, sugar, flour, egg, almond extract, and salt together until well mixed.  Fold in blueberries.  Pour filling into warm pie crust.  Bake until filling is just set, 30-35 minutes.  The filling should jiggle slightly and be set on the sides.  Cool to room temperature.