Wild Huckleberry Pie

My Brother's Birthday is August 1st which happens to be during huckleberry season and he LOVED huckleberry pie and every year for his birthday our mom would make him huckleberry pie. My brother will be 30 this year and I plan to surprise him with the pie mom used to make for him when he was a kid.

3/4 Cup Sugar

21/2 T. Corn Starch

1/4 t. salt

2/3 cup water

1 cup Huckleberries or any other berry that is in season

2 T. Butter

11/2 T. Lemon Juice

2 cups huckleberries

In a sauce pan bring to boil 1st 5 ingredients, cook until very thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Stir in last 3 ingredients.

Pour into cooked pie shell, chill.

Serve with whipped cream

Crepe Cake Layered with Blueberry Gelee and Lemon Curd

This week my baby boy is turning 8.  He was just a baby when I started this blog, I was looking for an outlet that was not all about babies.  He was a baby and his big sister was a toddler back then and I felt like all I did was change diapers, clean the house, and cook.

Actually, there was not time for much else!  Because I was already cooking I figured I could find 10 minutes every few days to set a type out a recipe that I had tried, and to log recipes because my brain was so fried I could not remember a thing.   Truth be told I never did really find 10 minutes for uninterrupted blogging, it never failed I get a few words in a I hear "MOM".  those days have passed an I can get 10 minutes without "MOM"....ooooo, never mine, BRB.

okay where was I...

Now that L is turning 8, and I am about to graduate college and set for the CPA exam, and heading back into the working outside of the home world, I find that life has taken over and the blog has been neglected (trust me I am still cooking).  Moments like this week where I make lemon curd and blueberry gelee with my boy, and then 100 crepes, and assemble all the bits and pieces together I hear the blog calling my name again.

L asked for a crepe cake with berries and lemon curd and this is what I made...

~Crepe Cake Layered with Blueberry Gelee and Lemon Curd~

Raspberry Crème Brulee

I had a big container of cream for something that I was making; however, I did not use it all and had a lot of cream left over. I decided to look around in some of my food blog haunts and see what I could find to use up the cream.


I found crème berry brulée on What's for Lunch Honey?

My Creme Brulee is not as pretty as What's For Lunch Honey, but I also don't have the correct ramekins. All in all the brulee was flavorful with a nice sugar crust and the raspberries complemented the cream wonderfully.

I did make a few changes so I would  have to go to the store.

ingredients:

500g heavy cream
1 t. pure vanilla extract
5 egg yolks
60g sugar
1/3 cup raspberries
50g sugar for top sugar crust
Pour the cream in a pot and add vanilla. Gently bring the vanilla cream mixture to a boil over a low heat. Whisk frequently. When the cream starts to steam, remove from the heat.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until well blended.
Temper the eggs with the hot cream and then gently mix the eggs and cream together with a spatula or wooden spoon being careful not to incorporate too much air into the mixture which will cause the custard to be bubbly.

Equally divide the berries into the bottom of the ramekins and then add the cream mixture and then chill overnight. This is an extra step, which you can skip if you are pressed for time. But Meeta recommends it as it gives best results.
Pour simmering water into the tall-sided oven-proof dish about halfway up the sides of the individual ramekins.
Bake the custard for about 35 to 45 minutes. Take out and allow to cool at room temperature, then place in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.
Just before serving, sprinkle the top of each serving with a thin, even layer of sugar and brown the sugar
I caramelized the sugar with my husband's propane torch. If you are using the torch, heat the sugar with the flame until it begins to brown. Stop when it reaches a golden color. It should not get too dark. (for those of you with food torches, you know what to do).

If you would like more details on how to make this please visit Meeta's blog.

Blackberry Bread Pudding

3 cups stale bread, cut into cubes
2 cups milk, scalded with 1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup blackberries

microwave for 10 minutes
The kids picking ripe blackberries at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Lemon Tart

When ever we are going to go to friends for dinner my husband almost always asks me to make "that lemon tart" to take. Yes we all love Lemon Curd in our house but with 6 eggs and a whole stick of butter I try not to make if too often. Today we went to my friend Sharon's house for a BBQ and per my hubby's request I make lemon tart with an added kick, raspberry glaze. 1 pillsbury pie crust 6 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) grated zest of 4 lemons juice of 4 lemons Preheat oven to 400 degrees roll out one pillsbury pie crust and press it into a 9" tart pan (or you can use a pie pan if that is what you have) prick the bottom of the pie shell with a fork (if you like you can put beans or pie weights into the shell now, but I don't). Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. (remove beans if used) set pie shell aside. Put the eggs, sugar, and butter into a sauce pan and stir over med-low heat until sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon zest and juice and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the lemon curd thickens slightly. Pour the curd into the prepared pie shell and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is just set. let cool. for the raspberry glaze topping I halfed the berry glaze pie recipe and used raspberries and topped the tart with that.

sokerikakku - Finnish Sugar Cake

3 extra large eggs (4 Finnish size eggs - or med eggs)
1.5 dl. of sugar (150 ml)
2 dl of flour (200 ml)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
butter and bread crumbs

2 c. Whipping cream
1/4 c. Sugar
1 t. vanilla
2 t. citrus zest (I used the zest of a tangerine)

juice, simple syrup, or liquor
Jam
fruit of your choice

Butter three 8 inch cake pans and dust with bread crumbs.
Preheat the oven to 395 degrees (200 C) .

sift together the flour and baking powder into a small bowl and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, on high speed whip the eggs and sugar until they become light in color and frothy.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the eggs with a rubber spatula. Divide the batter evenly between the three pans and bake for 15 minutes or until a

toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool.

Whip the cream with an electric mixer, while the

cream is whipping add 1/4 C. sugar, vanilla, and zest.

Place one of the 3 layers of the cake on a cake plate, sprinkle the cake with juice or simple syrup (I used a mixture of simple syrup and cheery liquor). cover cake with whipped cream, and then place a layer of fruit over the whipped cream (I used banana, blackberries, and grapes) repeat these steps with each layer of cake. and serve.

Roasted Peppers and Strawberry Jam

While doing my weekly shopping today there were red peppers at the produce market for $0.99 a pound so I picked some up and roasted them under the broiler. I then peeled off the skin and store them in a jar with olive oil.

To Serve I lay them out on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with minced garlic.






Strawberries



There were also 1/2 flats of strawberries for $2.99 so I picked some of those up to make a few jars of jam to get us through until they come into season here in Michigan.






I washed and Trimmed the Strawberries, cut them into quarters making about 6 cups of berries then put them into a large pan and cooked them until they were liquidy and added about 3/4 of a cut of sugar. I also added a small amount of Gelatin but I don't think it made much difference. I like my jam a little runny and not very sweet so if you want something more traditional I suggest looking at a traditional recipe.

Once the Jam was done I put some jars and lids on boiling water and ladled the hot jam into the hot jars, tightened the Lids and let them set until they sealed.