Category Archives: Fruit

Cranberry Almond Christmas Cake

December 29, 2020

I discovered this recipe last Christmas (we actually served it after cheese fondue for our kid-friendly New Year’s Eve party… I miss parties!) and have been patiently waiting all year to make it again. Just because it’s called Christmas cake doesn’t mean you have to make it during the holidays, but it’s perfectly festive bursting with red cranberries and dusted with a flurry of powdered sugar.

I love this cake for many reasons: First, it’s not too sweet. It’s full of sugar, but the tart berries cut the sweetness. Second, the almonds. The batter is flavored with vanilla as well as almond extract (one of the best scents on earth!) and the top is covered with crunchy toasted almonds. So much flavor! Last, (sorry, this is like 3 things…) it’s tender and moist and totally addictive.

Best of all, this cake is really simple to make. Though I was having an off day this weekend when I baked it (I blame the sinus infection/headaches I’ve been battling) and accidentally started creaming the butter and sugar together. (Which is typical for cookies but won’t work here because you need to beat the eggs first because they provide the leavening.) So I started over but misread the recipe again and started creaming the butter and eggs. After several minutes of trying to figure out why they wouldn’t combine, I realized my mistake and had to start over yet again. Third time was the charm. Don’t be silly like me and please start by creaming your sugar and eggs and all will go well…!

Cranberry Almond Christmas Cake

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup butter, room temperature (salted or unsalted- I used unsalted butter and added 1/4 tsp. sea salt, but salt is optional)
1 tsp. pure almond extract
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 (12-oz.) bag fresh cranberries (or frozen and thawed cranberries, also works with a 10-oz. bag cranberries and will be slightly sweeter)
1 cup sliced almonds
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9×13 baking pan (or coat with nonstick cooking spray). Set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs for 5 minutes with an electric mixer on medium. The volume of the mixture will increase by almost half and will be thickened. Do not skip this step. The eggs will work as the leavening the cake needs to rise.
  3. Add butter and extracts (and salt, if using) and beat for 2 more minutes. Slowly add flour and beat until combined. Fold in cranberries.
  4. Using a spatula, pour and smooth into prepared pan. Sprinkle almonds over top.
    Bake for ~45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool completely and dust with powdered sugar (optional) before cutting.

Makes a 9×13 cake.

(Adapted from The Slow Roasted Italian)

Pear Crumble Pie

December 4, 2020

I’m so excited to be finally sharing this recipe with you! For the last 3+ years this Pear Crumble Pie has become our favorite pie ever/Thanksgiving dessert tradition. Since I only make it once a year and am often traveling for the holiday and baking it in someone else’s kitchen, it has taken me this long to take a picture and share it. But I have already passed the recipe on to a few friends who love it too. It’s a keeper! And since pears are in season much of the winter, it would also make an excellent Christmas/New Years treat!

Pear pie might sound weird, since apples are more commonly used. But I promise, once you try this combo of sweet Bartlett pears with tossed with cinnamon and vanilla in a flaky all-butter pie crust and topped with cookie crumble, you won’t go back to apple pie!

You might notice that the left half of the pie above has oats in the crumb topping and the right half does not. I figured out several years ago that I can’t digest oatmeal without side effects (which I’ll spare you the details on). So I’ve adapted this recipe to be made with and without the oats and it’s great either way. Though I do love the heartiness the oatmeal provides to the crumble, and recommend using it if you can!

Lastly, please make your own pie crust. It’s really not hard. And it tastes so SO much better than store bought. This is my favorite pie crust recipe. It’s buttery and flaky and perfect. (And can easily be doubled when you want to use it in a recipe that calls for a top and bottom pie crust!)

Pear Crumble Pie

INGREDIENTS

Pie Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed
3-4 Tbsp. ice water
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Filling:
5 large Bartlett pears (about 2 lbs.), peeled, cored and thinly sliced (use pears that are ripe but still firm- not too squishy yet- so they don’t get mushy once baked)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds scraped out (or 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract)

Crumble:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (or replace with another 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

DIRECTIONS

  1. To make the pie crust, mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor (or by hand with a whisk). Add the butter and pulse until coarse mill forms (or cut in the butter by hand with a pastry blender until only pea-size crumbs remain). Gradually blend in enough ice water until the dough clumps (or mix in a Tbsp. at a time by hand). Form the dough into a large ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill 2 hours or overnight.
  2. Roll out the pastry dough on a floured surface until large enough to cover a 9-inch pie dish. Drape the rolled out pastry over the pie dish and press it down to fit. Trim and crimp the edges. Brush the bottom and sides of the crust with the beaten egg white. 
  3. To make the filling, in a large bowl add the vanilla seeds/extract, pears, flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands or a spoon to carefully combine the ingredients together, making sure the pears don’t break apart. Set aside.
  4. To make the crumble, in a small bowl, combine the flour, oats (if using), brown sugar and butter. Using a pastry cutter/fork (or your fingers), combine the mixture until it resembles large crumbs.
  5. Spoon the filling into the pie crust. Top with the crumble mixture.
  6. Preheat oven to 325 F. (If you are worried about your filling spilling over, you can place the pie pan on top of a large rimmed baking sheet to catch any dripping while it bakes. I used a deep dish pie pan and didn’t need to.)
  7. Cover the exposed pie crust with thin strips of aluminum foil or a pie shield and bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Remove foil/shield and bake for another 25 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is golden and crisp. Let cool for at least an hour before serving. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. 

Makes 1 pie.

(Adapted from Bitchin Camaro)

Blueberry Buttermilk Sheet Pan Pancakes

October 12, 2020

Besides bowls of cereal or peanut/almond butter on toast, blueberry pancakes (+ eggs scrambled with veggies) are the most frequently made breakfast foods around here. And this pancake mix is my go-to recipe. It makes part whole wheat, perfect fluffy pancakes that are best stuffed with blueberries. But it requires standing over the stove flipping pancakes one by one. So I was intrigued by the idea of cooking an entire batch of pancakes all at once in the oven! I thought for sure they would be inferior, but I was totally wrong! These sheet pan pancakes are very similar and just as delicious as the stove-top version.

I think you could increase the whole wheat flour to half with no problem (maybe add 1-2 Tbsp. more buttermilk if the batter seems too dry). Just about any berry would be delicious here. And I didn’t use nearly as much lemon as the recipe called for. I just wanted a hint of lemon flavor, so I stuck with about 1/4 of the zest and juice and it was just right.

Blueberry Buttermilk Sheet Pan Pancakes

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup Greek yogurt + 1 1/4 cups milk)
2 large eggs
juice and zest of 1 medium lemon (optional, I only used about 1/4 of the lemon juice and zest because I didn’t want a strong lemon flavor)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2- 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen, I used 2 cups frozen blueberries and I sprinkled them on top of the batter so they wouldn’t turn the batter blue, I’ve also used a mixture of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a rimmed 13 × 18-inch sheet pan with cooking spray (this will keep the parchment in place). Cut a piece of parchment paper to cover the bottom completely. Place on the sheet pan and spray more oil on the parchment and around the sides of the sheet pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together the butter, buttermilk (or yogurt and milk), eggs, lemon juice and zest, and vanilla.
  3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.
    Do not overmix (or worry if there are some lumps). Gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula (or wait and sprinkle them on top once the batter is in the pan).
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan. Spread evenly with a spatula, then tap the sheet pan on the counter a few times to settle the batter.
  5. Bake, until golden and set, about 12-15 minutes. Slice and serve with toppings of choice (with butter, syrup, yogurt, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, etc.!).

Makes a 13×18-inch sheet pan of pancakes.

(Adapted from Skinnytaste)

Blueberries and Cream Angel Food Cake Trifle

August 28, 2020

This light yet decadent trifle is the perfect summer dessert… It starts with a base of fluffy angel food cake (store-bought or use this amazingly easy recipe to make your own) which is layered with a cream cheese filling, blueberry sauce, and topped with sweetened whipped cream. I’ve got a freezer full of blueberries we picked this summer and so I used those, but I’ve also purchased the tiny wild frozen blueberries (easy to find at Trader Joes’s or Whole Foods) and especially love it made with those. The trifle dish is pretty, but not necessary. Any large bowl or casserole pan will work as well. Bonus if it’s clear so you can see those beautiful layers of cake, cream, and berries!

Blueberries and Cream Angel Food Cake Trifle

INGREDIENTS

Blueberry Filling:
18 oz. fresh or frozen blueberries (I’ve used both regular and wild blueberries)
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup. cold water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Cream:
16 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2/3 cup half-and-half
2/3 cup sugar

Whipped Cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1 angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes (store-bought or homemade)

DIRECTIONS

  1. For the blueberry filling, in a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, water and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook until thickened, 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
  2. For the cream layer, in a blender or with an electric mixer (handheld or stand mixer), whip together the cream cheese, half-and-half, and sugar until smooth and creamy, 2-3 minutes.
  3. For the whipped cream, beat together the heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form.
  4. To assemble, in a trifle dish, a large glass bowl or a 9X13-inch (or slightly smaller) dish, spread half of the angel food cake cubes. Top with half of the cream, half of the blueberries, dolloping across the top, and then spread half of the whipped cream on top. Repeat the layers. The layers don’t have to be perfect. It’s going to be a little haphazard and messy.
  5. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.

(Adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe)

Blackberry Cobbler

August 21, 2020

It’s that time of year when we find blackberries growing all over the wild here. My kids love summer walks when we can scavenge for and snack on summer berries. Most of us don’t have to leave our backyards to find a few! This past weekend Dustin’s parents were visiting and we picked up a few box-fulls of berries at the farmers market and so we made cobbler.

This blackberry cobbler is super simple. You whisk together some melted butter, flour (+ baking powder + salt if like me you’ve never bought self-rising flour in your life!) , sugar, and milk, then pour it in a buttered pan and sprinkle the blackberries on top. Then you dust it with more sugar which will create an irresistible crunchy crust as it bakes. You can add even more sugar to caramelize during the last few minutes in the oven. (I did, because Paula Dean told me to. Though this last bit probably isn’t necessary because there was already A LOT of sugar.) Serve slightly warm with a scoop or vanilla ice cream (or homemade whipped cream)!

Blackberry Cobbler

INGREDIENTS

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted + extra for greasing pan
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1 cup self-rising flour (or 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder + 1/4 tsp. salt)
1 cup whole milk
2 cups fresh (or frozen) blackberries (I added a few extra ~2 1/2 cups total)
whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream, for serving

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 3-quart (9×13) baking dish with butter.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup sugar with the flour and milk. Whisk in the melted butter.
  3. Rinse the blackberries and pat them dry. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the blackberries evenly over the top of the batter. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the blackberries. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 1 hour. When 10 minutes of the cooking time remains, sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over the top. Serve warm or at room temperature. Top with whipped cream or ice cream . . . or both!

Makes a 9×13 pan.

Adapted from Food Network