Mixed Berry Crisp

It's full on berry season here and we couldn't resist picking up a berry bounty. This recipe calls for a mix of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and quartered strawberries (or 3 lbs of peaches!). I ended up using golden berries, strawberries, blackberries, and boysenberries. The combination worked amazingly well with the almond topping. I made a full recipe of the topping and half a recipe of fruit and as suggested am saving topping for another quick and easy dessert in the future.

One year ago: Rhubarb Snacking Cake
Two years ago: Prosciutto and Cream Pasta
Three years ago: Broccoli, Tomato, Goat Cheese Pasta

Mixed Berry Crisp (from Ready for Dessert)

Ingredients
Filling
795g mixed berries
65g sugar
2 tbsp/15g flour
2 tsp lemon juice
Topping
110g flour
50g sugar
120g brown sugar
90g crushed amaretti cookies
1 tsp ground cinnamon
65g almonds, toasted
115g butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. To make filling, toss ingredients together in shallow, 2 quart baking dish. Set aside.
3. To make topping, pulse together flour, sugar, brown sugar, amaretti, cinnamon, and almonds (almonds can still be a bit chunky).
4. Add chilled butter to topping and pulse until beginning to hold together (or if like me your food processor is too small, you can do this with a pastry blender).
5. Distribute topping over fruit. Bake until bubbling around edges, 40 - 50 minutes.

Berry Summer Bundt Cake

It wouldn't be summer without a new way to put berries into cake form. I upped the berries in this to 4 cups and used a mixture of currants, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries. I also skipped on the icing so it would be slightly more appropriate for breakfast. This is highly adaptable for whatever berries you have on hand. Mine took a little bit longer to bake and still came out slightly undercooked in parts. The berries also sank a tiny bit.

One year ago: Chipotle Pork Cheeseburgers
Two years ago: Vodka Cream Pasta

Berry Summer Bundt Cake (from Smitten Kitchen, originally Rustic Fruit Desserts)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups (355 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (20 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1 cup (8 ounces or 225 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk
3 - 4 cups mixed berries

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt pan, either with butter or a nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk or sift 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and impossibly fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, add your eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition.
5. Beat in vanilla, briefly.
6. Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, beating until just combined, followed by half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and remaining flour mixture. Scrape down from time to time and don’t mix any more than you need to.
7. In the bowl where you’d mixed your dry ingredients, toss the berries with 2 tablespoons of flour.
8. With a silicon spatula, gently fold the berries into the cake batter. The batter will be very thick and this will seem impossible without squishing the berries a little, but just do your best and remember that squished berries do indeed make for a pretty batter.
9. Spread cake batter — you might find it easier to plop it in the pan in large spoonfuls, because it’s so thick — in the prepared baking pan and spread the top smooth. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating the cake 180 degrees after 30 (to make sure it browns evenly). The cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean of batter.
10. Set cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, before inverting the cake onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely.

White Chocolate Strawberry Blondies

White chocolate gets a bad rap. My childhood memories of it are overly sweet candy bars that my mom would try to push off on me because it was less likely to give me a headache. It wasn't until well into adulthood that I discovered how delicious on its own good white chocolate is. It's even better once you add fruit to it. Raspberry is a natural companion, but I think I had discounted the opportunities for strawberries. It's not quite strawberry season here yet, but luckily I still have a stash in the freezer from the peak of last season. I'm glad I didn't wait to make these, they're well worth it and very summery even on a stormy day.

White Chocolate Strawberry Blondies (from Love and Olive Oil)

Ingredients
5 ounces white chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved (I used closer to 2 cups)

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line the bottom and sides of an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang (this will help the blondies come out of the pan later). Butter parchment.
2. In a double boiler or a bowl set over (but not touching) a pot of gently simmering water, melt chocolate and butter, stirring constantly, until smooth. [You might be able to do this step in the microwave if you have grocery store white chocolate.]
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. At this point your batter should have cooled slightly to just above room temperature. Don't worry if it appears to separate.
4. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until smooth.
5. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just incorporated and no dry flour remains.
6. Fold in strawberries. Pour into prepared pan.
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until top is lightly golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack and cool completely.

Strawberry and Tomato Salad with Fresh Herbs

I was happily surprised to find fresh strawberries in the CSA box this week. The strawberries are an experiment for our greenhouse and supplies are limited, so I wasn't expecting to get some of the precious strawberries in the middle of winter. They're not quite as amazing as fresh Quebec strawberries in the summer, but I think they have more flavour than the gigantic strawberries I grew up thinking were strawberries. Paired with some delicious CSA box cherry tomatoes, this made an excellent salad.

Strawberry and Tomato Salad with Fresh Herbs (from Sexy Cuisiner pour Deux)

Ingredients
20 cherry tomatoes
1 box fresh strawberries
8 basil leaves
10 - 12 mint leaves
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
pepper

1. Cut tomatoes and strawberries in half (or quarters if they're large).
2. Cut herbs into strips.
3. In a bowl, mix together tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, and other ingredients.
4. Top with pepper to taste.

Strawberry Buckwheat Tea Cake

I saw this cookbook while in Vermont for the weekend and resisted the temptation to buy it ... and then obsessed over it and a recipe that seemed made for me. I had been searching for things to do with buckwheat and seem to be becoming enamored with the flour and of course, strawberry season is here and I seem to be eating them constantly. Despite the wait and the build-up, this cake was worth it. The original calls for more strawberries and whipped cream as a topping, but I skipped that to make it more of a breakfast dish. It would be good with the additional strawberries and cream, but is also wonderful without.

One year ago: Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart

Strawberry Buckwheat Tea Cake (adapted from Farmers' Market Dessert)

Ingredients
115g (1/2 cup) butter
110g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
60g (1/2 cup) buckwheat flour
170g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Butter an 8" square or 9" round baking pan.
2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling the pan once the butter has melted until it turns a deep gold and releases a nutty aroma, 4 - 6 minutes. Pour into a heatproof medium bowl and let cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. To the butter, whisk in yogurt/sour cream, eggs, and vanilla.
5. Stir butter mixture into flour mixture until just combined.
6. Using a spatula, gently fold in 1 1/2 cups of the strawberries.
7. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Scatted remaining cup of strawberries on top.
8. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, 40 - 45 minutes. Let cool at least 20 minutes before serving.

Strawberry Yogurt Scones

I may have done enough substitutions in this recipe for it to be something entirely new. The original called for ricotta, but I had some yogurt in the fridge that was a week from expiring and an aversion to buying ricotta for only one recipe. The raspberries I had bought for the scones ended up being used in another recipe, so I decided to make use of the last bit of the strawberries (how did I go through 1.5L of strawberries so quickly?). Finally, I couldn't resist the urge to use some of my buckwheat flour instead of the whole wheat (although I resisted the urge to substitute for all of the whole wheat). The end result were deliciously moist scones that looked strangely like cookies, but tasted like scones. A bit confusing, but good!

SK warns that the dough for this is wet, but mine was ridiculous despite scaling back on the cream. I might even try going without cream next time, although the final product was tasty, just not the most presentable and a pain to work with! A little bit more strawberry and maybe a dash of lemon might've also been good for this, so feel free to play around with the proportions.

One year ago: Apricot Blueberry Cobbler

Strawberry Yogurt Scones (loosely adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients
1/2 cup (60g) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (60g) buckwheat flour
1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder, preferably aluminum-free
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon table salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) cold unsalted butter
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
3/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup heavy cream (see notes)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In the bottom of a large, wide-ish bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, sugar and salt together.
3. With a pastry blender: Add the butter (no need to chop it first) and use the blender to both cut the butter into the flour mixture until the biggest pieces are the size of small peas.
4. Toss in strawberries and use the blender again to break them into chunks.
5. Add the yogurt and heavy cream together and stir them in to form a dough with a flexible spatula.
6. Using your hands, gently knead dough into an even mass, right in the bottom of the bowl.
7. With as few movements as possible, transfer the dough to a well-floured counter, flour the top of the dough and pat it into a 7-inch square about 1-inch tall.
8. With a large knife, divide the dough into 9 even squares. Transfer the scones to prepared baking sheet with a spatula.
9. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes, until lightly golden at the edges. Cool in pan for a minute, then transfer to a cooling rack.

Strawberry and Rosemary-Caramel Buckwheat Tart

I fell in love with this pie as soon as I saw the photos. My version didn't turn out quite as beautiful, but it was delicious. It also came together surprisingly easily given all of the components. I passed on the strawberry syrup because I thought the Quebec strawberries were sweet enough that they didn't really need it (and the idea of adding frozen strawberry juice just seemed wrong!). My cream bit also turned out a bit loose. I think it could've used just a bit more cooking time. Even runny though, this pie was delicious. Expect more recipes featuring buckwheat in the future.

One year ago: Leftover skillet eggs

Strawberry and Rosemary-Caramel Buckwheat Tart (from Desserts for Breakfast)

Ingredients
for tart crust:
100 gr buckwheat flour
160 gr AP flour
50 gr sugar
7 Tbspn (99g) butter, cold and cut in pieces
1 egg yolk
3-4 Tbspn cold water
for rosemary-caramel:
100 gr sugar
~2 heaping Tbspn fresh rosemary leaves (~1 1/2 large sprigs of rosemary)
3 Tbspn (43g) butter
1/2 tspn coarse salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tspn freshly squeezed lemon juice
for cream:
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 egg
150 gr sugar
2 Tbspn AP flour
1 tspn vanilla extract
for strawberries and final assembly:
1 tspn lemon juice
1-2 Tbspn sugar, to taste
fresh strawberries, sliced or whole

Crust
1. Using a food processor or pastry cutter, mix the buckwheat and AP flours and sugar until combined. Cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until the size of small peas.
2. Add the egg yolk and gradually add the water just until a dough begins to form when you press it between two fingers. Do not overmix.
3. Form the pastry into a ball and refrigerate for at least one hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
5. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and press the dough into the tart pan. Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork, cover with parchment paper, and weigh down using dry beans or pie weights. Return to freezer/refrigerator for a few minutes if the dough has softened.
6. Bake for ~13-15 minutes until the edges just begin to turn golden. Remove the beans and the parchment paper and continue to bake for 3-5 minutes more, until the crust has completely turned golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
Caramel
7. In a small, light-colored saucepan, wet the sugar with just enough water to make it the consistency of wet sand (~1 - 1 1/2 Tbspn water). Add the rosemary leaves.
8. Cook the sugar and rosemary on medium heat. Do not stir once the sugar starts boiling--swirl the pan around gently to insure even cooking. Cook until the sugar is a deep amber color, right before it is about to burn. Immediately add the butter and salt and whisk thoroughly. Be careful--this will sputter!
9. As soon as the butter has completely melted, remove from heat and carefully add the heavy cream, whisking continuously.
10. Once the cream has incorporated, pour the caramel into another heat-resistant container to cool, straining through a fine mesh sieve to remove unevenly cooked sugar, if necessary. Let cool briefly. Stir in the lemon juice. Let cool briefly, and spread a thin layer onto the bottom of the tart crust. Save any extra caramel for other uses. Let the caramel cool to set.
Cream
11. Bring the milk and cream to just a simmer.
12. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg and sugar. Whisk in the flour.
13. Using the simmering milk, temper the egg mixture by adding a little bit of the hot liquid at a time, whisking constantly.
14. Return the milk and egg mixture to heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the saucepan until the mixture thickens and can thickly coat the back of a spoon. (Be patient!!)
15. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
16. Let cool. Once cool, pour on top of the caramel in the tart crust and smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let it set.
Home stretch
17. Mix cut strawberries with the lemon juice and then stir in the sugar to taste. Let sit.
18. Arrange the fresh strawberries on top of the prepared tart.