Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Absolutely nothing tastes more like summer than a perfectly ripe peach. Let the juices run down my arm and between my fingers in a sticky mess – it’s sweet and floral and heavenly.

Peach season has landed, so I am always looking for ways to use peaches about to become too ripe, but were so cheap at the grocery store that I couldn’t help myself.

Grant recently hosted a big Cabinpalooza at his mountain home in Virginia.

It turned out to be a big foodie fest/drinking fest/fishing contest. With so many fabulous cooks bringing fresh veggies, flowers and fruits straight from their gardens (blog post to come!), I decided to hang back in the wings and focus on dessert.

I made this peach and blueberry crisp. Blueberries add a bit of acidity to the super sweet peaches, and of course the color is fabulous. The crust is always the best part, in my opinion. Nobody was disappointed.

Adapted from Ina Garten.

Peach and Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:

For the fruit:

• 2 pounds firm, ripe peaches (6 to 8 peaches)
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

For the crumble:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into baking dish.

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in a food processor. Pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or foil and bake for 50-55 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly.

Mine didn’t get as browned on top as I desired, so I just broiled it a bit at the end for a nice crust.

Serve warm or at room temperature – goes very well with vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

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Blueberry crumb cake

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to express my appreciation for those I love. Food, of course, is one of the great loves of my life. So I made this recipe for my love of food and my favorite blue-eyed blueberry fan, who makes me tortilla soup when I am too sick to even prepare a packet of Top Ramen.

This cake is like a coffee cake and we have enjoyed it in the mornings with a cup of coffee or tea. It would be delicious with other berries – I’m thinking blackberries or huckleberries or raspberries – but blueberries were on sale at Harris Teeter, so that’s what I went for. The cake is moistened with sour cream, like Ina Garten’s blueberry muffins, and topped with a streusel spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg.  A tasty combination of textures.

Ina’s Blueberry Crumb Cake

For the streusel:

1/4 c. sugar

1/3 c. light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg

1/4 lb. unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 c. flour

For the cake:

6 T unsalted butter at room temp.

3/4 c. granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

2/3 c. sour cream

1 1/4 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. fresh blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel: Combine sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in melted butter, then flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake: Cream butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixter with paddle, on high speed, 4-5 min. Reduce to low and add eggs 1 at a time, then vanilla, lemon zest, sour cream.

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With mixer on low, add flour mixture to batter until just combined. Fold in blueberries and stir with spatula until mixed.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread with a knife. With your fingers, crumble streusel topping over the batter. You may  not need all of it. Bake for 40-50 min. until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar.

Crunchy crumb topping

I baked this while my other love rolled around in the sunlight:

Cats and sun spots = happiness

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

“Don’t be blue” berry and sour-cream muffins

These muffins deserve an attention-grabbing name like “Blueberry breakup muffins” or “Don’t be blueberry muffins.” Because they can make the rainiest of days (like the entire South is experiencing this week)  a little bit sweeter.

My aunt and uncle own a blueberry farm in Arkansas. Growing up, I spent many summers in the sticky sun, picking buckets of blueberries for 50 cents an hour. Child labor! Perhaps that’s why I never liked blueberries – I don’t like blueberry pie, cobbler or pancakes.

But, for some reason, I love these blueberry muffins.

I got the recipe from Ina Garten as I looked for a way to use up 2 pints of old farmers’ market bluberries that Jesse’s brother bought a week ago. We happened to have some eggs, milk and sour cream in the fridge, too, so I had everything I needed to make them.

And that sour cream – whoa. As they baked, the muffins smelled like my mom’s cream-cheese sugar cookies that she makes at Christmas. The muffins come out light and fluffy, sticky with sugar and containing that extra bite from the sour cream. The tart blueberries are a nice burst of juice, of course.

I always thought you had to mix the blueberries in flour for muffins – so they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffins. But these didn’t include a flour dusting and the blueberries were suspended throughout the muffins. Maybe that was from the leavening agents?

Ingredients:

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 oz. sour cream (about 1 cup – I had less than a cup but it turned out fine)

1/4 c. milk

2 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

2 half pints of blueberries (or more!), picked through for stems

Heat oven to 350. Line two muffin pans with paper liners.

Cream together the sugar and butter for five minutes, until light and airy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, sour cream and milk.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the egg mixture and blend. Fold in the blueberries.

Scoop the mixture evenly into the prepared pans. You should have enough for 2 dozen. Bake for 25-30 min. (mine took 28 minutes), turning the pan half-way through. They should be lightly browned and a cake tester will come out clean (toothpick inserted in center). Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy these with coffee for breakfast, or with a glass of milk after dinner. There is simply  no bad time to eat a great blueberry muffin.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo