Blueberry Cheesecake Tart

I love tarts. For those of you who are intimidated by making cheesecakes, this is a great simple alternative. The crust only bakes about 10 minutes, otherwise it’s an easy no bake dessert.

Crust Ingredients:

1 package of shortbread cookies, plus one sleeve of another cookie package, crushed. I used Keebler Sandies

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor or put cookies in a large ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them. Mix butter with cookie crumbs and press into a tart pan with a removable bottom. My tart pan was 10 1/2 inches. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool completely before adding cream cheese filling.

Ingredients for cream cheese filling:

1 8 ounce plus 4 ounces of another package of cream cheese

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Refrigerate mixing bowl and attachment(s) in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and extracts together until smooth. Add whipping cream and beat until soft peaks form. Spread evenly into tart shell.

Blueberry topping:

2-4 cups of blueberries, mine were frozen but thawed it was about 2 cups*

1/2 cup blueberry preserves

3 Tablespoons honey

Melt preserves and honey in a sauce pan. Let cool completely. Arrange blueberries on top of tart. Stir preserve/honey mixture and lightly brush or spoon over blueberries. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Enjoy!

*make sure if you are using frozen blueberries that they are thawed and drained well

Out of the Blue Blueberry Cake

Right out of the blue, I knew I needed to make a blueberry cake. Why?! I had 4 quarts of organic blueberries in my freezer begging to be eaten! Now I have a little less. This blueberry cake is fresh and delicious. Not too sweet. This cake will include directions on how to make this recipe a layer cake or a one pan 13 x 9” sheet pan cake. No matter what you choose, you cake will be delicious.

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups of sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs, room temperature

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoons of salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen, more for decorations, optional

1 Tablespoon corn starch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare pan 13 x 9 or 2 8” cake pans. Liberally butter your 13 x 9 pan or if using cake pans, spray with a flour non stick spray, line inside with parchment paper and spray again on top on parchment paper.

Mix butter and sugar together. Add eggs one at a time and blend until incorporated. Scrape sides of mixing bowl down. Add vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, soda and powder. Alternate adding flour and buttermilk to the sugar/butter mixture, ending with flour. Coat blueberries with cornstarch and stir into cake batter. Pour batter into pan(s) and bake 30 – 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. Sit back and enjoy your berry good cake!

Whip Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

1 quart heavy whipping cream*

1 8 ounce block of cream cheese*

1 cup of powdered sugar or more, taste it before adding more*

2 teaspoons of vanilla*

Place mixing bowl and attachment(s) in refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes or longer. Best cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Slowly add heavy cream and stir mixer at slow and increase speed until whip cream is very stiff. Frost on cooled cake (cake layers).

*If you make a 13 x 9 cake, cut frosting ingredients in half.

Whip Cream Rose Cake was decorated with a 1M Wilton tip.

Blueberry Hill Cobbler

You will definitely find your thrill with this Blueberry Hill Cobbler. So fruity and yummy. This was a family favorite when I served it. It disappeared very quickly as seconds were requested by two people. We love it served hot with vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:

4 quarts of blueberries

1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided

4 heaping Tablespoons of cornstarch

1 1/2 cups of flour

2 teaspoons of baking powder

6 Tablespoons of cold butter, cut into pieces

3/4 cups plus 4 Tablespoons of heavy whipping cream

Vanilla Ice Cream, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with nonstick spray. Wash the blueberries in a colander. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with the cornstarch. Gently add that to the berries and combine. Place blueberries in your prepared pan. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add butter to the flour mixture and cut in the butter using a pastry blender, or with two knives or grate frozen butter. It all works. The flour should resemble fine crumbs. Pour in whipping cream and mix to form dough. The dough will be very sticky. Drop by teaspoonfuls on top of the berries. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Bake for 50 minutes or until top is brown and the blueberries are bubbling. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy.

Patriotic Pound Cake

Just in time for Fourth of July! I present my Patriotic Pound Cake made with fresh strawberries and blueberries. I also added some red, white and blue sprinkles in the batter to make it even more patriotic. Have a slice with coffee for breakfast or serve it as a simple dessert. 
Ingredients:  

3/4 cup butter, (1 and 1/2 sticks) room temperature 

1 cup of sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 3/4 cup flour plus an additional 2 Tablespoons for the berries

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries, chopped

5 Tablespoons of red, white and blue sprinkles

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line loaf pan with parchment paper or nonstick foil. 

In a mixing bowl, mix butter an sugar until light yellow and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and blend. Add extracts and mix well. 

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate flour mixture and milk. Once everything had been combined, stir in 5 Tablespoons of sprinkles to the batter. Add 2 Tablespoons flour to the berries, stir to coat the berries before adding them to the batter. This will keep the berries from sinking to the bottom. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely before glazing. 

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

1 -2 Tablespoons of milk

Decorative sprinkles, optional
Mix sugar with extract and one Tablespoon of milk. Add additional Tablespoon of milk if needed. Pour over Pound Cake. Decorate with more sprinkles if desired. 

Vintage Blueberry Cake

I celebrated the July 4th holiday with my friends Pat and Amy George. Several friends were there including Amy’s mother, Jean Conklin. Jean was telling me about the cake she brought over that day. It was grandmother’s recipe that had been in her family since 1890. This was the recipe of Jean’s grandmother, Ella Cole.  Ella passed this recipe down to her daughter, Helen Hardy and then Helen to her daughter Jean. This is a moist delicious cake full of blueberries. Moist, light and very flavorful.  The cake is not frosted, however if you want to frost it with a cream cheese frosting, that would be good or even add a streusel topping would also be delicious. I liked the simplicity of the cake. I don’t think it needs a thing. I hope you enjoy this tasty piece of history as much as I did. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup of oil or 2 sticks of softened butter 

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 cups of flour

3 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries

1 cup of walnuts, chopped, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 pan.
Blend sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time.  Add in vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add in the flour but not all at once. Stir in blueberries and walnuts. Bake for 35-45 minutes until done. Check with a cake tester, mine baked almost 45 minutes. Enjoy!

I Can’t Believe It’s A Blueberry Smoothie

I recently did a smoothie recipe using Dole Packaged Foods. I had not made a smoothie for a long time. Now I seem to be in a smoothie kick lately. New year, healthy me. This smoothie can definitely be a meal replacement will all of the healthy ingredients.  My secret to a good thick smoothie is using frozen fruit. No need for ice that will water down your drink. Lastly, put liquid (yogurt, milk or juice) in first. Liquid needs to be by the blades of your blender for smooth blending!

  
Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk (use soy, almond, skim, etc)

1 6-8 ounce container of yogurt, I used Greek for protein (or throw in a scoop of protein powder)

1 small banana, fresh or frozen 

1 cup of raw baby spinach, I usually grab a handful out of the bag

1/2 cup frozen pineapple*

1/2 cup of frozen blueberries*

  
Layer the above ingredients in your blender in that order. My blender has a smoothie setting, if you’re does not, blend/pulse till smooth. This recipe makes a delicious recipe and I promise you, you will not taste the the spinach. In fact, this smoothie tastes like a blueberry milkshake. It’s delicious, nutritious and very filling. Hard to believe this has protein, fruit, dairy and vegetables and it hits almost every mark on the food pyramid. 

  

Finished product and no sign of green spinach, which is tasteless in this smoothie.  
*If you do not have a smoothie option on your blender, partially thaw your fruit in order not to damage your blender blade.