Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

Ingredients: 1 cup All Purpose Flour, 2 egg whites,  1 tablespoon granulated white sugar,  1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbs melted butter, 3/4 cup of milk, 1/2 cup blueberries.

Sift together the dry ingredients with a whisk.   Whip up the egg whites until soft peaks form.  Mix the dry with the milk, butter & blueberries.  Fold in the egg whites gently.  You should still see fluffy pieces of egg white. 

You'll be able to tell the cakes are ready to flip when bubbles start forming on the uncooked side.  

Blueberry Cheese Danish

Last week when I was in the grocery store I saw packs of puff pastry that contained 5 squares per package.  I knew that they had to come home with me.

Ingredients: 5 squares of puff pastry thawed in the fridge overnight, 1/3 cup of mascarpone cheese, 1 teaspoon of corn starch, 2 tablespoons + 1 of white granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, zest off of 1/2 a lemon, 1/3 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)*, 1 egg beaten

Preheat Oven to 350.

Bring mascarpone cheese to room temperature.  Mix in 2 tablespoons of sugar, corn starch, lemon zest & juice and blueberries.  Beat the egg.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the puff pastry.  Place a spoonful in the center and fold in half.  Crimp the edges with a fork.  Brush tops with beaten egg and then sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Simple Blueberry Sauce

Ingredients: 1.5 cups of blueberries; 3 tablespoons of sugar or to taste; 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, about 1/2 cup of water.

Heat all the ingredients over medium low heat in a sauce pan until blueberries start to burst and give up their juice.  Mush them around a bit with a wooden spoon to help them along.   Simmer for a total of 15-20 minutes until the mixture thickens.

Strain through a fine mesh colander or sieve.   Let cool in the refridgerator and then pour over vanilla ice cream.  This would also be fantastic warm over buttermilk pancakes or stirred into plain yogurt.

Apple-Blueberry Cake

Pan: 9 inch spring form pan well buttered and dusted with granulated sugar
Ingredients:  1 & 1/2 cups of flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda & 1 teaspoon of baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon of salt; 6 tablespoons of melted butter + 2 tablespoons for topping; 3/4 cups of brown sugar + 2 tablespoons for topping; 1/2 cup of buttermilk; 2 large eggs; 4 apples peeled, cored & sliced; 1 cup of blueberries*; 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt in one bowl and wisk.  Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, eggs & buttermilk in another bowl and wisk.   Wisk the flour mix into the wet ingredients until well combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the apples in a nice layer over the top.

Spread the blueberries on top & then sprinkle the fruit with extra brown sugar and cinnamon.

Press the sugar topped fruit into the dough.  Let the dough come up between the cracks and then dot the top with butter.
Bake at 350 for about 50-55 minutes.

Let cool completely before removing from the spring form pan.  Serve with whipped cream for dessert or by itself for breakfast.

*Don't like blueberries?  Use raspberries or blackberries.