Tag Archives: baking

Blueberry Port Cobbler

Blueberries were recently on sale at my grocery store–$5 for 2 pounds! This blueberry cobbler was the result. I had seen it just a few days prior on Soup Addict’s blog (who in turn took her inspiration from Paul Deen), switched out the Grand Marnier for Port and called it Rin Tin Tin.

Of course, this cobbler didn’t take care of all those blueberries, so I did what any other rational, sensient being would do and simply drowned the rest of them in heavy cream. With a sprinkling of sugar. Ahoy mateys! What ho! It looketh to me piratey eyes like we’ve spotted a cream-lovin’ land-lubber! With all that cream she will turn into blubber! Lubber-blubber! Oh hoh hoh and a bottle or rum!

I realize that little flight of fancy made no sense. For accuracy’s sake, please strike the ‘sensient’ and ‘rational’ descriptors above, and for heaven’s sake let’s move on before this post completely disintegrates into nonsense.

Ingredients

(Serves 6)

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
3 TBS cup water
1 cup sugar, divided
1 TBS corn starch
1 TBS Port
1 pinch freshly ground nutmeg

4 TBS butter
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

Yikes! I’m already forgetting ingredients.

This guy was hiding out in the liquor cabinet. Yo hoh hoh and a bottle of port, say I.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put the butter in a 1 1/2 quart baking dish, and place it in the oven to melt.

Grab yon cute yellow pot.

Pour in the berries, 1/2 of the sugar . . .

. . . and the water.

I should note that though I used 1/4 cup of water when I made it, I reduced the amount to 3 TBS in the printable recipe (linked at the bottom of the post) per Soup Addict’s recommendation. You’ll see why later.

Heat the fruit over medium high until it’s boiling, and add the cornstarch.

Stir in the cornstarch, and add the nutmeg . . .

. . . and port.

In fact, next time I’ll probably just substitute the water for port.

Now turn down the heat to low, and simmer it for 10 minutes.

Mix the flour, remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl, combining well so that there are no lumps.

(I gave it a quick sift with my fingers to make sure–no one wants a baking powder surprise hidden in the batter)

Add the milk in slowly, stirring vigorously, to prevent clumping.

Pour the flour/milk mixture into the baking dish over the melted butter. I should note that Soup Addict’s batter looked much thicker than mine. I have no idea why. I think I’ll blame the kitchen imps–the same ones that try to cause something to fall out of the freezer every time I open it. I’m not naming names–but they know who they are.

Don’t stir the batter and butter together! Just let them coexist–together, but separate.

Spoon the fruit over top, ladling in the syrup at the end.

Beautiful!

And I love the deep magenta color of the berry syrup.

Mmmm. I want to bathe myself in it. Or possibly have a dress made in that exact shade.

Bake the cobbler for 40-50 minutes. The batter should rise to the top . . .

Mine didn’t.

It stubbornly decided to bake up differently than Soup Addict’s cobbler.

But it was still awesome.

The sides pulled away easily from the baking dish.

It’s the butter at work, I can tell you that much.

My cobbler turned out more like a berry sauce with floating bits of deliciously spongey cake. See? It’s like a (thick) fruit soup in there.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. But this is the reason behind the after-the-fact reduction of the water to 3 TBS in the printable recipe, which will hopefully reduce the soupiness of yours.

Serve with ice cream!

It stores well in the fridge, and when you reheat it the next day, the cake is just as spongey.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Blueberry Port Cobbler

German Apple Pancake

Also called a Dutch baby, this recipe hails from my new favorite source: an America’s Test Kitchen cookbook. How I love those people–their scientific dedication to perfecting recipes, their tireless explanations of why some things work and others don’t, the variety of recipes and cuisines they play with.

As a kid, Friday nights were movie nights. We would spread out a large tablecloth on the rug and set out an assortment of food–sometimes Mom’s homemade pizza, but very frequently a meal called “Popcorn, Cheese & Apples.” It’s pretty self explanatory. Fresh, stovetop popcorn, slices of whatever cheese was on hand, and sliced apples. I recently reproduced this meal for a movie night in our little apartment, except that instead of serving sliced apples I served this apple pancake.

It was delightful! A tad tricky, but hopefully by pointing out my errors I will help you avoid them. Let’s hit it!

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

3/4 cup half and half
2 large eggs
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup flour
1 TBS butter
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 TBS powdered sugar, for serving

Preheat the oven to 500 F with the rack in the middle.

Now we’re going to deal with those apples.

These 3 look like troublemakers to me. Let’s call them Stan, Cran, and Harriet.

They just need a firm hand.

Peel them, core them, cut them in slices, and tell them to drop and give you ten.

Here are the ingredients for the batter, all assembled and looking quite demure:

Into a blender or food processor, add the eggs, sugar, salt . . .

. . . the half and half and the vanilla.

Blend for about 15 seconds, until combined.

Forgive the hideous pictures–I’ve been cursed with a non-photogenic blender. And an inconsistent white balance, which makes my white wall look strangely mauve. Or would you call that more of a lavender tone?

Add the flour . . .

. . . and blend again until mixed and lump-free (about 30 more seconds).

Melt the butter in a 10 inch ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add the apples and brown sugar.

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally . . .

. . . then cook for 5 further minutes stirring constantly. You don’t want that sugar to burn!

The apples should now be a lovely golden color.

Turn off the heat and pour the batter into the skillet, starting at the edges . . .

. . . going around in a circle (still around the edges) . . .

. . . and ending in the middle.

Immediately put the skillet in the oven and lower the heat to 425 F.

Man, I try to keep those knobs on the stove clean, but the grease . . . the grease. It’s a fighter. A serious contender for the victory.

Bake 15-17 minutes, until golden and puffed.

By all means do not exceed 17 minutes. You’ll see why soon enough.

Remove the skillet from the oven and, using a spatula that’s heat proof, loosen the edges of the pancake.

Invert the pancake onto a platter by turning the skillet upside down, and dust with confectioner’s sugar. The ‘puff’ only lasts a few minutes, so serve immediately!

I’m not guaranteeing that it won’t fall apart (as you can see it did in the above picture) . . . but it’s so tasty no one will care.

Okay, I hope you’re steeling yourself. Because I have a confession to make: the first time I made this, I thought I  knew better than (gulp) America’s Test Kitchen. The pancake looked very cream-colored on top after the full 17 minutes, so I left it in 4-5 minutes longer.

Whoops.

I claim full responsibility.

America’s Test Kitchen shares 0% of the fault for this blackened disgrace.

Believe it or not, it still tasted amazing. I wouldn’t lie to you. I ate about 75% of it entirely by myself.

Don’t hate on it ’cause it’s not pretty.

I did attempt to redeem myself by making it a second time. I removed it right at 17 minutes, and it was perfect.

However, still not very photogenic.

Just close your eyes, think moist apple pie/cake thingy, and all will be well.

Click here for printer-friendly version: German Apple Pancake