Blueberry Syrup

So, my daughter may be boycotting blueberries soon. Recently, a local grocery store greatly reduced their blueberries cost from $0.99 for a 6 oz container, which was awesome anyway, down to two-6 oz containers for $1.00!!! I bought a lot of containers - more than 20 with three different visits. I froze a bunch of them in 1 and 2 cup servings, and then I made a bunch of blueberry muffins and this blueberry syrup. I had never made anything like this before, so I perused Pinterest and saved four different recipes that I used to help me decide how to make mine. The four I looked at were: Blueberry Syrup, Blueberry Syrup, Homemade Blueberry Syrup, and Homemade Blueberry Sauce. The lemon I used just add a beautiful brightness to the blueberries, and the addition of almond extract along with the vanilla just adds a little something that you can't quite put your finger on. Here's how I made it:

2 1/2 cups blueberries
1 cup sugar
2 1/4 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup water

Combine the blueberries, sugar, and lemon zest in the pot. Whisk the cornstarch with the water and lemon juice and stir into ingredients in the pot.

Heat blueberries until they come to a boil.

Simmer for 10 minutes stirring frequently until sauce thickens.

Remove from heat and incorporate the vanilla and almond extracts.

You can use this syrup on just about anything you wish - french toast, waffles, pancakes, yogurt. What might you use it on?

Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake

A few weeks ago a Facebook friend posted about a local grocery store having containers on blueberries on sell for $1.39. My daughter likes them, and I had a few recipes to try, so I stopped by to get some. These weren't the puny regular size blueberry containers; these batboys were 18-ounce containers of blueberries! I bought four. I really didn't know what all I was going to do with them, but I knew they wouldn't go to waste. I've already blogged Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins, now this one. I also made a mixed berry pound cake that I will probably blog as well. This recipe was really good. The lemon just adds something amazing to it, and bumps it up a notch. But really, the glaze is one of the best parts of this recipe - absolutely delicious!

1 cup butter
1¾ cups sugar
zest of one lemon
3 eggs
½ tsp vanilla
¾ cup buttermilk
3 cups fresh blueberries
2½ cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Lemon Glaze
1½ cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsps lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest

2 tsps almond extract

If you need buttermilk, you can make it by combining 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar and topping that off with 1 cup of milk. Do this first to allow time for the milk to curdle.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a separate large bowl, mix and combine dry ingredients together. Toss the blueberries with about 1/4 cup of flour.

In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and lemon zest together for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time and beat an additional minute per egg.

Add dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk to the butter/sugar/lemon zest/egg mixture. Typically, thirds with the flour works best - 1/3 of the flour; 1/2 of the buttermilk; 1/3 of the flour; 1/2 of the buttermilk; remaining 1/3 of the flour.

Fold in blueberries.

Grease and flour either two large bread pans, three small bread pans, or a bundt pan, and pour batter into prepared pan(s).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 to 60 min. Let pound cake cool completely. I prefer this so that the heat of the cake doesn't make the glaze run too much.

To prepare the lemon glaze, whisk ingredients together until smooth.

Pour glaze on the cake, and enjoy!

Blueberry Frozen Yogurt

My daughter really does like berries - raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries... so, I frequently look for new ways to prepare them to keep her interest. Here is another fruit recipe that I found online, Blueberry Frozen Yogurt. This recipe takes more work than the Blackberry Frozen Yogurt, but it's not terribly difficult. The kiddo said that this yogurt had more flavor, so...

3 cups of fresh blueberries or 1 lb. of frozen
3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
3/4 – 1 cup sugar (I used the full cup)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon (I used a bit more than this)
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt)
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2 percent)

Place the blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Heat on medium heat, stirring, until all of the sugar has dissolved. While the mixture is heating, use a potato masher to mash up the blueberries. When all of the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Pour into a food processor and pulse a few times, then pour back into the saucepan.

Fill a large bowl (big enough to hold the pan) with ice water and sit pan inside it. This will help speed up the chilling process. Stir in the yogurt and milk until completely incorporated. Chill the mixture until completely cold.

Pour the yogurt mixture into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Serve immediately (it will be soft) or let it firm up in the freezer.