Berry Whipped Cream Cake

Recipe adapted from Angela’s

About 25 years ago, my friend Angela surprised me with a gorgeous strawberry whipped cream cake on my birthday, toting it all the way down to a beach party no less. She said the recipe was so simple that her 9 year old son could make it all by himself. The very first time he made it he was so excited that he ran to show it to Mom. But sadly he slipped on a rug, lost his balance, and the top layer of cake, cream, and fruit all slid off onto the floor. Poor kid! Fair warning: put the cake where you want it before you assemble it. Let the cake settle for an hour or so after frosting. The layers will stabilize as the cake slowly absorbs liquid from the cream. Or, if you must, move it verrrrry carefully.

Blueberry Cobbler

Recipe by Robin

Fruit cobbler recipes vary quite a bit. Fruits can be single or combined, spiced or not. The fruit layer’s liquidity can be adjusted with cornstarch or flour. Biscuit dough can be loose and fluffy, or firm enough to cut into shapes for a more formal look. Reveling in our short California blueberry season, I chose an ultra-lightly spiced all-blueberry fruit layer. I then topped the blueberries with a medium-density biscuit layer smoothed out by a buttermilk brushing before baking. Resulting in a soft-textured topped blueberry-centric cobbler that plays well with or without ice cream.

Blueberry Hand Pies

Each Person Gets Their Own

Recipe adapted from Yankee Magazine

June, one of my favorite months! Heralding the late spring turning into summer, the end of the school year, the beginning of seasonal swimming. And, my birthday! This year, instead of the usual bakery cake, I decided to make my own. Not a cake. Instead, blueberry hand pies—flaky pastry being much more delicious than most cakes IMHO. Found the recipe in a library while on vacation a few years back, and first prepared it in a motel room (with limited success). A burgeoning, bountiful blueberry crop at the farmers’ market inspired me to try again. A lot easier to make at home than in a motel room.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

My Mom Served 'Em with Butter

Recipe Adapted from The 250 Best Muffin Recipes

From ‘way back when I was a preschooler, I have two vivid memories of special breakfast foods. Though we mostly ate cereal and milk, like most kids of our era, every so often my mom would make us something special. In the winter, it was fresh squeezed orange juice, crafted with a special attachment on Mom’s Mixmaster. In summer, it was blueberry muffins: fresh, fruity, and unpretentious. This recipe tastes pretty close to what Mom used to make: not too sweet or buttery, loaded with beautiful berries.

Blueberry Clafoutis

Blueberry Heaven

Recipe adapted from Crumbles and Cobblers

Clafoutis! Who knew that such an impressive French dessert would be so fast and easy to make? Essentially, clafoutis is custard-like batter surrounding seasonal fruit. Cherries are typically used in this classic dish, but the British cookbook Crumbles and Cobblers inspired me to use the last of this season’s blueberries. Clafoutis can be served warm or at room temperature. In addition to dessert, some cooks serve clafoutis for brunch or luncheon. And I’ve noticed that refrigerated leftovers make a dandy breakfast.

Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes

Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue

Recipe Tweaked from Advertising Flyer

According to Ma in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, no great evil occurs without also bringing some bit of goodness. Thus, when one autumn I mail ordered frozen blueberries that arrived rotten and smashed, I was also graced with this recipe. Sort of. The recipe left out important ingredients and steps, but gave me the idea of adding yogurt or sour cream to pancakes. This makes the pancakes light and fluffy, and makes it easier to tell when to flip them. With the wonderful local blueberries that are available for the near future at the farmers’ market, plus a few seasonal strawberries, I whipped up a brunch that was fun, satisfying, and patriotic.

Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberries on Blueberries

Recipe by Robin and The Boston Cooking School Cookbook

Once while in a summer program at the Yale Forestry Camp in Great Mountain Forest, a friend and I spontaneously decided to make blueberry pancakes. Rather than planning this at camp, we made this decision on a “free morning” hike when we saw lots of scrubby blueberry plants on a sunny slope. We had no idea how many berries to gather. Because the wild berries were so small, we thought we’d probably need a lot.