Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Best Blueberry Muffins

I've been buying lots of blueberries lately, so it seemed natural to make some muffins. I like this recipe better than the blueberry muffin recipe I posted back in March. Enjoy!
The blueberries.
The melted butter and milk mixture.
The dry ingredients.
The blueberries are folded into the muffin batter.
The batter is scooped into a muffin tin and sprinkled with sugar.The finished product. Delicious!

BEST BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Adapted From Gourmet Magazine

INGREDIENTS
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/3 cup whole milk
1 whole large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter muffin pans.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, then remove from heat. Whisk in milk, then whisk in whole egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined well.

3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl, then add milk mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries gently but thoroughly.

4. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

5. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until tops are light brown and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake

I am on a cheesecake kick. Plus, I bought a huge tub of blueberries and needed to use some of them up. This lemon blueberry cheesecake is just another take on the same basic cheesecake recipe used in my previous post. Experiment and make your own tasty combination!
The crust.
The filled crust.
Cooking the blueberries and preserves.
The blueberries are poured over the cheesecake to set in the refrigerator.
Once the cheesecake has chilled, the outer ring of the pan is removed.
The inside.
A nice slice.
LEMON BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE
From Hannah's Kitchen

INGREDIENTS - CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1 heaping teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

INGREDIENTS - FILLING
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 eggs

INGREDIENTS - TOPPING
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup blueberry preserves
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

2. Prepare a water bath by placing a large pan filled with about 1/2 inch of water into the oven while it preheats.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, lemon zest, and melted butter. Press the crumb mixture into and up the sides of a 9-inch spring form pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.

4. Wrap a large piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to keep the cheesecake in the water bath.

5. In the large bowl of an electric mixer beat the cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and lemon juice. Mix for a couple of mines or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl and then add them to the cream cheese mixture. Blend the mixture just enough to incorporate the eggs.

6. Pour the cream cheese filling into the crust.

7. Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven. Bake for 12 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color.

8. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool.

9. While cheesecake is cooling, combine blueberries, preserves, and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often until preserves are melted and blueberries have heated through. Set mixture aside to cool.

10. After the cheesecake and the blueberry mixture have cooled to room temperature, pour the blueberry mixture over the cheesecake. Cover with foil and chill for 6-8 hours before removing the outer ring of the pan and serving.