2017 Update: This one-bowl lemon pound cake remains a perennial favorite with my family, making appearances at most summer dinners. I love that it’s so easy and requires almost no planning ahead. It also turns out consistently time after time, the true measure of a great recipe. I served it at a backyard dinner party at my house and took the opportunity to update the photos and the recipe below. This one is worth rediscovering!

Sitting in bed, listening to the crickets chirp and snuggling under the down comforter to ward off the lovely night breeze reminding me that fall is just around the corner, I’m feeling pretty good about today.  The rain finally stopped, the humidity that’s been hanging over everything and making it impossible to breathe lifted, and the sun came out with a fresh breeze to accompany it.  I woke up more refreshed than I’ve felt in days, having finally spent a night by myself in my own bed. I spent the day swimming and sunning and watching my brothers and cousins mess about in boats.  At lunch I had a few spoonfuls of the creamiest homemade peppermint stick ice cream, and after lunch it got quiet enough at the dock for the loons to swim up and be photographed.  I went for a jog at dusk, then sat down to a steaming bowl of this pork and black-eyed pea chili, followed by a slice of this incredible lemon pound cake you see here, topped with wild raspberries and blackberries that I picked along Lily Lane yesterday afternoon.  I’ve been uncharacteristically anxious and stressed these past few weeks, and it’s nice to step back and appreciate the calm and joy of simplicity.  Days like this should not be taken for granted, they should be savored.

Like this one-bowl lemon pound cake. Because this cake recipe is one of the best ever.  I don’t know where it came from, or how old it is, I just know that it’s nearly perfect.  It’s one of those recipes that’s been passed from mother to mother at bake sales and pot lucks, scribbled down from memory on a notecard.  My own mother makes it at least once every two weeks in the summer, when fresh berries, the cake’s perfect foil, are abundant and super-sweet.  She received it from a friend at a church picnic, and we love it so much that she even used to send it to us as a care package at school.  We’ve shared the recipe with aunts and friends, and one of my aunts even shared it with the owner of a bakery, who immediately added it to her menu.  It’s that good.

In addition to its sweet lemon flavor and perfect consistency, a few other things make this cake noteworthy. First, it uses exactly one bowl. No separating dry ingredients from wet ingredients, just beat everything together and pop it in the oven. It even goes into a cold oven and bakes from there.  Both of these characteristics make me think that this recipe is from another decade. It’s exactly the kind of cake I can see grandmothers making 60 years ago – no fuss, with so few ingredients that it can easily be made from memory.  You don’t even need to plan far enough ahead to preheat the oven.

It couldn’t be easier to make, or more of a crowd-pleaser to serve.  Dress it up with a drizzle of lemon glaze or a bowl of fresh berries and homemade whipped cream, and it’s elegant enough for company. Or wrap it up in a bit of plastic wrap and stick it in a lunchbox, and it becomes the perfect mid-morning snack.  The almond and lemon extracts give it the perfect scent and flavor, the inside of the cake is dense and moist, and the outside gets a crackly-sweet glaze as it bakes. My brothers and I can never resist breaking off little pieces of the sweet “crust” as the cake cools.  If you make this cake, which I sincerely hope you do, please make it exactly as written at least once before changing it.  Generally, I adjust recipes as I think best – even if it’s just changing the type of sugar or the amount of extract, but this one is well tested.

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One-Bowl Lemon Pound Cake

This Lemon Pound Cake is a favorite family recipe in the summer. We always serve it with berries and whipped cream, although sometimes a simple lemon glaze is nice as well (or both! What’s stopping you?). It’s an easy, consistent cake that feeds and pleases a crowd.

This recipe came to my family through a friend at a picnic, and my mother has been making it ever since. If anyone knows the original source, please share!

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 16
• Category: Dessert

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. butter, softened
• 2 1/2 c. sugar
• 5 eggs
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 c. whipping cream/heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions

1. Prepare a large bundt pan by greasing and flouring the inside.  A cooking spray works best to get all the creases of the bundt pan.  In an electric mixer or large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together on medium speed.  Since the ratio of sugar to butter is so high, the creamed butter will not get as fluffy as in some recipes, and may remain grainy.  This is fine – it’s not a fussy cake!  Add the eggs one at a time, leaving the mixer on low speed, or beating by hand until fully incorporated in between additions.
2. Add 1 1/2 c. flour to the batter, and beat until incorporated.  Next, add 1/2 c. of the heavy cream and beat until incorporated.  Add and incorporate the remaining 1 c. of flour, followed by the remaining 1/2 c. of cream.  Beat until smooth and fully incorporated.  Mix in the lemon, vanilla, and almond extracts.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Place pan in cold oven, then turn heat to 300°F, and bake cake for 90 minutes.  Cake top will be beginning to crack when cake is done.  Turn oven off and leave cake in oven for 15 minutes longer.  Remove cake from oven, and allow to cool for 15 minutes in pan.  Then, turn cake over onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.  Serve with fresh berries tossed with a bit of sugar, and a dollop of homemade whipped cream.

The post One-Bowl Lemon Pound Cake appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

We spent last weekend in Maine, in what felt like the real kick-off to the summer. I love the way Maine smells – like pine needles drenched in sun, freshly cut hay, lake water, wood shavings, and the occasional whiff of smoke. When I step out of the car I inhale deeply, taking in everything sweet and fresh and good about a place where days are spent outdoors and the windows are always open. It was a blissful few days. I went swimming every day, hiked on mossy trails and rocky ones, ate fried seafood overlooking the harbor, and caught a few beautiful sunsets – one from a small cabin deck with a 180° view of the ocean, one from the middle of the harbor, bobbing gently in our boat, and two from the picnic table where we gather for wine and dinner. I can’t wait to go back.

While we were there, we put together a sunny Sunday brunch featuring Stonewall Kitchen products in celebration of their 25^th anniversary. Stonewall Kitchen is a Maine company through and through, headquartered in a beautiful space in York, Maine. They are probably most famous for their jams and jellies (especially the Wild Maine Blueberry Jam!), but I’ve tried a number of their sauces and spreads and all of their products are truly high quality and delicious. Started by two young men selling their jams and chutneys at a farmer’s market, Stonewall Kitchen has expanded into a company that is a household name for many. You can read more of their story, and check out all their delicious products, on their anniversary website, Taste of 25 Years.

For our brunch, we used four Stonewall products to put together three delicious recipes. First, Sea Breeze Mimosas, the simplest thing in the world to make – just a splash of chilled cranberry-grapefruit Sea Breeze Mixer, a dash of cranberry bitters, and a healthy pour of prosecco. If you’re getting an extra strong start to your day, a little bit of vodka added to the mix doesn’t hurt either. Second, a Smoky Roasted Garlic Hash – potatoes sautéed with shallots, Roasted Garlic Oil and smoked paprika, strips of roasted red pepper and poblano, a sprinkling of scallions, and a crispy olive-oil fried egg to top each serving. And to finish off the dish, an essential topping: Habanero Mango Hot Sauce. This smoky, slightly sweet, slow-burn hot sauce is absolutely delicious – I’m kicking myself for leaving it behind with my family (we put it on everything from eggs to burgers to baked beans over the course of the weekend).

The last recipe, and in my opinion the star of the show, Wild Maine Blueberry Jam Doughnuts. These are the doughnuts of your dreams – light, just a little bit chewy, rolled in a generous amount of cinnamon sugar, and stuffed to the gills with Wild Maine Blueberry Jam. There’s a trendy/hipster doughnut shop near us in Boston that makes jelly doughnuts that I dream about (so much so that I got one for my birthday breakfast for the past two years) – and these were even better. Every single one of my family members tried to have just one and ended up eating two – even my weight-lifting, sugar-avoiding little brother.

Congrats to Corinne of Spare Cake on winning! A Giveaway! I have good news – Stonewall Kitchen is also hosting a giveaway to send one reader their own set of products to make a delicious, Maine-inspired brunch. In addition to the four products I used in these recipes, you will also receive a canister of Farmhouse Pancake and Waffle Mix and the most adorable Downeast Coffee Mug to round out your brunch-making kit. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below telling me your favorite way to spend a summer morning. By entering the giveaway, you are agreeing to the contest rules as outlined at the bottom of this post.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Stonewall Kitchen, but all opinions are honest and my own as usual.

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Sea Breeze Mimosas

Serves 1.

• 1/4 c. Stonewall Kitchen Sea Breeze Mixer, chilled
• 1 dash bitters
• 1 oz. vodka (optional)
• 1 c. chilled Prosecco

1. Pour Sea Breeze Mixer into a champagne glass. Add 1 dash bitters and vodka, if using. Top with chilled Prosecco. Serve immediately.

Wild Maine Blueberry Jam Doughnuts

Makes 12 large doughnuts. Recipe adapted from Taste of Home and Serious Eats.

• 1 c. milk, heated until warm but not hot to the touch
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 1/4 c. plus 1 TBS sugar, divided
• 3 TBS softened butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 c. AP flour
• 1 1/2 c. bread flour
• canola oil or shortening, for frying
• 1 c. sugar mixed with 2 tsp ground cinnamon, for coating
• 2 jars Stonewall Kitchen Wild Maine Blueberry Jam

1. Place warm milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the top of the milk, along with 1 TBS of the sugar. Stir for 30 seconds, then let stand 10 minutes, until yeast is foamy. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and remaining 1/4 c. sugar together until light and fluffy. Stir in salt, then beat in eggs until completely mixed in. Add milk and both kinds of flour and stir until a smooth dough is formed. Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in the fridge overnight.
3. When ready to fry doughnuts, remove the dough from the fridge. Shape into a flat disc, then roll out on a floured surface to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Use a biscuit cutter or glass to cut 3 inch circles out of the dough, and place doughnuts on a baking sheet or tray. Re-roll any scrap dough to make more doughnuts. Cover doughnuts with a towel and let rise for 20 minutes.
4. Heat canola oil or shortenining in a high-sided frying pan or dutch oven until the temperature reaches 350-375ºF. Fry doughnuts one at a time in the hot oil, flipping once. Doughnuts should fry for about 1 minute per side before they are golden brown on the outside and cooked all the way through. You may need to adjust the temperature up or down as you go.
5. Combine the 1 c. sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon in a paper bag. Immediately after frying each doughnut, place it in the paper bag and shake the bag to coat the doughnut with cinnamon-sugar before placing it on a plate to cool. Repeat the frying and sugar coating process until all doughnuts are cooked.
6. Once the doughnuts are cool to the touch, begin filling them. Place the blueberry jam in a pastry bag fitted with a pastry tip. Insert the pastry tip into the side of the doughnut and fill until the doughnut is heavy and jam is starting to come out the front of the doughnut. Serve doughnuts as soon as possible after filling them.

Smoky Roasted Garlic Potato Hash

Serves 4.

• 8-10 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• sea salt
• 2 TBS Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic Oil, divided
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 poblano pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 TBS olive oil
• 4 eggs
• Stonewall Kitchen Habanero Mango Hot Sauce, for serving

1. Add the cubed potatoes and white vinegar to a large pot. Fill with cold water to cover the potatoes and salt generously. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and boil gently until potatoes are just tender when poked with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes, then toss with 1 TBS of the roasted garlic oil and the smoked paprika. Set aside.
2. Preheat the broiler to high. Place the poblano pepper and red pepper on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet, then place under the broil. Broil until pepper skin is beginning to blacken and blister, then use tongs to turn the peppers to another side. This should take about 5 minutes per side. Once peppers are blackened all over, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cool, remove and discard the stems and seeds, and slice the pepper flesh into thin strips.
3. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and add bacon. Fry until browned and crispy, about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, then add the sliced shallots and saute until golden brown. Add the cooked potatoes to the pan and season generously with sea salt. Fry the potatoes until golden brown all over, stirring occasionally, about 15-20 minutes total. Remove from the heat and mix with the sliced peppers. Transfer to a large platter.
4. Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a frying pan. Carefully crack the eggs into the hot oil and fry sunny-side up. Place the fried eggs on top of the potato hash. Serve with the Habanero Mango Hot Sauce.

Giveaway Rules

• No purchase necessary
• Void where prohibited
• One entry per household, and only entries answering the listed question will be considered
• The sponsor of this giveaway is Stonewall Kitchen
• The estimated retail value of the products is $49.25
• The odds of winning will depend on the number of entries received
• This contest is only open to U.S. citizens over the age of 18
• The contest will open today, July 11^th, 2016 at posting time and will close at 11PM EST on Friday, July 22nd, 2016
• One winner will be selected randomly and contacted via email (so please leave an accurate email address!). If I do not hear from the winner within 48 hours, the winner forfeits their prize and an alternate winner will be chosen.
• I will post the winner here by Monday, August 1^st, 2016

The post Stonewall Kitchen Maine Brunch (and Giveaway!) appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

Picking blackberries is not for the impatient or easily deterred. Our blackberry patch has grown into a monstrous tangle of canes, 10 foot stalks that shoot up then topple to the ground in early summer, heavy with juicy black fruit. This year in particular, the berries are gorgeous – fat and sweet from just the right combination of rain and sun. The berries on the edges of the patch are easy to get to – as long as you refrain from grabbing the canes you can pick plenty of berries scratch-free. But the berries that beckon from the center of the patch are too numerous to waste, so we go after them despite the maze of thorns between us and them. As we cut paths into the center of the bramble and carefully weave our way in, our focus increases, and I find myself thinking only two things. Get the berries. Don’t touch the thorns. At the peak of the season, it can take the two of us over an hour to fully pick the patch, but there’s something I love about the concentration and straightforwardness of the task, moving slowly and precisely through the canes. And the reward – buckets of delicious berries – is always worth the inevitable scrapes and mosquito bites.

Our patch is generous: so far this year we’ve picked 11 pounds of fruit, and I have a feeling we’ll have a last, small batch to pick tomorrow. Like cherries, my favorite way to consume blackberries is fresh, preferably just-picked, when they’re still firm and warm from the sun. But when you have 11 pounds of berries, there’s plenty of room to experiment with recipes and still be able to eat your fill of fresh fruit. This summer I’ve made blackberry clafoutis, blackberry crumble, and a big batch of blackberry jam, all of which were good, but my favorite by a mile was this pie, an intense mix of blackberries, wild Maine blueberries, cherries, and maple syrup.

I love pie – in my book, it’s far superior to cake – and I have a particular weakness for berry pies. Juicy and summery, the berries break down to completely fill the space between the crusts, with no gaps like apple pies tend to have. And because I like berry pie so much, I have high standards for it, so I thought long and hard about exactly how to achieve the pie I was envisioning. I started with blackberry-maple, but thought the blackberries needed extra dimension, so cherries and blueberries got added to the mix. The ratio of cornstarch to fruit is just enough to have the pie hold it’s shape, but not so much that it loses its juiciness. And the crust utilizes a little extra butter and my new favorite pastry method, frozen butter grating, for extra flakiness. To top it all off (quite literally), I used a cute little leaf cookie cutter to decorate the top and make it all foresty and picturesque. Basically, I love this pie. I love it so much that I ate five slices in three days, bookending my Monday and Tuesday with pie: a slice with my morning latte, and a slice after dinner with ice cream. It’s probably good that there’s only a short window during which we get enough berries to make pie. Otherwise, I would be doing a lot more running.

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Maple Mixed Berry Pie

Serves 8-12.

• 2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBS sugar
• 12 TBS salted butter, frozen
• 6-8 TBS ice water
• 1 1/2 c. wild Maine blueberries
• 2 c. blackberries
• 2 c. pitted sweet cherries, torn in half
• 3/4 c. maple syrup
• 4 TBS cornstarch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 TBS lemon juice

1. Whisk together flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Remove butter from the freezer and grate over the large holes on a box grater, working quickly to keep the butter from melting. Add the cold grated butter to the flour and toss with your fingers to coat the butter with flour. Add ice water to the mixture 1 TBS at a time, using a fork to swirl the ice water through the flour after each addition. Add ice water until the dough just comes together when pressed with your fingers. Form dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Mix the blueberries, blackberries, and cherries together in a large bowl. Pour half of the fruit into a large saucepan, and add the maple syrup to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until berries have broken down and released their juices, and liquid has reduced by about half. Remove from heat. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and cinnamon. Whisk the lemon juice into the cornstarch. If it is still very thick, add a few tablespoons of the juices from the room temperature berries, whisking until you have a pourable mixture. At this stage, scrape the cornstarch mixture into the bowl with the chilled fruit and stir to combine, then add the cooked fruit and stir until thoroughly mixed. Set the filling aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Divide the pie dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other. On a lightly floured surface, roll the larger piece of dough out into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Carefully lift and place into a pie plate, pressing dough gently down onto bottom. Trim the edges, leaving about 1/4 inch of overhang. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork to allow air to vent, then bake the crust for 10 minutes in the oven, until just golden. Remove from the oven and add the prepared filling, then return the pie to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the remaining piece of dough and use a cookie cutter to cut out a number of small shapes. After the pie has baked for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and cover the surface of the pie with overlapping pieces of the dough shapes (I used small leaves). Return the pie to the oven and bake until the filling is bubbly and the top crust is golden brown, another 25-35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before cutting. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

The post Maple Mixed Berry Pie appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

When the folks over at Greatist asked if I’d be interested in coming up with a healthified version of a chocolate milkshake to celebrate National Chocolate Milkshake Day, this recipe immediately popped into my head.  From Lucid Food, which I reviewed earlier this year, this “surprisingly refreshing” (to quote the bf) drink manages to mimic a chocolate milkshake without the primary ingredient – chocolate ice cream.  Instead, it uses cocoa powder and skim milk for a super chocolaty milk base, made frothy and cold by the addition of frozen blueberries.  Chocolate and blueberries may not be a classic combination, but I’m a fan, as evidenced by this chocolate and blueberry galette I made a few years ago.  Finished off with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and a touch of maple syrup, this smoothie makes a perfect healthy dessert or post-workout treat.

In other healthy, Greatist-worthy news, I finished my first half-marathon this past weekend!  Given that I only had 6 weeks to train, I’m quite proud of myself (and Trevor too).  Point of pride number one – I finished, and I only walked for about a minute, less than on any of my (much shorter) training runs.  Point of pride number two – my time, 2:03:51, was way faster than expected, and not too shabby at all.  It helped that I ran the first 7 miles with Trevor, and also that it was a beautiful, slightly breezy morning running up Lakeshore Drive with stunning views of Chicago just after sunrise.  I won’t lie, the last few miles felt like they took a year, my brain buzzing with that singular focus that exhaustion brings and my lower shins and knees twinging with every step, but I did it!  The next challenge?  Keeping up my mileage base and staying injury-free so I can do even better at the Newburyport half I’m running with my mom in 2 months.  Also losing 10 pounds so that I can be just that much faster.  You’d think that it would be super easy to lose weight when you more than double the amount of running you’re doing every week – it’s not.  Maybe the trick is swapping out the post long-run Sunday brunch for something lighter – perhaps a chocolate blueberry smoothie?  I’ll keep you posted.

Head on over to Greatist for the smoothie recipe.  And while you’re over there, let me know if you find any half-marathon training inspiration!

The post Greatist Collaboration: Chocolate Blueberry “Decadence” Smoothie appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

I feel like a “Maine is awesome and relaxing and beautiful and look there are wild blueberries!” post is acceptable, possibly even required, at least once a year.  Especially since this is probably the last summer for a while that I’ll have as much free time as I’ve had to just hang out there.  (Although, to counteract that negative point, there’s the fact that it’s also the first time that I’ll ever be able to go up for long weekends in the fall and spring.)  Plus, not coming up with blueberry recipes when you have free access to a full-sized ex-commercial blueberry field seems a little bit like a crime.  So, here goes:

Maine is awesome!  It has nature!  And mountains!  And lakes!  And blueberries!  Yay yay yay yay yay!  But seriously, even the rainiest, darkest, most boring day in Maine is significantly better than the same day would be anywhere else.  Commitments feel less pressing, time slows down, and days run easily together into a long summery memory.  On sunny days, we wake up early and refreshed and drink our tea on the back porch, watching the lake come to life and letting the sun slowly warm us out of sleep.  We float in the just-warm-enough lake, or read on the dock, stopping occasionally to watch the loons shake out their wings, or traipse through the blueberry barrens popping sun-sweetened berries into our mouths with every step, or zip across the harbor for an island picnic.   On rainy days, we all sit around the woodstove and read, or play cards, drinking hot chocolate and munching on cookies.  Every night, rain or shine, we sit down around the long wooden table for a hot meal together.  So yes, I’m condensing the experience into the best parts – we still have to do things like get groceries and clean the house and we still irritate each other as families are wont to do – but the average Maine day is better just because of the opportunity to do more than we might otherwise.  To step outside and find something new.  To gather the family for a quick boat trip.  Being in Maine is more spontaneous than being elsewhere, and much of it still feels wild and untouched, and I love it.

I made this pie the other night because I was actually tired of having so many blueberries sitting around in the fridge, and I wanted to use them up.  I briefly considered blogging about it, but by the time it came out of the oven it was too dark for pictures, and I knew it wouldn’t make it to the morning with 8 people in the house, so I just served it up and abandoned the blog prospect.  But then, it was just so good that I knew I had to make it again to share with you all.  It didn’t hurt that the recipe left me with extra crust dough and extra topping, so making another one was a breeze.  My mom had sort of wrinkled her nose when I told her there was coconut in my blueberry pie, and both my brother and my cousin almost refused to have any on the grounds that they didn’t like coconut, but all were converted after the first bite.  It’s melt-in-your-mouth delicious, with the hint of lemon and coconut bringing out the sweetness of the blueberries and giving it an almost tropical feeling, even though it’s from a book of Italian desserts.  It’s not particularly easy or quick, and with all that butter it’s not exactly healthy, but despite all that, I have a feeling it will become a regular during blueberry season.  It’s too good not to have.

Blueberry and Coconut Pie

Adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen.  Serves 8-12.

A note about this recipe: the sweet tart crust recipe makes enough dough for two full 9-inch pie crusts, with a little room for error.  I decided not to halve the recipe here due to the awkwardness of trying to use half an egg yolk and the prevalence of measurements that are in thirds.  Once you have rolled out the dough and transferred it to the pan, cut the extra off with a knife, roll the scraps back into a ball, and double wrap it in plastic to be stored in the freezer.  Then, the next time you want a pie, it will take half as much time!

For the sweet tart crust:

• 2 1/3 c. flour
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• zest of 1 lemon
• 3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into small cubes, then chilled well
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 c. heavy cream
• a few drops ice water, if necessary

For the filling and topping:

• 6 TBS salted butter, divided
• 1/3 c. flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c. confectioner’s sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 tsp. lemon extract or zest of 1 lemon
• 3 c. blueberries
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 TBS cornstarch

For the crust:

1. In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and lemon zest until combined.  Add cold, cubed butter and pulse until mixture has a sandy texture, with pieces of butter no bigger than a pea.  In a small bowl, whisk together egg, egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla.  Add wet ingredients and pulse just until dough comes together when you pinch it.  Remove dough from bowl and work into a ball.  If mixture is still too dry/crumbly, add a few drops of ice cold water as necessary.  Knead the dough just until it is even in consistency and moisture.  Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least half an hour before using.

For the topping and filling:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Melt 2 TBS of the butter and cool slightly.  Add 1/2 tsp vanilla to melted butter.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1/3 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. of the coconut.  Add the melted butter mixture and combine well.  Transfer mixture to freezer for half an hour to set.
2. Soften the remaining 4 TBS of butter, and mix with the confectioner’s sugar until smooth and creamy.  Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, until incorporated, and then add the lemon extract and remaining 3/4 c. of coconut.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, toss blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch, and let sit 5 minutes.
3. While berries are macerating, roll out chilled dough on a floured counter into a 10-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick.  Roll the dough loosely over the rolling pin to transfer to the 9-inch pie tin, and drape over the tin.  Press the crust into the bottom and edges of the pan, then use a knife to cut the excess from the rim.  Roll together the scraps and freeze for a later pie.
4. Spread the coconut filling evenly across the bottom of the pie.  Top with the blueberries and their juices.  Remove the topping from the freezer and use a fork to break it into small pieces.  Scatter these pieces over the top of the pie.  Bake the pie for 40-45 minutes, until crust and topping is golden-brown and berries are bubbling.

The post Good ol’ Blueberry-and-Coconut Pie appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The other night I was talking to my best friend on the phone, when I mentioned something I’d been working on for this blog.  “You blog?”  she asked.  “Oh, is it that food one?”  Audible sigh.  So I informed her that since I’d been working on this blog for 8 months, she needed to look at it, even though it was about something as unappealing/un-intellectually stimulating as food.  I sent her the link, and proceeded to listen to her laugh maniacally.  “Is this real?  This is hysterical.  You really write this stuff?  I have to send this to my other friends who are weird about food.”

Now, many people would construe this sort of response as hurtful and un-supportive.  But I find it both highly entertaining and priceless, mainly because it perfectly demonstrates the fact that Steph and I are complete opposites.  She gets paid to blog about feminism; I don’t get paid to blog about domesticity.  She eats mainly lettuce and is infamous for only wanting half of something scrumptious; I eat mainly everything and am known for eating my own portion as well as the half Steph didn’t want.  She is in firm control of all her emotions; I generally like to savor and prolong emotional extremes.  When we prioritize the importance of gaining money, prestige, family, love, and friendship in our lives, our lists come out as mirror images – both have friendship in the middle.  Oh, and the boys we like could not be more different.  Except for the time I was secretly dating Andrew.  Which was now.

And yet, we find all the same things extremely hilarious – Mr. Godine used to call us “chuckles” and “giggles” because that was our main form of communication, although it’s still unclear who was who in that scenario.  We like and dislike the same people, and despite being completely different, we understand each other.  Also I hang out with her because I like her dad.  (He once brought me a cookie at school when Steph told him I was having a bad day and since then I have been his most devoted fan.  It’s startlingly easy to win my love.  On the other hand, someone once ate my cookie on a date at Starbucks and I still haven’t really forgiven them, so just proceed with caution on the cookie front.)

So in honor of Steph gracing this blog with her presence, I’m making something that she would definitely refuse to eat more than 2 spoonfuls of – a blueberry and dark chocolate galette with homemade cinnamon ice cream.  Also she would almost certainly end up with some if it in her hair, because that is something that frequently happens to her when eating.  I think her hair has special attractive chemical properties.  It can sometimes be a fun game to not tell her that she has cake in her hair and let her continue telling a story while the cake bobs wildly back and forth next to her face.  Just kidding, Steph, I would never do that.  I would also like to take this opportunity to mention that I think you’re incredibly smart and talented and I think you will probably get a great job.

The galette is my entry to this month’s Have the Cake baking challenge, and it’s using up the last of the wild Maine blueberries.  The dark chocolate is included because it’s good for emotional people, such as myself.  The ice cream is because I’ve been drooling over all of the homemade ice cream recipes that have been going up all over the web since May, (seriously, you guys are the worst), and have been saving my pennies in an empty cocoa tub hoping to one day purchase an ice cream maker.  Actually, that’s a lie, Trevor and I used those pennies to buy chili cheese fries at the drive-in on the Fourth, but I like the idea of saving my pennies for an ice cream maker, so maybe I’ll start.  Anyway, now I am living with my parents and their ice cream maker, so I can whip up frozen custards to my heart’s delight and rub them in non-ice-cream-machine-owner’s faces for another two weeks until I rejoin their sad ranks.

Or so I thought.  But then my much anticipated use of the cuisinart automatic ice cream machine turned out to be a complete failure on the cuisinart’s part, so I resorted to sticking my melty custard in the freezer and stirring it once an hour.  And shockingly enough, it came out incredible.  Actually both the galette and the ice cream came out incredible.  The ice cream was sophisticated and subtle, the dark chocolate-blueberry combo was complex and not too sweet, and all together it was really good.  Not to brag.  But it was really good.  I think even Steph may have indulged in this one.  Let me know what you think if you give either recipe a try!

Dark Chocolate and Blueberry Galette

Inspired by Shared Sugar, serves 10

• 1 stick butter, cold
• 4-10 TBS very cold water
• 1 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/3 c. heavy cream
• 3 c. fresh blueberries
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 c. sugar

1. Prepare the pie crust: cut butter into small pieces.  Return to fridge/freezer for 5 minutes or until needed.  Mix flour, salt, and 1 tsp. sugar together in a medium bowl.  Add cold butter and combine with a pastry cutter or fork until the whole mixture is crumbly with pea sized chunks of butter.  Add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing with a fork in between additions.  Add just enough water so that the crust comes together in a loose ball of dough.  Turn out onto plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour.
2. Prepare the ganache: place chopped chocolate in a small heat proof bowl.  In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring cream just to a boil.  Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir with a whisk until smooth.  Allow to cool for 5 to ten minutes.
3. Prepare the filling:  mix blueberries, 1/3 c. sugar, lemon juice, and corn starch together gently.  Allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, until blueberries begin to juice.
4. Bake galette: preheat oven to 425°F.  On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled pastry dough out into a circle about 1/4 inch thick and 12-14 inches in diameter.  Transfer to a large baking sheet with sides.  Spread a layer of ganache over the crust, leaving 2 inches at the edge.  Pour blueberries over ganache layer, and fold the sides of the crust up over the filling, sealing any broken edges by pressing together.  Bake for 20 minutes, then lower heat to 350°F and bake for another 25 minutes, until crust is light golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Serve warm with Roasted Cinnamon Ice Cream.

Roasted Cinnamon Ice Cream

Adapted slightly from Regan Daley’s In the Sweet Kitchen

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 cups of heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 3-inch pieces of cinnamon stick
• 6 egg yolks
• 3/4 c. sugar

1. In a dry, non-stick pan over medium heat, toast ground cinnamon for 2-3 minutes, until fragrant.  Stir to keep from burning.
2. Combine the whole milk, 1 cup of the heavy cream, and the cinnamon sticks in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to keep from scorching.  Remove from heat when it reaches a boil and allow to infuse for 5 minutes.
3. While waiting for the cream to infuse, whisk the egg yolks together in a medium bowl.  Slowly add the sugar, whisking just enough for the mixture to turn slightly paler.  Pour the hot cinnamon cream slowly over the eggs, whisking vigorously to keep eggs from scrambling.
4. When all of the hot cream has been incorporated into the eggs, return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 10 to 12 minutes, until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Have a clean bowl with a strainer placed over it ready on the side.  When the custard is the desired thickness, immediately strain into the bowl.
5. Add 3 tablespoons of the remaining cup of heavy cream to the pan with the ground cinnamon, stirring with a spatula until the cream and cinnamon comes together into a runny paste.  Add this paste to the strained custard, stirring to incorporate.
6. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the custard and cover bowl.  Refrigerate custard for at least 4 hours, or overnight.  Freeze in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

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Maine is a pretty cool place.  It’s cool because the other morning I was having tea on the dock, and a bald eagle flew ten feet in front of my face with another bird… in it’s talons.  It was enormous.  And awe inspiring.  Even though I’ll admit it made me feel a little bit shaky.  It’s also cool because I spent yesterday morning hiking up a ravine with rickety wooden ladders in Acadia and suddenly found myself looking out over a perfectly calm and sparkling bay.  And then four hours later I was sitting in the corner of an old wooden tavern, eating the best restaurant meal I’ve had in years.

It’s cool because when you look up at the sky at night it’s so thick with stars that it looks like someone brushed them on with a paintbrush.  And because every afternoon at four the sun falls on the hammock and I fall asleep listening to the grasshoppers chirp.  On foggy mornings packs of loons float silently along the shore, and on sunny ones kingfishers relentlessly dive by the dock.

It’s cool because Maine is where camp is, and when I went to visit this morning I received more hugs at once than I have in years, from both old friends and small children.  I watched a six year old’s face light up as she barreled toward me and latched around my waist, and while sitting on the deck a four year old I don’t even know climbed into my lap.  When Dalton told me he couldn’t remember when his birthday was, and I asked whether it was in the wintertime or the summertime, he told me “Oh, I know, it’s in moose-hunting season.”  And later, Robbie pulled a cheese stick from his lunchbox and announced to me, “It’s a cheese-stick.  It’s like a stick … but it’s cheese.”  You can learn a lot from five year olds.

And lastly, it’s cool because I can walk across the street and pick as many wild blueberries as I want.  As many times as I want.  And make as many different blueberry treats as I want.  For free.

Although it’s almost the end of the blueberry season and I haven’t made any scrumptious blueberry baked goods, I’m sticking to my healthy promise and using my first batch of blueberries in a savory recipe – blueberry guacamole.  Actually, it’s really good for you – just think about the incredible amount of antioxidants in blueberries, the heart-healthy fat in avocados, and the metabolism raising properties of the capsaicin in jalapenos.

If you’re looking for a fresh twist on your classic mexican dip, try this recipe – it’s well-balanced, sweet, creamy, and spicy.  To make it a meal I put a few tablespoons in a tortilla with smoked turkey and goat cheese, and it was given a firm stamp of approval by all family members involved in taste-testing.

Blueberry Guacamole and Turkey Wrap

Inspired by Manifest Vegan and SELF

For guacamole (makes 3 cups):

• 1 large avocado
• 1/2 medium onion, very finely diced
• 2 c. fresh wild blueberries
• 2 TBS fresh lime juice
• 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
• kosher salt

For wraps (makes 1):

• 1/4 cup blueberry guacamole
• 1 flour tortilla
• 2 oz. sliced, smoked turkey
• 1 oz. (approx. 1 TBS) goat cheese

1. Slice avocado in half lengthwise, working in a circle around pit, and pull halves apart.  Remove pit and discard.  Scrape avocado flesh into a medium bowl and mash with lime juice.  Stir in very finely chopped onion and jalapeno, and blueberries.  If you can’t get small wild blueberries, you may want to puree or mash half of the larger berries before mixing in.  Season to taste with kosher salt.
2. Place a tortilla open on counter.  Spread with a thin layer of goat cheese, top with turkey slices, and spread guacamole over center of turkey.  Roll up and enjoy!

NutritionalAnalysis (Nutrtition estimated using SparkPeople’s recipe calculator):

Nutrition: Guacamole: 80.7 calories, 4.5 g fat, 3.5 g fiber, and 1.0 g protein per half cup serving.  Sandwich: 333 calories, 12.7 g fat, 3.6 g fiber, 19.7 g protein in 1 sandwich.

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