Blueberry Bonanza

The farmer's market had beautiful, fresh blueberries. They went home with me, and they became two very lovely blueberry tarts. I had a request for the recipe for the first one I made, so I thought I would just include both of them here.

Blueberry Tarts

Shortbread Crust (for 2 tarts):

1 cup butter softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

To make the crust:

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the flour and mix until combined. The crust will be crumbly. Press into two fluted tart pans and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool before filling.

Mascarpone Filling:

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (I didn't measure)

1 package (8 oz.) mascarpone cheese, softened

scant 1/2 cup sugar (I think this could actually decrease or be left out entirely)

cinnamon

freshly ground nutmeg

For the Mascarpone filling:

Beat the whipping cream with the sugar and spices until soft peaks form. Add in the mascarpone and beat just until combined. Spoon into crust and top with blueberries. Drizzle the top with honey and allow to chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. 

A friend of mine recently found out that she needs to cut dairy out of her diet, and so I made a tart that she could enjoy because the first one I made the filling was almost entirely dairy. 

Lemon Filling:

1/4 - 1/2 cup honey (I didn't measure)

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. tapioca flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups water

2 lemons, juiced

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

4 egg yolks, beaten

To make lemon filling: 

In a medium saucepan combine honey, flour, tapioca flour, salt, water and lemon juice. You could also zest the two lemons and add the zest. Whisk together and cook over medium heat until it boils and starts to thicken. Add in the butter and stir until it melts. Pour a small amount into the egg yolks, whisking continually, and then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan and cook over medium-low heat until it thickens. Pour into the crust and place in the fridge to cool. Top with blueberries.

blueberry instead of mango

After the failure of the mango cupcakes, I still had time to try some other ones, so since I had blueberries, I decided to try making blueberry cupcakes instead. I find that it is always good to follow failure up with success as quickly as possible. These were lovely. I had an idea that they would be something like blueberry pancakes in cupcake form. Once more from Ming Makes Cupcakes. My adjusted recipe:

Blueberry Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose for this one)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 stick butter, melted
3 Tbsp. applesauce
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 cup blueberries (I guessed, so I may have been a bit over or under)

Combine dry ingredients. I believe I added some cinnamon, and possibly a sprinkle of nutmeg.


In a separate bowl combine applesauce with melted butter.


Add buttermilk and almond milk to the butter mixture and combine.


Pour into dry ingredients and combine.


Now this is important to maintain the integrity of the blueberries. Toss the blueberries in about a Tablespoon or so of flour before adding them to the batter.


Fold the blueberries in gently. You don't want to bruise them or damage them. Blueberries are very sensitive creatures. . .in case you didn't know.

Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.

Brown Butter Frosting with Honey
1 stick butter
1 tsp. (ish, I didn't really measure, just sprinkled) cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp. honey (once again, didn't measure, just poured)


Melt the butter in a skillet with cinnamon and cook until browned.

Pour in a bowl and add the other ingredients and mix until smooth. This frosting is another one that I just fell in love with (but I do love butter a lot!!). I'm incredibly sorry that I don't have pictures of the finished product. I was in a bit of a hurry and forgot to take one later.

After icing the cupcakes, I topped them with blueberries. Remember what we talked about garnishing cupcakes. . .it makes the entire experience so much better.

Oh, remember what I said about thinking these would be like blueberry pancakes. . .one bite confirmed my thought. They were deliciously like blueberry pancakes. Yummy!!