Blueberries and Cherries
August 23, 2019 2:26 PM   Subscribe

I'm looking for dessert recipes featuring blueberries and cherries.

Earlier this summer I bought and froze about 12 pounds of cherries (pitted) and 6 pounds of blueberries.

I'm looking for dessert recipes beyond your pies and muffins. Said recipes can be for any fruit if I can sub in the berries and cherries. Also, peaches are in season so peach recipes would be fun too.

I have an awesome blueberry oatmeal muffin recipe that I'll be making again and freezing. I'm tired of pie, but if it's more than your standard cherry or blueberry pie, I'm interested.

I'm a pretty decent baker if I have a good recipe to follow. I've made muffins, cookies, cake and bread from scratch. I don't make pie crust but I'm happy buying pre-made.

I have about a half cup of good cocoa powder. I have access to your typical suburban grocery store and an ok-ish farmer's market. No dietary restrictions. Bonus points for stuff that can be easily shared. I'm on vacation for the next 10 days and it's been requested that I bake for the folks at work.
posted by kathrynm to Food & Drink (18 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Cheesecake comes immediately to mind.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 2:47 PM on August 23, 2019


Crumb Bars (can use frozen blueberries or cherries - check in comments)
posted by Iris Gambol at 2:49 PM on August 23, 2019


Clafoutis is a summer classic – great for cherries but excellent with other summer fruits, too. Excellent with a bit of powdered sugar sprinkled over top, even better with some whipped cream.
posted by notquitejane at 2:54 PM on August 23, 2019 [9 favorites]


Best answer: We had several blueberry crisps this summer, very simple and it keeps well in the refrigerator. You could probably adapt it for cherries. Sometimes served with ice cream.
posted by Botanizer at 2:57 PM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


I have made this Martha Stewart Living recipe for yeasted cherry and cheese coffee cake with non-sour cherries and it was great! I'd give it a go with blueberries too.

please send or post your blueberry muffin recipe
posted by purpleclover at 3:14 PM on August 23, 2019


Best answer: I'm not sure how it would work with frozen cherries, but Smitten Kitchen's Cherry-Brown Butter Bars are great.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:16 PM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


crisps and crumbles with both are excellent, especially with ice cream accompaniments (i would go with something herby like a lemony sour cream sage for a blueberry crumble frex), but it can be messy if you're bringing it somewhere other than right to the table or directly into your face. i don't have any specific recipes, alas, but i usually just pick something online that looks reasonable and then eliminate 1/3 to 1/2 the sugar.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:36 PM on August 23, 2019


Best answer: Blueberry buckle for sure! Or cobbler.

I make upside down chocolate cherry cake. Supposed to be canned cherry pie filling, but I often make it with fresh cherries that I turn into sauce.
posted by Ftsqg at 4:02 PM on August 23, 2019


Best answer: I make these oatmeal bars with whatever fruit I can find; frozen blueberries work very well, as do frozen cherries; if using fresh strawberries I lightly roast them first with a drizzle of balsamic (about 30 mins/300temp). You can mix in some grated lemon rind with blueberries, or add a pinch of cinnamon & cloves to cherries for a deep cherry pie flavor. If you cool & refrigerate them you have nice oatmeal fruit bars for snacking, coffee, etc. Or you can serve warm with ice cream, heavy cream, sour cream with a bit of cinnamon....
4 cups blueberries, cherries, strawberries (can mix frozen & dried) mix with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch and 2 Tbls sugar , let stand so juices start to run from fruit, 10-20 mins (while mixing dough).
Meanwhile, mix together in large bowl:
2 cups oats
1 cup APF (all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
optional: 1/4 tsp cinnamon, or mixed ground cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon (makes it holiday ish)
Melt 2/3 cup butter, or use canola oil or coconut oil, and mix with 2/3 cup sugar (can use brown sugar for deeper flavor). Add the butter mixture to the flour. Preheat oven to 350 F, line an 8x8 pan with parchment. Press 2/3 of dough mixture into the pan, spread the fruit mixture on op of dough, and spread the rest of the dough on top and press firmly. It will seem very thin and barely cover to the edges of the pan; it will expand. Bake 25 mins until golden brown and firm to touch. Remove from oven, cool completely, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before cutting (it will fall apart if you cut while warm. but you can serve it as a warm oat dessert that way, if you want)

For peaches, this is a really delicious gigantic peach cobbler from Rick Bayless. The dough is very rich from the cream cheese, even after refrigerating I couldn't really roll it out so much as tack it into place. But it worked and was fantastic, even with peaches of questionable ripeness. Grandma Potters Peach Cobbler
posted by twentyfeetof tacos at 4:06 PM on August 23, 2019


I like clafoutis for a cherry dessert. It cooks up quickly and keeps fine for a day or two.
posted by crush at 4:08 PM on August 23, 2019 [3 favorites]


I made this fruit pizza (from Rachel Ray magazine) for the Fourth of July and people really liked it!
posted by candyland at 4:09 PM on August 23, 2019


Best answer: blueberry crumb cake is magnificent
posted by sallybrown at 4:52 PM on August 23, 2019


Cherry milkshakes are one of the only reasons I eat cherries. Especially good with sour cherries.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:02 PM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


Galette. There’s a good, flexible recipe for fruit galettes on NYT cooking with some lemon in the crust and it’s perfect.
posted by thirdletter at 5:11 PM on August 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: This berry ricotta cake. I make it with frozen cherries all the time (it became a weekly staple).

I like to substitute 1/2 cup of the flour with semolina and top it with chopped almonds and some vanilla sugar before baking. Another variation that would be great with the blueberries is adding lemon zest to the recipe. This cake rules and will make all your dreams come true.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 5:52 PM on August 23, 2019 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: This is the recipe I use. I read the comments and made some changes. I soaked the oats in the milk. I added cinnamon and vanilla and a bit of lemon zest. I used cinnamon applesauce instead of the oil. I increased the amount of blueberries because I would have had a fraction of a cup left over. I think I subbed out part of the sugar for brown sugar, but I don't remember right now.

I like this recipe because it's a healthier alternative and it isn't overly sweet. I think the people commenting that it wasn't sweet enough were comparing it to store bought muffins that are more cake like. I am going to try this with the cherries chopped up as well.
posted by kathrynm at 7:38 AM on August 24, 2019


Response by poster: Ftsqg, do you have a recipe or link to the chocolate cherry upside down cake? Or is it literally cherry pie filling (I've been wanting to make my own) with a regular chocolate cake over it?
posted by kathrynm at 7:46 AM on August 24, 2019


The Cook's Illustrated blueberry cobbler is pretty much an annual ritual for me.
posted by 6and12 at 5:30 PM on August 25, 2019


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