Plum/Nectarine Sorbet

This year, we discovered we have a fruit tree in our backyard! I was pretty sure it was a plum tree but it *could* be a nectarine tree. I want to say i am sure but i'm not.

Either way, i love plums AND nectarines. I got hooked on nectarines when i was pregnant, and they are one of my favorites.

I looked up a lovely recipe for plum sorbet.

I didn't realize they would be so juicy fresh off the tree. I am learning that grocery store firmness isn't really replicated in your backyard. They were firm indeed on the outside, but i have never had such juicy fruit in my life. I made this sorbet twice last week. The first time, i cut fresh fruit and it made quite a mess. More than i expected. The juice ran down my arms to my elbows and dripped onto the floor, all over my blender, the counter tops, my shirt and pants... it was a huge sweet mess.

The second time i made it i experimented with freezing the fruit whole and then using a very sharp knife to cut it. On one hand, there was less mess. On the other hand, it is harder to blend up frozen fruit than fresh. I had to use a little bit of water to assist it and i cut some fresh fruit at the end to give it more juice for blending.

Here's the recipe:

2 ½ cups sliced plums, pits removed
¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp Grand Mariner (optional)

I used more plums, at least 3 cups. So i increased the sugar, to about 1/2 cup. I used Triple Sec instead of Grand Mariner. The liqueur is basically to keep it from getting too rock hard. It gives it a bit of softness.

You blend this all up together until smooth. The original recipe suggested that i strain out the large pieces of skin and discard them. The first time i made this, with the fresh fruit, the skins were negligible after blending. Using the frozen fruit, the skins were more prominent but i still didn't strain them out. You can do so if you like but when i eat a fruit i eat the skin, so it didn't bother me to have it in my sorbet. The pieces weren't very large at all so straining it just seemed like a mess and a bother.

I put the mixture into my ice cream maker and i let it go for about 40-50 minutes (this was with fresh fruit). The frozen fruit takes way less time. Maybe only 20 minutes. Your ice cream maker may be different, so use it according to your own directions.

The result was surprising. The fruit was so sweet fresh, and i thought the addition of the sugar might have made it extra sweet, but it was actually very tart. I personally like tart flavors, but you can always add more sugar if you like it sweeter. You could probably leave out the lemon juice. I liked it was it was.

The best part is that it's fat-free, and uses limited resources to make something that is cool and refreshing for this summer heat we're having! It was virtually free for me, since i had all the ingredients in my house and backyard!

Blackberry Pancake & Waffle Syrup

I mentioned before that blackberries are my favorite berry. This time of year i pick as many as i can over a couple weeks span to bring home and usually i am in the kitchen for days making jams.


This year has been phenomenal for blackberries! We had a 'blackberry winter' as the old folks say, which meant we had a very mild winter. On a few levels, that sucks. I had allergies ALL winter long, and so did one of my kids. On another level, it can be really good for some plants come warm weather.


We went to the patch for the second time the other day and it looked like this out there:

Yea. So we picked and picked and picked... until we had 5 gallons of berries. That's just me and my husband picking. My arms look like i was in a cat fight with the Tasmanian Devil.

This is at least as much as i bring home by myself in a whole season, if not more. I still have loads of jam canned from last year, so i thought, i wonder what else i can make with blackberries besides jam, cobbler, muffins (which is another post entirely) and sorbet.

My husband made a random comment about blackberries and pancakes, and it was like lightning struck. Blackberry Pancake Syrup!

I didn't even know if ti was a real thing but i looked around on Google. I mean, IHOP has boysenberry syrup, so why not? Turns out, it is a real thing!

ATTENTION: Please have knowledge of how to use your pressure cooker in advance. I don't want this to be your first lesson in how to use one and i take no responsibility if you hurt yourself. There is pressure, there is steam, but there are also SAFETY PROCEDURES. Read your manual.

First step, get your pressure cooker and fill it with water, and get that on the stove and boiling with the lid to the side someplace.

Get out the blender (or food processor) and blend up a bunch of berries. I added a little water to get my blender going and pureed up several cups of berries.

When you want to start measuring, you need to get out a mesh strainer.

I had a nice perfectly sized metal bowl that my strainer fit on.

The puree is really thick and won't just magically separate itself, so i tapped the strainer against the bowl repeatedly until basically all that was left was seeds and all the juice and pulpy goodness had sifted through.

Do that until you have 4 cups and juice and fine pulp.

You need a good sized saucepan or stock pot preferably (i need a new stock pot) because when this stuff boils, it is going to EXPAND.

Add 4 cups of sugar. Turn on the heat, and stir until it's very dissolved.

I already had an estimated number of jars and rings sterilized and my canning equipment ready to go. If you've canned before, you know the drill. If not, get your jars/rings in hot soapy water and let them sit for a while, and put your unused lids in simmering water on the stove. When you have your blackberry mixture on the stove, you can start bringing your jars out of the bath and rinse off the soap.

Let your blackberries come to a boil. Boil on high for 2 minutes. Keep your spoon ready to stir because it WILL expand and it will feel like molten lava if you end up touching it. Nothing good to be felt there.

When it's done boiling, turn off the heat. Ladle blackberry syrup into jars, and make sure to leave ¼" head space.

Wipe off the jar rims, and put the hot lids on with your magnetic lid lifter, and screw rings on tight.

Place jars in pressure cooker and fasten on the lid. When it pressures up, let jars pressure for 10 minutes.

When your pressure cooker cools off a touch you can let off some steam so it can be safely opened. PLEASE read your manual and know how to use your appliance.

Remove your jars carefully with your jar lifter and remove to a towel or heat proof surface to cool.

And voila, you have blackberry syrup!

I am soooo excited to make pancakes now!

Blackberry Sorbet & Banana "Ice Cream"

I got a new appliance! Bet you can't get what that is, heh. That's right. An ice cream maker! It's not a very big one, just a 1.5 quart Rival, but still. I'm excited!


I was looking at this months's Ladies Home Journal, and they had a section of homemade ice cream recipes. Next thing you know, we happen to be out shopping for necessities and we saw our new appliance calling to us.


Of course, i didn't make ice cream my first time around. Instead i decided that instead of going out and buying cream and whole milk and half and half and all the other stuff you need for actual ice cream, i'd start out with some sorbet and sherbet.


I don't know about you, but this is the time of year i really get my fruit on. I love nothing better than to can some jams, and pick fruit (the free-er the better, in my opinion), and experiment with the cheapest fruits in the market.


I already had tons of blackberries at home, and i picked up some bananas while we were out.


I started out with the bananas.


It's not something i invented. I first saw it on Pinterest, but that site has this irritating habit of logging me out and when i go to the home page, i see something AMAZING that i just have to try, but when i go to pin it, i'm not logged in. So then by the time i get logged in, the pin is no longer on the front page, and frankly, i'm more than a little peeved.


BUT, then the same Ladies Home Journal happened to have the same thing in it this month, and i was like YES!


So, the recipe said take some bananas and cut them into chunks and freeze them, and then when they're frozen, use a food processor to puree them. Well, i don't have a food processor, and i don't know if my blender is badass enough to puree frozen bananas.


Instead, i cut up bananas and put the chunks directly into my blender. I have a Wavestation blender for smoothies and shakes and stuff, and i find it is way better than a plain blender.


I pureed them until they were nice and smooth. For future reference, i think i am going to add a teaspoon or so of a fruit preserving agent in there next time to prevent oxidation, because as the mixture got cold it got a little brown, BUT it did not affect the taste.


After it was in the freezer long enough to get a little slushy and frozen on the bottom (maybe 3 hours) i took it out and i put it all in my ice cream maker. I turned it on and let it go for about 50 minutes or so, then i poured it back in the bowl and froze it until it was hard. It scoops really easily.


For the blackberries, i mixed up a simple sugar syrup.


Take 2 cups of water and 2 cups of sugar. Dissolve this together in a saucepan until it starts boiling. Make sure and stir it up so the sugar dissolves. When it starts to boil, turn the heat down until it simmers for 5 minutes.


Take it off the heat. Let it sit and cool til it's about room temperature.


Take 5 cups (2 pints) of blackberries and wash and drain them. Put them into the blender (or food processor) and puree them.


Put the blackberry puree into the blender with 1/4 cup of the cooled syrup into the ice cream maker and blend it up. Add the blackberry mixture and about 1¼ cups of the syrup into the ice cream maker and let it go for about 50 minutes or so. Then you can pour the sherbet mixture into another container and freeze it up. It is also easily scoopable.


I am so pleased with how this all turned out that i am going to continue to experiment with more flavors. So be forewarned... i may get addicted to this fast!


The best part is everything is absolutely FAT FREE. You can't beat that with a stick. For me, it's awesome, because i am trying to eat healthier.

The banana sherbet/ice cream alone is awesome. My kids loved it.

Add blackberry AND banana sherbet and you have two kinds of awesome. These flavors actually paired very well together. YUMOLA.

Super Simple Blackberry Cobbler!

It is blackberry season in Illinois, and i am happy about that! They are my favorite berry! I love them all, whether they be tart or sweet.

For Father's Day, i baked my FIL a blackberry cobbler. It's his favorite. This will buy me DIL Brownie Points for MONTHS.

I did a quick Google search for blackberry cobbler recipes, and i ended up using a simple one from Betty Crocker.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups fresh or frozen blackberries (thawed and drained)
1 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
½ cup melted butter (1 stick)

Heat oven to 375°.

In medium bowl stir together blackberries and sugar, and let sit for about 20 minutes until a syrup begins to form.

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add milk and combine. Then add melted butter and combine again. Spread in ungreased 8x8 pan. Spoon berry mixture over the batter.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until dough rises and is golden.

Serve plain or with cream.

My house smells SO good right now!

Sugar your berries! I added an extra half cup because my father-in-law loves his extra sweet!

Whisk your dry ingredients together. Add 1 cup milk.

Add your butter and combine this again.

Spread the batter in the pan.

Drop berries and sugar onto the batter, covering the whole surface.

Pop this baby in the oven!

Yum! This looks so delicious!

And that is ALL there is to it! The hardest part of this is picking the berries! Of course, you don't HAVE to pick them, but i find a certain satisfaction in knowing this beautiful dessert came 100% naturally off the side of the road, and some ingredients i already had in my fridge!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cupcakes

I've had my eye on this recipe for a week or so, but life is busy right now, with the end of school hoopla. I think teachers are every bit as excited to get rid of our kids as the kids are for summer. The last week of school is filled with kiddie pool parties, Olympic and Field Days, movie afternoons, and parents are trying to cram in those last birthday parties. Plus, i've had three weekends of graduations. I'm excited summer is nearly here. Not that my life will become less crazy, but perhaps less scheduled.


Today i happen to be home with the kids without boys or men of any kind. The kids are happy to run off and play, and i knew the time had come to have my kitchen to myself.


I found the recipe on Epicurean.com.


Fruit topping:


1 can (20 oz.) pineapple chunks (i used pineapple rings)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted


Cake batter:


1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup reserved pineapple juice or milk
1 egg


Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously grease a muffin tin with shortening.


Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice. Lay pineapple on a plate layered with paper towels to drain completely.


In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar and melted butter for the topping. Divide evenly between the cups. Arrange the pineapple on top of the topping decoratively. Set aside.


In a large bowl mix together your dry ingredients. With an electric mixer, beat in the pineapple juice and the butter. Beat for 2 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add egg and beat it in well. Spoon (or use an ice cream scoop) to add the cake batter to the muffin cups. Bake for 30 minutes or til a toothpick comes out clean.


Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes and then place a wire rack over the muffin pan and turn them out onto it. Let cool completely.


Makes 12 cupcakes.

If you choose to use pineapple rings, which i did because i think it's nicer, please note that you will have to cut sections out to make them fit.

The recipe itself did not warn me this was going to be such a hot mess. Be warned. I had to loosen each cupcake from the sides of the tin with a spoon. I did turn out a few onto a wire rack once cool, but i don't recommend it. The pineapple tends to want to slide off. So i used the same spoon to lift each one out and turn it over to the rack after that.

'

They turned out well though, after i figured that last part out!

I don't have any fancy way to get natural light photos, nor do i have fancy plates and all that good stuff yet. Don't they look delicious? They are too. I have already eaten two. These won't last 5 minutes once the boys get home.

Right after i popped these in the oven, i doubled up the recipe and made a 9x13 cake with this recipe. It's taking longer to bake but YUM. I love pineapple upside down cake!

ETA: A photo of my cake!