Blueberry Cream Cheese on Blueberry Muffin ブルーベリーチーズクリームのせブルーベリーマフィン

We are in local (meaning North America) blueberry season. We are getting quite good blueberries. So, besides enjoying them fresh or with yogurt, we are making the usual blueberry items such as blueberry pancakes, and blueberry muffins. My wife uses both whole and puree of blueberry to enhance the blueberry flavors of the blueberry baked goods she makes. One such example is the blueberry muffin shown on the right in picture #1. We call that muffin “double blueberry” because the batter includes both whole blueberries and blueberry puree. One of her recent innovations was blueberry cream cheese spread. Which, when spread on the double blueberry muffin as shown in picture #1 on the left triples the blueberry flavors. 

The picture #2 is a close-up of the blueberry cream cheese spread. She made blueberry purée and then mixed it into cream cheese. I will ask my wife to continue.

Ingredients:
1 package of fresh blueberries (amount is actually arbitrary)
1 8 oz. package of Philadelphia Cream cheese

Directions:
Put the fresh blueberries in a saucepan cover and heat on very low heat until the blueberries burst open releasing juice. Puree using a hand held immersion blender. Set aside to cool.
When the puree has cooled add the cream cheese to a mixer and mix until smooth. Add the blueberry puree. (The amount is arbitrary and to taste. The more puree added the stronger the blueberry taste). Mix until the cream cheese and puree are completely blended.

This is extremely easy to make. My wife got the idea for this because we had gotten some commercially made tubs of blueberry cream cheese. When my wife tasted them she thought they were pretty good but we were at the height of blueberry season why not try to make some blueberry cream cheese ourselves using fresh blueberries. This made a very nice spread to use on anything; pancakes, muffins, or bread. The main thing we discovered was that it takes time for the blueberry flavor to come through. When we first made it we could hardly taste any blueberry flavor and initially we were disappointed. But several days later the blueberry flavor was nicely pronounced making the experiment well worthwhile.

New Blueberry muffin 新ブルーベリーマフィン

Although we generally like home delivery of groceries, the quality of produce can be a bit unreliable. Since it was high-season for blueberries, we ordered some and several batches arrived in good shape and were delicious. But the last time, the blueberries that arrived had a hard life. Many were smashed or extremely soft. We had to discard about 1/3 of them and even the ones we saved were bit too soft to eat as whole fresh fruit on yogurt for example. So, my wife just heated them up in a sauce pan (no water or sugar, just gently cooked) until they were the consistence of soft jam. The next morning, I pureed them using an immersion blender. The blueberry puree was pretty good. We added a teaspoon of it to our morning yogurt. Somehow the blueberry taste intensified in the puree and actually tasted richer than the whole blueberries we had been adding. My wife, then expanded the blueberry repertoire by making this new version of blueberry muffin using both whole and pureed blueberry. The blueberry puree made the muffin really good with strong blueberry flavor. The puree was added to the top of the muffin. The cut surface looks like only a few whole blueberries were added to but the distribution was somewhat uneven. Other sections of the muffins had plenty of whole blueberries. This is based on the recipe called “America’s test kitchen’s best blueberry muffins”.

Ingredients
1 cup of whole blueberries (or optional substitute toasted pecans).  

1 cup of blueberry puree.
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs room temperature

4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable  oil
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract 

(Optional) finely grated zest of 1 lemon. We did not use this.

Directions:
To make the blueberry puree, bring 1 cup of blueberries to a very low simmer in a small saucepan. Cook until the berries have broken down. Puree. Cool to room temperature.

Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture and remaining berries into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes, and it will thicken up.

Divide among 12 greased muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups). Spoon 1 teaspoon of the blueberry puree into the center of each mound. (First picture below) Gently swirl into the batter using a toothpick and a figure-eight motion.

Bake at 425F until tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. (Second picture below). Cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

These were really good muffins with a very intense blueberry flavor thanks to the addition of the puree. The texture of the muffin was very tender with a nice fine crumb and faint vanilla flavor. The delivery of the smashed batch of blueberries was a “blessing-in-disguise” now that we have learned about blueberry blueberry puree and it’s flavor advantages. 

Addendum:
My wife was impressed by how the blueberry puree added a good blueberry flavor to the muffins. We had some left over puree but no whole blueberries left. So my wife decided to substitute toasted pecans for the whole blueberries. (Toasted pecans as a substitute for whole blueberries is not a substitute I would have made or let alone even thought of ) but this really worked. The picture below shows the result. It’a almost like two muffins in one. The top is blueberry muffin and the underneath is pecan muffin. And the blueberries and pecans really work well together. The pecans add a nice crunchy textural element.

Blueberry puree and pecan muffin ブルーベリーピュレー、ピーカンマフィン

This is another variation on the theme of blueberry muffins. When we got less than perfect (in terms of the shape/consistency and sourness) blueberries, my wife slowly cooked and then pureed them using the immersion blender. You could add sugar and the puree worked well when added to our morning yogurt.  My wife tried using blueberry puree in muffins and found that it really added a blueberry flavor in conjunction with the whole blueberries. 

At one point she found the whole blueberries were gone but she had more puree than she could use in the morning yogurt. She didn’t want the puree to go bad so she decided to made a blueberry muffin “sans” the whole blueberry but just using the leftover puree as the liquid in the batter. She made this blueberry muffin with the puree as the blueberry “representative” and the addition of pecans to see how it works.  As you can see below, the entire muffin turned sort-of purple.

Ingredients
1 cup toasted pecans).
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup combination of buttermilk and blueberry puree (i.e. however much puree is available combined with buttermilk to make 1 cup) room temperature

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
(Optional) finely grated zest of 1 lemon. We did not use this.

Directions:
To make the blueberry puree, bring 1 cup of blueberries to a very low simmer in a small saucepan. Cook until the berries have broken down. Puree using an immersion blended. Cool to room temperature.

Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk/blueberry puree, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes, and it will thicken up (picture below).

Divide among 12 greased muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups) (picture below).

Bake at 425F until tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes (picture below).  Cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

This is not bad but blueberry flavor was not very strong. The amount of the puree you put in may be something to do with it but in it’s own right, this is a good muffin.

Blueberry Pudding Cake ブルーベリープディングケーキ

This is another one of my wife’s baking projects. This came about due to the convergence of two factors; one was the excess of blueberry puree we recently made from fresh blueberries for other baking projects and the other was that this is a variation on the theme of  PA Dutch chocolate pudding cake. Like the chocolate pudding cake, during the baking process, a cake layer forms on the surface and a pudding/sauce layer forms on the bottom. This recipe came together very quickly and the result was a nice vanilla cake with a rich blueberry pudding/sauce on the bottom. In this serving picture, in order to emphasize the lovely blueberry custard sauce, we scooped some of it on top of the piece of cake we served.

This is based on a recipe from the “Food and Wine” website but my wife deviated from the original recipe by substituting vanilla extract for the lemon juice/zest called for as flavoring in the original.

Ingredients
1 cup of pureed blueberries, 
1 cup of fresh whole blueberries not pureed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2  teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing
1 1/4 cups boiling water

Directions:
To prepare the blueberries: Gently heat the blueberries on low heat until the skins burst and the berries exude juice. Puree the berries with an emersion blender. 

To prepare the cake layer: In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl mix the milk, melted butter and vanilla. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until combined. Transfer the batter to a greased baking dish and spread in an even layer.* Spread the pureed blueberries over the batter. Arrange the whole fresh berries on the batter, pressing down slightly. Carefully pour boiling water evenly over the batter; do not stir.

Bake in a 425 F oven until the cake is golden brown and a warm, pudding-like sauce has formed on the bottom, 25 to 27 minutes. 

* I used the small square pyrex baking dish for this recipe but it was a bit too small. (It measured 7”x7”x2”) Although all the ingredients initially fit nicely in the dish, when the cake layer formed it expanded and the blueberry juice underneath fountained out all over the edges of the baking dish. Luckily I had put a tray under the baking dish when I put it in the oven otherwise it would have been quite a mess. Next time I will use a larger baking pan. (The next larger pan measures 8”x8.5”x2.5”)

This desert was as good an addition to the pudding cake family as the chocolate one mentioned above. The vanilla flavored cake was complemented by a thick blueberry flavored custard that formed underneath it. The custard had a very pronounced blueberry flavor and the fresh blueberries embedded in the batter formed nice additional burst and texture of blueberry. This was a wonderful summer dish celebrating blueberry season. 

Blueberry pancake v2 ブルーベリーパンケーキ V2

We always associate fresh blueberries with early summer, although they are now available year-around because they are also produced in South America. One way we enjoy blueberries is by making blueberry pancakes. Recently my wife was talking to her sister, and mentioned that we had just enjoyed blueberry pancakes for breakfast that day. Her sister asked for the recipe and my wife said it was in "The Joy of Cooking" (JOC). (This cookbook is a quintessential fixture of American kitchens and has been continuously published since 1936.) Sometime later her sister mentioned that she had made blueberry pancakes and they were really gourmet because of the addition of cornmeal and lemon zest. My wife was confused because  the JOC recipe she was familiar with did not include cornmeal or lemon zest. As a matter of fact there was no recipe in the pancake section of her JOC that mentioned those two items. So she went back to her sister and asked how she had calculated the amount of cornmeal to substitute for the regular flour called for in the recipe. Her sister replied that she had just followed the recipe in the cookbook. Then it dawned on my wife that her sister was using a different edition of JOC than the one my wife was using. It turns out that my wife's blueberry pancake recipe is from the 1980 edition and the recipe her sister used was from the 1997 edition, (which my wife also has). (I think the newest edition is 2019)**. In any case, my wife decided to try the 1997 edition blueberry pancake recipe her sister had used.

**Digression alert. We basically stuck with the older version of the cookbook because it was the one we were familiar with and particularly once we noticed that some of our favorite recipes from the old cookbook were not in the new cookbook. From an esoteric point of view, I particularly missed the section on how to prepare wild game that was in the old cook book. Although I may never have to use the knowledge that grey squirrels taste better than red squirrels because red squirrels are quite gamy in flavor or that squirrels should be skinned while wearing gloves to prevent possible tularemia infection, it is nice to know such information is available.  Not to mention the "must have" recipes for opossum, porcupine, raccoon or muskrat. 

As before, we "install" the blueberries individually rather than mixing into the batter to ensure even distribution. My wife is in charge of preparing the batter and I am in charge of cooking it.

Here I asked my wife to take over.

Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
8 Tbs. (one stick) butter melted
4 large eggs separated
3 tsp lemon zest

Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients flour through salt in a mixing bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients, buttermilk through the 4 egg yolks in another bowl.
Add the lemon zest to the wet ingredients.
Whip the 4 egg whites until peaks are stiff but not dry.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.
Carefully fold the whipped egg whites into the batter.
Put a teaspoon of olive oil in a frying pan then scoop a ladle full of batter into the preheated pan and cook until done flipping once.


These pancakes, like the previous version, are very good. Both are nicely fluffy and have a pleasant mildly sweet taste with a lovely burst of flavor from the blueberries. This version has the addition of a mild lemon flavor. We didn't detect any addition flavor added by the cornmeal. Both recipes make a mighty fine pancake.

Blueberry scones ブルーベリースコーン

Local blueberries are in season and there was a special at the local grocery store. I bought 4 packages of blueberries and my wife made blueberry bread. But two packages of blueberries were left. So, she decided to make blueberry scones.

Here are blueberry scones on the left and blueberry bread on the right just out of the oven.

Ingredients:

4 cups AP flour

4 Tbs. sugar (After tasting it, my wife thought maybe a bit more sugar and vanilla flavor would be good)

4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

10 Tbs. cold butter

1 cup cold milk

2 large eggs

8 oz cheese (brie, goat cheese, or cream cheese) broken into bits

8 oz blueberries. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients from AP flour to butter. Use a pastry knife to cut the butter into pea sized pieces. Add the cheese and cut into pea sized pieces with the pastry knife. In another bowl combine the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry (#1). Fold in the blueberries (#2). The dough was extremely stiff and it was difficult to mix in the blueberries. Some of them inevitably got crushed. Cut into triangles or circles (#3). Bake in oven for 15 to 20 Minutes until golden brown (#4). 

This is like a biscuit with blueberries in it. It is very different from blueberry quick bread. We like it very much. It is perfect for breakfast or , perhaps, afternoon tea.

Panna cotta from homemade buttermilk 自家製バターミルクでパナコッタ

After my wife made buttermilk using the culture from "The culture for health" we were quite impressed with the quality of the buttermilk. My wife decide to make something using the buttermilk. Since we had some leftover blueberries she decided to use the newly made buttermilk to make panna cotta with blueberry sauce as shown in the first picture.

Ingredients
1 tsp. gelatin
1 1/2 Tbs. water
1 cup 4% milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup buttermilk

For the blueberry sauce:
1 cup of blueberries
1 tsp. Of sugar

Directions:
For blueberry sauce:
Put the blueberries and sugar in a small ceramic dish and cook them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in the toaster oven until they form a thick type of blueberry jam.

For panna cotta:
Bloom the gelatin in the 1 1/2 Tbs. of water. Put the milk and sugar in a sauce pan and heat until the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat and use several tablespoons of the warm mixture to “temper” the gelatin until it is completely dissolved. Add the tempered gelatin into the rest of the milk mixture and stir completely. Let cool to room temperature. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Pour the mixture into the containers. Tip the containers using a muffin tin to support them in order to get the beveled appearance. Cool in the refridgerator until the mixture becomes firm. Just before serving spoon in the blueberry mixture on top of the buttermilk mixture to bring the contents of the container even with the top.

This panne cotta turned out well. It was very creamy, slightly tangy and sweet with a vanilla flavor. The blueberries added a nice fresh blueberry flavor that went very well with the vanilla.

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins サワークリーム、ブルーベリー、マッフィン

This is another blueberry muffin variation to celebrate blueberry season. We saw this blueberry muffin recipe in a “Web Spoon” episode. We thought just placing fresh blueberry in the muffin tin and pouring the batter on the top would not work well but we tried it anyway. My wife was interested in making the muffin batter because it was quite different from the ones she usually makes. This was quite a good muffin. It had a very fine texture and was more cake-like than other batters we have made. Also, the blueberries stayed on the bottom of the tin and were not encased by the batter as was shown in the Web Spoon episode. (picture #1). But the muffins were very good nonetheless.

I ask my wife to fill in the details.

Ingredients:
2 Eggs 
1 cup sugar 
pinch of salt 
240 grams sour cream
100 ml oil
Lemon zest of one lemon and 2 Tbs lemon juice (We did not use this but recommend vanilla for future muffins)
250 gm AP flour 
10 grams baking powder
1 package of blueberries

Directions:
In a bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. Set aside. Whip the eggs and sugar in a stand mixer with the whip attachment until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the salt, sour cream, oil and vanilla and continue whipping. On a lower speed add the flour mixture and mix just until completely combined with the egg mixture. Do not over mix.

Distribute the blueberries into the bottom of a muffin tin lined with paper cups. Pour the batter on top of the blueberries. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes until the muffins are firm when touched and a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out clean (Picture #2).

These muffins were very tender and cake-like in texture. They took a surprisingly long time to cook and did not turn brown even though they were quite firm and a skewer came out clean. The flavor was very subtle but still good. Next time we may try to better incorporate the batter with the blueberries.

Blueberry oatmeal muffin オーツ麦入りブルーベリーマフィン

This is my wife's continuing muffin project. We got fairly good blueberries. Since she has made quite few kinds of blueberry muffins, she wanted to do something different. She found this recipe for a blueberry muffin made with rolled oats.

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 Ml) milk
1 cup (80G) old fashioned whole rolled oats. (Steel cut oats, quick oats, or instant oats won’t work)
1 1/4 (156 g) AP flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (115 g) butter melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup (120 ml) honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (190 g) blueberries

Directions:
Combine the milk and oats. Set aside for 20 minutes for the oats to soak up the milk. Mix the dry ingredients from the flour through the salt in a bowl then set aside. Whisk the wet ingredients from the butter through the vanilla together in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just to combine. Add the oats and any remaining milk and stir to combine. Fold in the blueberries. Scoop the batter into the heavily greased muffin cups. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then lower the temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking an additional 15 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in a center muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes before taking them out of the pan.

The oats seemed to completely incorporate into the overall texture of the muffin which was very tender. (You wouldn’t know oats are included if you weren’t told.) The cinnamon flavor is not something I usually associate with a spring/summer dish (more a fall flavor). So that made these blueberry muffins very different from the usual. The blueberries are in season and were very good. They truly “made” this muffin. 

Blueberry bread ブルーベリイブレッド

We are again deviating from our theme but when we posted blueberry pancakes, my wife said we had to post this one as well. So here we go; my wife's blueberry bread, which is "berry" excellent. She makes a large amount as you can see and cuts the resulting sheet cake into individual servings then freezes it. We often take this to work as breakfast.

I ask my wife to take over: The recipe will make one 10x15" sheet cake.

Prepare the pan by lining it with parchment paper. Grease the bottom of the pan, put in the parchment paper, then grease the top of the paper. (This allows the cake to release from the pan with no fuss or muss). Next,

Ingredients X1

1/2 cup butter 

1 1/3 cup sugar 

2 eggs and 

2 2/3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder, 

1/2 tsp baking soda, 

1/4 tsp salt. In yet another bowl add 

1 1/2 cups of buttermilk and 

2 tsp vanilla.

Ingredients X2

1 cup butter 

2 2/3 cup sugar 

4 eggs and 

5 1/3 cup flour, 

4 tsp. baking powder, 

1 tsp baking soda, 

1/2 tsp salt. 

3 cups of buttermilk and 

4 tsp vanilla.

Cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and keep creaming. Add the eggs and cream until yellow light and fluffy. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients (flour through salt).  Alternatively add the creamed mixture and buttermilk to the flour. Pour into prepared pans. Next "install" the blueberries. (If the blueberries are added to the batter while it is being mixed they tend to clump. When this happens the batter around the clump doesn't cook because of the moisture in the berries. This makes for partially cooked patches that are unpleasant. Also during cooking the berries tend to sink to the bottom and form a wet mass.) To install the berries scatter them across the top of the batter fairly evenly (below left). Then take your fingers and gently push them slightly below the surface (below center). The batter will rise around them as it cooks.  If they sink its only to the middle of the cake and they are generally distributed so the batter cooks evenly. (if you don't do this step the berries just ride on the surface as the batter rises and they get over cooked.) Cook at 350 degrees for about an hour for this size (10x15") pan (below right).

This is a very luscious form of blueberry "muffin". It's another recipe that says 'summer is here'. The texture of the cake is very light and moist. The blueberries add a burst of juice and fresh flavor to the cake. 

Blueberry almond muffin ブルーベリー アーモンド マフィン

My wife was binge baking different kinds of muffins one weekend. She claimed she was into making muffins because she finally found the secret to baking in muffin tins. Even though the recipes universally call for filling the cups 3/4 full, as far as she was concerned, this resulted in wimpy muffins. According to her, the secret is to OVERFILL the cups. That way the batter rises above the cup and you get nice caps such as the ones shown on the muffins below. Since we had rather plump and sweet blueberries, she made these blueberry almond muffins. This was the last batch she made on "binge" weekend. (This will have to be the last for a while since we are running out of freezer space for baked goods). Among the many blueberry breads and muffins she has made, this is one of the best. She found this recipe in the "Pastries from the La Brea Bakery"

This is a bit unique because it includes pulverized almonds. (Pulverized is not as fine as "almond flour" you can buy and gives it a bit of texture). The big plump blueberries were quite nice.

My wife fit all the batter into the muffin tins which made a nice big top.

Ingredients:(for 12 muffins)
1/2 cup (3 oz.) almonds toasted.
3/8 cup sugar (a total of 3/4 cup of sugar is used; half goes the nut mixture half goes into the creamed butter mixture, #3)
1 tbs. grated orange or lemon zest
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs. plus 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick plus 2 tbs. (5 oz.) butter
3/8 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (#2)
2 cups blueberries (#3) or 1 to 1 1/2 cup chopped strawberries, nectarines, peaches or pears.

Recipe doubled (makes 24 muffins)

1 cup (6 oz.) almonds toasted.
3/4 cup sugar (a total of 1 1/2 cups of sugar is used; half goes in the nut mixture half goes into the creamed butter mixture, #3)
1 tbs. grated orange or lemon zest (or 1 tbs. vanilla)
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbs. plus 2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks plus 4 tbs. (10 oz.) butter
3/4 cup sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups buttermilk (#2)
4 cups blueberries (#3) or 2 to 2 1/2 cup chopped strawberries, nectarines, peaches or pears.

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the almonds, the fruit zest and half of the sugar (3/8 cup) and process until it is the consistency of a fine meal (#1 above).  In a separate bowl mix the flour, nut mixture, baking powder, baking soda, salt (#2). In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add the remaining sugar (3/8 cup) and cream until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and whip until frothy (#3). Pour in the buttermilk and mix until completely incorporated. Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in the blueberries (#4). Put batter into a greased muffin tin(#5, 6). Bake at 350 degree for 20 to 25 minutes (#7).

These are indeed very nice blueberry muffins. They came out really moist with a nice crunchy top. When my wife took the muffins out of tin, the texture was so tender they started to collapse under the weight of the generous tops. So she had to cool the muffins upside down (#8). Once they cooled, however, we could stand them right-side-up. The almond flavor was very subtle--just a slight nuttiness. But a nice lemony flavor came through.  This combined with the sweet and juicy blueberries was a winning combination. She can make these again (once some space opens up in our freezer.)

Blueberry bread with rolled oats 押し麦入りブルーベリーパン

To celebrate the season (this was in July), my wife is on a quest to test all possible blueberry bread recipes. This is another variation she made. The difference between these blueberry breads is rather subtle.  This variation includes rolled oats 押し麦. For breakfast, we served this with yogurt and cherries.

Actually, if you look carefully, you can see the rolled oats in the bread.

Ingredients:

2 cups blueberries

4 cups flour

2 cups sugar

4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp salt

2 cups Greek yogurt

2 eggs

1 cup butter melted

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup oats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and dust 2 loaf pans with flour. Toast the oats in the toaster oven until they become brown and fragrant. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Fold in the blueberries (the batter will be stiff so it may be difficult to get them evenly distributed as indicated by the picture above.) Bake for about 50-55 minutes. 

This bread tastes like a very rich pound cake with moist texture and a crunchy cookie crust (at least when it just comes out of the oven. Over time the crust is not as crunchy but is still good.) The oats kind-of disappear, although they do add some nuttiness because of the roasting and some additional texture. This bread is an appropriate celebration of blueberry season. 

Blueberry bread with cornmeal コーンミール入りブルーベリーパン

Although blueberries in the U.S. are available almost all year round because they are being imported from South America, there is still something special about the seasonality of local blueberries which are only available in early summer. In our grocery store, good, sweet and cheap blueberries have arrived. I got 4 packages and my wife decided to make blueberry bread. We posted blueberry bread previously but this one is slightly different and this is mostly for our record. Since we forgot to set aside some fresh blueberries for garnish, I used cherries instead (they are also in season locally).

This is a quick bread and cornmeal is also added which gives it slightly different texture and taste.

Ingredients X1

2 1/4 cups AP flour

3/4  cup cornmeal (or 1/2 cup corn flour and 1/4 cup cornmeal)

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 baking soda

3/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups blueberries

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 1/2 Tbs. butter melted

The zest from 1 lemon

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Ingredients: X 2

4 1/2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cup sugar

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

3 cups blueberries

3 cups buttermilk

9 Tbs. butter melted

The zest from 3 lemons

3 large eggs

3 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line the bottom of a baking dish with parchment, first greasing the dish with butter then the top of the paper after it has been placed in the dish. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the wet ingredients together. then add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix until blended. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish #1. add the blueberries on top and use your fingers to tamp them into the dough # 2 (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom).

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees then lower the temperature to 350 and bake another 20 minutes until golden brown and a tester comes out clean #3 and #4. 

According to my wife, this recipe is a bit easier to make than  the original blueberry bread. The texture is a bit courser than the original but the taste of cornmeal comes through and is very pleasant. Also the lemon rind adds a hint of citrus flavor. This is very good and perfect breakfast bread and a symbol of summer.

Table of Contents 2026

January 2026
January 1     Happy New Year 2026 明けましておめでとうございます
January 2    “Ozoni” New Year’s Soup お雑煮 2026
January 5    Osechi from Sushi Taro 2026 すし太郎のお節
January 8    Chocolate Brownie Pudding チョコレートブラウニープディング
January 11    Japanese “Kabu” Turnip Simmered in Broth 蕪の煮物
January 14    Japanese Sweet potato Blini さつまいもビィリニ
January 17    Simmered “Satoimo” taro with squid 里芋とイカの煮物
January 19    Grilled Beef Tongue 牛タンの焼肉
January 20    Persimmon in Tofu Dressing 柿の白和え
January 23    Cauliflower-puree Blini カリフラワーピュレー　ビィリニ
January 25    Gingerbread Pancakes with Date Sauce ジンジャーブレッドパンケーキ
January 26    “Bento” Lunch Box 弁当
January 29    Chestnuts and Apple Blini 栗とリンゴ味のビリニ

February 2026
February 1    Warm sake on a cold night 寒夜の燗酒
February 4    Cranberry sauce muffins クランベリーソースマフィン
February 7    Appetizers; one with Shad Roe 酒のつまみ
February 10    Custardy Apple Cake カスタードアップルケーキ
February 13    Salted “Kabocha” 塩かぼちゃ
February 16    Fried “Renkon” Lotus Root with “Aonori” dried seaw...
February 19    Valentine‘s day sashimi dinner バレンタインデイ刺身ディナー
February 22    Valentine’s day cake バレンタインデイケーキ
February 25    Crispy Cheese Rice Puffs チーズライスパフ
February 28    Persimmon and “Kabu” turnip salad 柿と蕪のマリネ

March 2026
March 3    Peanut butter pancake ピーナッツバターパンケーキ
March 6    Cold Jade Eggplant in broth 茄子の翡翠煮
March 9    Cream Cheese Biscuits クリームチーズビスケット
March 12    Roasted Red Pepper Sauce V2 赤パプリカのソース
March 15    Pan-fried Oyster Mushroom 平茸の洋風ソテー
March 18    English Muffin Loaves イングリシュマフィンローフパン
March 21    Honey Oatmeal Roll 蜂蜜とオートミールのロールパン
March 24    Shrimp and Grits with Poached Egg 温玉のせ海老とグリィツ
March 27    Sweet potato gnocchi さつまいものニョキ
March 30    Japanese Fluffy “Soufflé” Pancake (version 2) 日本風フ...

April 2026
April 2    Hanami 2026 花見2026
April 5    Hanami 2026 #2 and #3 花見2026、二回目、三回目
April 8    Baked Spaghetti (angle hair) Cup with meatballs オー...
April 11   “Atsu-age “ Fried Tofu 厚揚げ
April 14    Mango Crumb Bars マンゴークラムバー
April 17    Vegetarian Buttermilk Cotta ベジタリアンバターミルクパナコタ
April 20    Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcakes 苺とクリームチーズのカップケーキ
April 23    Stir-steamed “Kimpira gobo” Burdock-root 蒸し炒め金平牛蒡
April 26    Mini Cheese Grits Casserole ミニグリッツキャセロール
April 29    Duck Leg Confit アヒルのもも肉のコンフィ

May 2026
May 2    Pan-fried Grits Cake フライパンで焼いたグリッツケーキ
May 5    Lemon Ricotta Cake レモン、リッコタチーズケーキ
May 8    Roasted Carrot Soup にんじんスープ
May 11    Shrimp and Scallop Rice Krispies Bites エビとホタテのライスク...
May 14    Rice Krispies Pancake ライスクリスピーパンケーキ
May 17    Walnut Cheddar Loaf くるみとチェダーチーズのローフ
May 20    Norwegian Lefse Flatbread ノルウェイのレフシイ フラットブレッド
May 23    Grape-puree Muffin ブドウのピューレのマフィン
May 26    Pork Vindaloo served in Soup Curry-style スープカレー風豚肉...
May 29    Honey Curry Bread 蜂蜜カレーパン

June 2026
June 1    Morning Glory Muffin 朝顔マフィン
June 4    Three Eel Dishes うなぎの蒲焼料理3種類
June 7    Meatloaf ミートローフ
June 10    Air Fried stuffed Chicken Wings エアーフライ手羽餃子
June 13    Air Fried Chicken Wings エアーフライ手羽
June 17    Air Fried Eggplant エアーフライ茄子
June 20    Grilled Tofu-puff with Egg Yolk Miso 柚子胡椒入り玉味噌の焼き油揚げ
June 23    Goat Cheese Popover ゴートチーズ　ポップオーバー

June 26    Sausage Encased in Cookie Dough (Full Moon Pastries)
June 29    Raspberry Muffin Bites ラズベリーマッフィンバイツ

July 2026
July 1    Raspberry Muffin Bites ラズベリーマッフィンバイツ
July 4    Salmon Pate サーモンパテ
July 7    Chicken Liver Cooked in Ketchup and Worcestershire...
July 10    Air Fried Zucchini エアーフライズッキニ
July 13    Garlic Chive and Cucumber Salad ニラとキュウリの和え物
July 16    Blueberry Cream Cheese on Blueberry Muffin ブルーベリーチ...
July 19    Neapolitan-ish pizza ナポリ風ピザ
July 22    Tomato-Spinach Roulade Bread トマトとほうれん草のルラード
July 25    Pork and Potato and Goat Cheese Bites ローストポーク、ポテト、...
July 28    Mashed Potato, Roasted Pork and Cheese Bites versi...
July 31    Spinach Feta Cheese Frittata Bites ほうれん草とフェタチーズのフリ...

August 2026
August 3    Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins サワークリーム、ブルーベリー、マッフィン
August 6    Strawberry, Pretzel Cheese Cake いちごチーズケーキ
August 9     Blueberry Pudding Cake ブルーベリープディングケーキ
August 12    Air Fried Pork Tenderloin with Panko Crust エアーフライ...
August 25    Air-fried Spicy Tofu エアーフライピリ辛豆腐
August 28    Air-Fried Pork Tenderloin without Panko Crust エアー...

Strawberry Almond muffin ストローベリィ アーモンド マフィン

This is one of my wife's muffin projects. She made a very similar muffin using blueberry but this time she used fresh strawberries.

The strawberries don't show up on the cut surface as well as the blueberries did in the blueberry version of this muffin. The strawberries lost their color but the strawberry flavor came through.

The basic muffin recipe came from “Pastry from La Brea Bakery”.

Ingredients:(for 12 muffins)
1/2 cup (3 oz.) almonds deeply toasted. (The toasting is what gives the muffins a rich flavor)
3/4 cup sugar
1 stick plus 2 tbs. (5 oz.) butter
3 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbs. plus 1 tsp baking powder
>3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped strawberries.

Directions
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade pulse the almonds until they are the texture fine meal. Add the butter and cream until smooth. Add the sugar and process until fluffy. Add the eggs and cream until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the vanilla to the buttermilk

Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture.  Fold in the strawberries (above). Put the batter into a greased muffin tin (below). Bake at 350 degree for 20 to 25 minutes.

The ground-up toasted almonds gave nice rich nutty flavor and texture to the muffin. The strawberries lost their color and shrank when the muffins were cooked leaving spaces around them. Although the strawberry flavor is there, we both agreed that if you are adding fruit, blueberry is better.

Pumpkin pancake パンプキンパンケーキ

Our favorite pancake is blueberry butter milk pancake. During blueberry season we make a batch of these pancakes almost every weekend and freeze the extras we make. They freeze very well. After making the “super secret” pumpkin bread we had canned pumpkin left over so, in keeping with the season, we decided to make pumpkin pancakes. I usually use 4 identical non-stick 8 inch frying pans to make a batch of pancakes. I could make the pancakes without oil or butter in the pan but my wife informed me that the oil is essential for the crispy "fried" edges she likes. My wife found this recipe on line.



Compared to our buttermilk pancakes, these really puffed up much higher. We enjoyed them with small amount of maple syrup and a side of espresso coffee.



The below is a direct quote from the original recipe (italicized) with our modification in parentheses.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk (We made our own
1/2 cup Pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water
1 large egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Chopped pecan (we first roasted and chopped) 

Instructions:

Toast about a cup of pecans, mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice and salt in large bowl. Combine evaporated milk, pumpkin, water (we actually just used regular milk), egg and 2 tablespoons oil in small bowl; mix well. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened; batter may be lumpy. (Stir in chopped pecans.)

HEAT griddle or skillet over medium heat; brush lightly with oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle; cook until bubbles begin to burst. Turn and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve with  Pumpkin maple syrup (We just used straight maple syrup). 

This made a total of 10 pancakes. Here is the picture of the 8 remaining pancakes (we ate two). In addition to the pumpkin pie spice called for in this recipe, we did not have evaporated milk either. We have not used or bought evaporated milk for ages. So in addition to making our own pumpkin pie spice, we also made our own evaporated milk. I know what you are thinking; that we have entirely too much time on our hand to do something as silly as that but there were extenuating circumstances. First, we really wanted to make these pancakes, second we had some excess milk that we were wondering what to do with before it went bad. We consulted the internet and found it was fairly easy to make evaporated milk--just simmer a quart of milk until it is reduced by half. (While the process of actually making the evaporated milk was easy, cleaning the pan was not. Trust me, it is worth it to buy it in a can). It took half a day to make and the end product had chunks of "scum" or "membrane" (I assume from the milk protein). We strained the liquid and the end result was fairly thick, deep cream color and tasted pretty good. The funny thing is that this recipe calls for evaporated milk and then adds water. Why not just use regular milk? After all that work we were not about to add water so we used enough regular milk to make the batter of pouring consistency. We have a feeling that just adding milk or a mixture of milk and cream may do just as well as evaporated milk and water.

We really like this pancake. It has a nice pumpkin and pumpkin spice flavor and is nicely moist and fluffy. The canned pumpkin adds some mild sweetness. The toasted pecans added a nice crunch. These pancakes, like the blueberry pancakes also freeze very well. We took these to work for breakfast and they revived nicely in the microwave oven.