Double Berry Corn Muffins

Tangy cranberries and juicy blueberries bursting with flavour in a sweet corn muffin!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsps vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

2 tsps lemon juice

1 cup blueberries

1 cup cranberries

First add lemon juice to the milk and set aside.

Then combine the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt together.

Add half the flour mixture and half the milk/lemon juice to the creamed butter. Once combined add the rest then fold in the berries. The batter will be kind of thick.

Scoop into paper lined muffin tins and bake at 375°F for 15-20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Makes 16 medium sized muffins

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂

Old Fashioned Berry Buckle

Soft and berry filled buckle topped with a crumbly sweet streusel. Ideal as a sweet breakfast coffee cake or serve with ice cream for an easy old fashioned favorite fruit dessert. 

Ingredients:

Streusel topping:

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter

Cake:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup milk

3 cups berries (blueberries, raspberries, cranberries)

Start by combining the streusel ingredients. Cut the cold butter into the sugar, flour and cinnamon with a pastry blender then set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and ginger together in a medium sized bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla. Then, on low speed add 1/3 of the dry mix and 1/3 of the milk, incorporating well. Repeat adding thirds until all mixed in then fold in the berries. I used the three types of berries listed in the ingredients but you can use any one kind of berry or the combination you prefer.

Pour the batter (it's a little thick) into an oiled baking dish. Use either a 9" square or a deep 8" square. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes if using a 9" OR 60-65 minutes if baking in an 8" deep dish. A cake tester should come out clean.

Cool 30 minutes before serving.

Makes 9 servings.

Adapted from: altonbrown.com

Follow hotandcoldrunningmom on Pinterest. You can scan the pincode seen here with your phone if you're on a desktop. If you're on a phone just screenshot it, go to the Pinterest app, click camera. Then instead of taking a pic use the option to use one of your photos. Click on the screenshot you just took and go right to my Pinterest profile where you can follow me 🙂

Peach and Blueberry Jam

Preserve the summer any way you can!

2 lbs peaches, peeled and chopped (about 5-7 medium)
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tsp pectin
3 1/2 cups sugar

In a large pot cook peaches, blueberries and lemon juice over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil. Add the sugar.

Keep cooking until the sugar dissolves. Bring back to a boil and add the pectin. Lightly mash fruit with a potato masher and keep on a gentle boil, stirring approximately 10-15 minutes.

A drop of jam on a plate that has been kept in the freezer should run very slowly when the plate is tilted. Now it's ready.

Sterilize jam jars and pour in the jam. A large funnel will make life easier here.

Process the jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes then carefully remove jars and let sit for 24 hours.

The next day check to see that all the jars have sealed. If not, simply remove the lid, wipe the lip of the jar clean, check that it is a good lid or replace it, then process again and check in the next 24 hours.  If you still don't have a good seal store that jar in the fridge.

This recipe makes 11 small jam jars, 125 ml (4 oz) size.

Red Wine Strawberry Raspberry Pie

This pie has a rich shortbread-like crust with a deep red berry filling enhanced in flavour and colour by the red wine.
(Now I've got UB40's "Red, Red Wine" playing in my head!)

Crust: 
1/2 cup butter or marg
3 tbsps sugar
1 cup flour

Filling:
2  1/4 cups strawberries
2 cups sugar
1  1/2 cups water
1/2 cup red wine (I used cabernet sauvignon)
85g box raspberry jello

This is how I checked the amount of strawberries I'd need. Could probably have used a few more, but this was ok. Raspberries would have been good here and there too.

I cut the larger ones in half, but kept the small ones whole. Once cut they measured 2  1/4 cups.

For the crust combine the butter, sugar and flour and press into a greased 8" pie plate.
Bake at 375 F for 10 minutes. Cool.

For the filling mix the sugar, water and red wine together in a saucepan. If you don't want to use wine just use 2 cups of water. Bring the mixture to  boil. At first it will look a bit cloudy but once it comes to a boil and thickens it looks better. Then add the jello powder. Now that really punches the colour up!

Stir together a couple of minutes then remove from heat. Cool in refrigerator about 30 minutes.
Remove from fridge, fold in the berries and pour into pie shell. 

Back to the fridge it goes to set for several hours.

This is a pretty sweet pie so a small piece will satisfy. 

Adapted from http://www.lemontreedwelling.com