BLACKBERRY BUCKLE (a 2 banana level difficulty level)

I have some blackberry bushes at my house that are quite prolific. When the blackberries first start ripening, it's kind of fun to go out & pick blackberries & eat them or make smoothies or share them. After about 2 weeks, it is less fun as I end up picking A LOT of blackberries & my hands start looking like they broke up a fight between 2 cats!

I can eat & freeze so many blackberries before I say 'No mas' so I end up sharing quite a bit.

Up until recently, I had never heard of "Buckle" as it related to baking. However, one of my friends whom I shared some blackberries turned them into a "Blackberry Buckle" and she shared that with me. She described it as a cross between cobbler & a pie & that it was easy to make.

I'm always interested in things that are easy to make AND if it involves baking some of these blackberries, then I'm all for it!

Today, 'this monkey' will show you how to make "Blackberry Buckle"!... As well as a "Peach Buckle" as I did share some of the blackberries with my neighbors and they in turned shared some of their peaches!

WHAT YOU NEED:
4 c Fresh Blackberries (or peaches)
2 T Sugar (brown sugar may work better with the peaches)
1 t Lemon Juice
1 t Lemon Zest (optional)
1 t Vanilla Extract

6 T Butter
1 1/4 c All-Purpose Flour
3/4 c Sugar
2 t Baking Powder
1 t Salt

1 c Milk (Whole Milk is preferred, but Skim, Soy etc will do the trick)
1/2 t Vanilla Extract

2 T Sugar in the Raw for Sprinkling on top

WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:
9x9" Baking Dish (or equivalent)
2 Small Bowls
Large Bowl
Rubber Spatula
Whisk or Mixer

WHAT YOU DO:

***Remember, I am baking TWO separate buckles...the above ingredients are for ONE buckle, BUT the photos below are showing TWO buckles***

1. Pre-Heat Oven to 350 degrees
2. In Small Bowl, Combine: Blackberries (or Peaches), Sugar, Lemon Juice (and Zest), Vanilla Extract

3. Combine Milk & Vanilla Extract in another small bowl/container

4. Place Butter in Baking Dish and place in the oven to melt the butter

5. Combine the Dry Ingredients (Flour, Sugar, Salt, Baking Powder) in a large bowl

 6. Pour the Milk mixture into the Dry Ingredients and gently stir until just combined

7. Carefully remove the hot pan with the melted butter from the oven & pour in most of the batter (Reserve about 1/2-1 c of batter to drizzle over the top). Don't mix the batter into the butter. The melted butter will move out of the way & up onto the batter.

8. Sprinkle the fruit into the batter and very gently press it into the batter.

9. Drizzle the reserve batter over the top

10. Bake for 40-45 minutes...be sure to rotate your pan 180 deg at the 20 min mark for more even baking.
11. Remove from the oven, Sprinkle the sugar on top & bake for about 5 minutes more...until the top is golden brown.

12. Serve with ice cream...we had a 'Lemon Cookie' flavor that tasted GREAT!

Both Buckle varieties (Blackberry & Peach) turned out pretty darned good! I mean they contain fruit, sugar, flour, butter & are served with ice cream so they should taste good...I liked the Blackberry version better. Probably because it is a sweeter fruit to begin with. Perhaps modifying the Peach version with brown sugar may be the way to go as well as just using plain ol' Vanilla Ice Cream for the Peach...any way, I hope you enjoy!

Until next time, your favorite neighbor-web monkey!

BLACKBERRY ICEBOX PIE (a 3-4 banana difficulty)

Sometime this winter I was watching a PBS cooking show and they made some sort of "Strawberry Icebox" Pie.  And I said to myself, "I cannot WAIT to make that during Strawberry season!"  Well, evidently blackberry season happens before strawberry season and I have an excess of blackberries.  So let's make a "Blackberry Icebox Pie"!!

I guess this recipe is a PBS, Cook's Illustrated, and Ben & Jerry's homemade ice cream collaboration inspired recipe.  Yes, in the B&J's homemade ice cream book they have ratios based on the sweetness of fruit and the amount of sugar needed...but I digress.  "anymonkeycan" make a "Blackberry Icebox Pie"!  Let's do this.

WHAT YOU NEED:
3 lbs (about 4 pints) of fresh Blackberries
1 c Sugar
2 T Cornstarch
1 T Unflavored Gelatine
1/2 t Salt
Juice from 1 Lemon (about 1-2 T)
1 Baked Pie Shell (I had an extra Pillsbury Pie crust I used, but next time I'm shooting to do it from scratch!)
Whip Cream

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED:
An oven/stove top
Small food processor
Medium Sauce pan
Large Bowl
Pyrex liquid measuring cup

Whisk

Rubber spatula

WHAT YOU DO:
1.  Put about 1.5 c of your "ugly" misshapen Blackberries in the food processor & puree for 30 sec.  You'll have about 3/4 c. of Blackberry puree.

 

2.  In the Medium Sauce pan, Whisk together:  Sugar, Cornstarch, Gelatine, & Salt.

3.  Add & stir in the Blackberry Puree into the dry ingredients in the Medium Sauce Pan.

4.  Cook over Med-high heat.  Stir constantly & use a rubber spatula to occasionally scrape the puree from the sides & bottom the of the pan.  Bring to a boil for 2 min & be sure to continue to stir & scrape.  It should start to thicken just a little.

5.  Pour into a large bowl & add the Lemon Juice & let cool to room temp.  This may take 30-60 min.  At this point you can make your pie crust from scratch or bake the store bought one.

6.  After the glaze is at room temp, take the remaining Blackberries (about 2 lbs worth) and fold gently into the glaze.

7.  Gently spoon the pie filling into your BAKED pie crust & smooth out evenly.



oops...'this monkey' originally forgot to bake that store bought pie crust!


 

ok, that's better!!

 8.  Put that pie in your refrigerator to chill for about 2-3 hours.
9.  Serve with Whip Cream!!

I was a bit surprised how easy this came together, especially with the store bought pie crust!  I'll give this a 4 banana difficulty with "made from scratch" pie crust & whipped cream.  Definitely a "3 bananar" going the store bought route.

There you have it.  It really is as good as it looks!  "Anymonkeycan" make a "Blackberry Icebox Pie"!!

Blueberry Almond Pancakes

Ahh...Pancakes! What a great way to start a weekend morning! Making creative, unique pancakes really is something a monkey can do. At the easiest, just start with the most basic pancake recipe and add your favorite fixin's kind of like DQ adds fixin's to their Blizzards. Heck, buy yourself some Bisquick and a giraffe could probably make some pancakes. Here's an easy recipe that will allow you to upgrade yourself into a chef of fancy pancakes. Mr. Fancy Pancakes if you will.

Blueberry Almond Pancakes

Whisk the following into a large bowl:

1 c Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 c All Purpose Flour

1/4 c Sugar

1 1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t vanilla (optional)

Preheat your griddle to Medium to Medium High heat (350 deg)

In another bowl whisk the following:

1 1/4 c Greek Yogurt or Kefir or Milk

4 T unsalted butter, melted

2 Large Eggs

1 T grated lemon zest (optional)

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients mixing until they are combined well.

Fold in:

1 c Fresh Blueberries (Frozen -thaw and drain first- can also be used)

1/2 c Sliced Almonds

If your batter is too thick, add milk 1 T at a time until batter is desirable. If too thin, add flour 1 T at a time.

Ladle Pancakes on to the heated griddle at about 1/4 to 1/2 c depending on size of your desired cakes. Cook until the tops are showing small bubbles (about 3-5 min), then flip with a spatula and cook until the bottom is lightly brown.

Now it is time to enjoy some pancakes! Feel free to replace the blueberries with bananas or raisins or cranberries or strawberries... And replace the almonds with walnuts or cashews or pecans...

I love these pancakes just as is. I don't think they need syrup, but that is really up to you. You cannot go wrong smearing a bit of the previous post's Multi Nut Spread either. http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2010/10/homemade-multi-nut-butter.html

Enjoy your pancakes you crazy cooking monkey you!