Frozen Blueberry Shooters

Back at it again with another blueberry recipe! Today is something that is something really simple and can spice up your drinks our desserts. We are doing Frozen Blueberry Shooters. If you don't know what shooters are, they are fruits (or any topping) that goes on top of a drink, or a cupped dessert such as moose or smoothies. They are "so pretty, simple, and delicious, blueberries in a spicy white wine (I'm underage so its instead soda). add color as well as lightness to selection of mini desserts" (Ojakangas 78).

Per Serving

5-8 ripened, frozen blueberries

  3-4 tablespoons chilled Gewurztraminer, sparkling apple juice, champagne or soda.

a sprig of fresh mint for garnish (optional).

Freeze blueberries in the freezer for about an hour. "Drop blueberries into 2- or 3- ounce chilled shot glasses. Pour drink of choice over to cover the berries and garnish with a sprig of mint" (Ojakangas 78).

That's all, a really simple way to spruce your drinks as it adds dimensions to the drink. Having the frozen blueberries are like mini Popsicle that soak up the soda. The original recipe called for Raspberries, but I didn't have any, and all of my blog post had a theme of having blueberries as one of the main ingredients. Was there an underlying theme to your blog that you didn't notice till you finished? Tell me in the comments, and I'm open for some other suggestions instead of using blueberries. Its been a lot of fun and I sadly won't be blogging for a very long time. Thanks for reading!

Resources: Ojakangas, Beatrice, and Roger LePage. Petite Sweets: Bite-size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth. Portland, Me.: Sellers, 2009. Print. 

White Chocolate Woes: Part 2

This is part two of my bittersweet victory against white chocolate. Of course it wasn't bitter but gosh dang this took me a bit. I was prepared with a goal at hand! Because I ran out of blueberries, I also did raspberries covered in white chocolate. This turned out exactly how I wanted and It was a lot of fun. "These are great to use as a garnish or as a tiny dessert all by itself" (Ojakangas 77).

Ingredients:

6 ounces bittersweet (not sweetened), semisweet, or white chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

4 dozen small blueberries

Once again,  if you need a substitute for corn syrup use 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water. just keep stirring the sugar in the hot water until it fully dissolves, this would help emulsify the chocolate. I highly recommend having a drop of hot water/ light corn syrup to help smooth out the chocolate.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. "Place chocolate and corn syrup in a medium bowl and set barely simmering water (do not allow bottoms of pan to touch water); stir until melted and smooth" (Ojakangas 77).

This was the white chocolate mixture.

Remove chocolate from over the water.  Stick 2 blueberries on a toothpick and dip into the chocolate. Place the blueberry, chocolate side down, on the waxed paper. Repeat with remaining blueberries and chocolate. Chill in the fridge until chocolate is firm, at least 15 minutes.

 

 The most difficulty I had on my second attempt was my spatula literally broke into my batter. It was also white, so it made it extremely difficult to take the pieces out. On the topic of chocolate, What's your favorite chocolate and why? Tell in the comments below!

Resources: Ojakangas, Beatrice, and Roger LePage. Petite Sweets: Bite-size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth. Portland, Me.: Sellers, 2009. Print.  

White Chocolate Woes: Part 1

This is part one of making Chocolate Covered Blueberries... Because I made some errors and I went ahead and redid the recipe, but that's on the other post. They were a lot of fun to make, even if there was a bunch of mishaps that occurred on my first attempted. Although the original recipe called for cherries, I'm not really a fan of them. "These are great to use as a garnish or as a tiny dessert all by itself" (Ojakangas 77).

Ingredients:

6 ounces bittersweet (not sweetened), semisweet, or white chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

4 dozen small blueberries

To start off,  if you need a substitute for corn syrup use 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water. just keep stirring the sugar in the hot water until it fully dissolves, this would help emulsify the chocolate.

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. "Place chocolate and corn syrup in a medium bowl and set barely simmering water (do not allow bottoms of pan to touch water); stir until melted and smooth" (Ojakangas 77).

Remove chocolate from over the water.  Stick 2 blueberries on a toothpick and dip into the chocolate. Place the blueberry, chocolate side down, on the waxed paper. Repeat with remaining blueberries and chocolate. Chill until chocolate is firm, at least 15 minutes.

Properly melting the chocolate gave me the most problems, although I followed most of the recipe I ran into trouble by over heating and not stirring in the corn syrup enough. The chocolate consistency wasn't very good, as it was silky and more or less like play doh. Not only that I screwed up and put the blueberries in the chocolate mix without using toothpicks and I couldn't recover from that and instead put all of the blueberries inside of the mixture instead of dipping them.

 Yeah... Failure tasted pretty good, although the texture was that of a Tootsie Roll because the chocolate didn't set properly. Did you have any failures from your blogging experience? Although this was my first attempt I got back on my feet and redid this and it turned out great.

Resources: Ojakangas, Beatrice, and Roger LePage. Petite Sweets: Bite-size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth. Portland, Me.: Sellers, 2009. Print.  

クレープ (Crepes)

Crepes are a type of pancake that is really thin. They originated in France and is often associated in Brittany a region northwest of France. Crepes are usually a world wide dish and doesn't have a single filling and is really flexible though the most common form of serving Crepes is Crepes Suzette.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

Canola oil or Coconut oil for cooking

 "If you don't have a crepe pan, an 8- or 9-inch omelet pan works well" (Ojakangas 69). So if you surprisingly have a crepe pan, which is really awesome than you can just use a 9 inch skillet or "omelet pan". 

To start off, in a medium- sized bowl whisk together your wet ingredients (milk, eggs, and butter), then add your dry ingredients (flour, salt, and sugar). Whisk until the batter is complete smooth and "let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight" (Ojakangas 69). I let it sat overnight because I started the recipe at night.

Once you take it out of the refrigerator, re-whisk the batter because it may start to solidify. Brush your skillet with oil and place it over a med- high heat. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan and swirl it around to make the crepe. Once it begins to look dry smoothly flip it over with a spatula. Let the other side sit for about 15 seconds and transfer the crepe onto a plate. brush the pan with oil between each crepe you cook in order for it to not cook in the pan.

 

This was a really simple dish to make and it tasted really good with Nutella and whipped cream. My brother added blueberries and strawberries, and my mom had banana's and Nutella. My family enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, I just wished I made more. What would you put in your crepes? I really need comments to reply to so please comment... please I need the good grade... please.

Resources: Ojakangas, Beatrice, and Roger LePage. Petite Sweets: Bite-size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth. Portland, Me.: Sellers, 2009. Print. 

ブルーベリーパンケーキ (Blueberry Pancakes)

"A favorite with kids, these pancakes make an appealing and quick-to-make dessert. They are the very best with tiny wild blueberries, but if that is not possible, cultivated blueberries will have to do" (Ojakangas 73).

Ingredients:

•  1 cup of all- purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
•  1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
•  1 egg, separated
• 1 cup of milk
•  2 tablespoons butter, melted
• Fresh blueberries
•  Toppings of your choice (I won't judge) 

 Alright to start with is putting the dry ingredients together in one bowl (the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar). Separate the egg into whites and yolk, you'll be using both of them. After that whisk the milk, egg yolk and the melted butter together.

From there put the wet mix into the dry mix. Stir until you get your preferred consistency.  I personally enjoy a smoother texture when I make pancakes. After that pour the egg whites slowly until the mixture thickens a little. This would give the pancakes a somewhat denser texture which I personally enjoy.

I used a flat skillet that helped mold smaller rounder pancakes:

My sister, Crystal and I got this for my father as a Christmas gift because he makes pancakes often. If someone is sleeping over out our house, or its a holiday we use this fun little skillet. Although most people don't have this skillet, so you can just use a flat skillet. Heat the stove to medium high, and to test if the temperature is just right, put a drop of water on it and it should bounce on the surface, not stay the same or steam (Ojakangas 73). From their you can use a ladle or a tablespoon to spoon it onto the pan. Although I had the skillet so i was able to guide myself on how much batter I used per pancake

It isn't blueberry pancakes without blueberries so drop 3-4 berries on each pancakes, its honestly your choice depending on the size. Once you see some bubbles arising on the top of the pancake and see some browning in the bottom, flip it over, I recommend a spatula. Once the other side has fully cooked take it off the skillet and put it right into a plate. Repeat the process till you're out of batter and serve hot. It makes about 20 dollar pancakes. Add whipped cream, syrup, honey, butter, more blueberries... or Nutella.

 I had to go to school so I couldn't really make any sides with these pancakes, but hey I got this recipe and so do you. It took me about 25 minutes to make the pancakes, cleaning not included. Pancakes are something that most people enjoy, its lovable, easy to make, and you can make as much as you want. The biggest problem was how much of a mess it can be, but its worth it. 

(here we have a pancake, in its natural habitat)

Having my family compliment me on this was great, as cooking is a great way to show, "Home is where the heart is." If you have an questions or tweaks to this recipe, please tell me... also what do you do to try to spend time with your family? I'm curious to know, so you can add that in with that comment. :)                                                                                                            

Resources: Ojakangas, Beatrice, and Roger LePage. Petite Sweets: Bite-size Desserts to Satisfy Every Sweet Tooth. Portland, Me.: Sellers, 2009. Print.