The indulgent ingredients in this delicous recipe probably outweigh the berries' health
benefits.
Blueberries are my favourite berries, partly because they’re good for you, but also because they taste so good. The indulgent ingredients in my recipes this week probably outweigh the berries health
benefits, but, be assured, they’re absolutely worth it!
Blueberry and lemon-curd cream-cheese rolls (makes 9 rolls)
Ingredients
275g plain flour
250g butter, cold
220g cream cheese
50g brown sugar, plus more for scattering
200g blueberries
100g lemon curd, plus more for serving
1 organic and free-range egg, beaten
200ml mascarpone
Method
Pulse the flour, butter and cream cheese in the bowl of a food processor until it just comes together, tip it out on a work surface and bring it together in a disc, before covering with clingfilm and popping it in the freezer for half an hour.
Meanwhile, heat the brown sugar and blueberries in a saucepan until juicy, but not mashed. Next, unwrap your chilled pastry and roll it out into a rectangle, about the thickness of a pound coin, and trim it so the sides are neat. Spread the lemon curd over the whole sheet of pastry, followed by the cooked blueberries, then roll the whole thing up so it looks like a long Swiss roll and take a sharp knife to cut it into even-sized pieces.
Preheat the oven to 200 ̊C/400 ̊F/gas mark 6, then arrange the rolls, neatly and snugly, in a generously buttered 8in-square cake tin (a similar-sized round one works equally well, too). Brush the top of the rolls with the beaten egg and scatter the rest of the brown sugar over the top, before baking in the oven for 50–60 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Serve immediately with mascarpone mixed with lemon curd on the side. This recipe also works brilliantly with other fillings such as cinnamon and apples, Nutella or caramel.
More ways with blueberries
Dutch blueberry pancakes (left)
Cook 200g blueberries, 80g butter and a generous sprinkling of brown sugar in a heavy-based, 12in ovenproof frying pan until the fruit starts to burst. Then mix 3 eggs, a teaspoon vanilla-bean paste, 150g plain flour, 100ml whole milk and 100ml single cream in a jug to make the pancake batter and pour it over the blueberries, then continue to cook in a hot oven for about 20 minutes until the pancakes puff up. Serve with extra summer berries scattered over the top, a few dollops of mascarpone mixed with maple syrup and a sprinkling of icing sugar on top—heaven!
Blueberry-and-ginger fools
Simmer some blueberries and sugar in a saucepan until they become juicy. Whip double cream until fluffy, then fold it through the (cooled) blueberry mixture, before adding some syrup from a jar of preserved ginger and folding again. To serve, spoon into bowls and top with crushed ginger-nut biscuits.
Jackson Pollock blueberry ice lollies
Cook fresh blueberries with sugar until juicy, before blending to a purée. Fold this through melted vanilla ice cream and pour into moulds, then insert wooden sticks. Once the lollies are frozen, remove them from the moulds, lay them on a baking sheet and splash with lines of melted white and milk chocolate. Freeze them again, so the chocolate hardens, then repeat on the other side and freeze again until ready to serve—perfect for barbecues.
Barbecued corn on the cob with rose harissa chicken and kale chips
Barbecued and served with rose harissa chicken or blended into quinoa soup, just two of our favourite corn on the
Strawberries with rosewater ice cream
Ripe strawberries are the perfect accompaniment to this gelato-like rosewater ice cream, says Simon Hopkinson.
