A BC Blueberry Recipe for Every Festive Feeling
Wed, Nov 30, 2022
'Tis the season for berry good holiday treats from BC Blueberries.
With the holiday season upon us you're probably in full planning mode. Some of us will be throwing parties, some will be hosting family (by the dozens!), and some of us are just planning to go into hiding until the cold seeps out of our bones. Whichever of these three is your go-to mode for the holidays—party, planning, or hibernation—we have a frozen BC blueberry recipe just perfect for adding a dash of healthy deliciousness to the festive feasting.
Holiday Party Mode
This recipe, using frozen BC Blueberries, is somehow both wholesome and decadent. Perfect to impress party guest palates this festive season.
Blueberry Goat Cheese Sweet Chilli Phyllo Cups
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 cups (225g) Yellow onion, diced
- 2 tbsp (30ml) Vegetable oil
- 1 tsp (5ml) Salt
- ½ tsp (2.5ml) Pepper
- 1 tbsp (15ml) Apple cider vinegar
- 1 large (50g) Egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp (15ml) Honey
- 2 tsp (10ml) Lime Zest, freshly grated
- 1 tbsp (15ml) Lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tsp (10ml) Sambal Oelek or crushed chili paste
- 1 cup (150g) B.C. Blueberries, fresh or frozen (do not thaw if using frozen)
- ⅓ cup (65g) Soft goat cheese, crumbled
- ¼ cup (35g) Sliced almonds, chopped
- 2 tbsp (10g) Fresh basil, finely chopped
Phyllo cups
- ⅓ cup (80ml) Butter, melted
- 4 sheets Phyllo pastry (18” x 13” sheets), thawed
Directions
- In a pan sauté onions with oil and salt and pepper for a few minutes. Add vinegar, reduce heat and slowly caramelize the onions for 20-25 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
- Position oven rack in the centre and pre-heat oven to 350°F/176°C.
- Brush a mini muffin pan with melted butter.
- Lay a stack of four 18” x 13” sheets of thawed phyllo pastry on a clean surface. Lightly brush each layer with melted butter. Cut into 24 squares. Press each square in the pan.
- In a bowl, beat the egg and mix the onions, honey, lime zest, lime juice and Sambal Oelek. Fold in the blueberries and goat cheese.
- Equally distribute mixture into cups and top with almonds.
- Bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden. Remove from pan and top with fresh basil. Best served immediately or at room temperature. Do not refrigerate to retain crispiness.
Holiday Planning Mode
This is the perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up for busy family-filled, holiday-activity-laden days. Prepare this the day before your family descends and bring it out for a nutritious but indulgent treat when energy seems to be lagging. (Also has that wow-factor perfect for the holidays!)
Ingredients
Oreo Crust
- 200 g Oreo Baking Crumbs
- 30 g Unsalted Butter, melted
Cream Cheese Mixture
- 250 g Cream Cheese, softened
- 200 mL Whipping Cream
- 60 g Sugar (30 g for cream cheese & 30 g for whipping cream)
- 10 g Gelatin Powder
- 3 tbsp Hot Water
Blueberry Jam
- 200 g BC Frozen Blueberries
- 30 g Sugar
- 1/2 Lemon
Directions
Oreo Crust
- Pour the melted butter into the Oreo baking crumbs. Mix well.
- Press the crumbs mixture into the bottom of a 6-inch springform pan. Make sure it is firmly packed.
- Refrigerate while you prepare the rest of the cheesecake.
Blueberry Jam
- Leave the frozen blueberries at room temperature for 15-30 minutes.
- Mix the blueberries and sugar into a large saucepan. Leave it for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, bring it to high heat and stir constantly. Meanwhile, use a spatula to crush the blueberries.
- When it starts to thicken, turn to low heat and continue to stir.
- Cook for another 2-5 minutes or until thicken.
- Ladle the hot blueberry jam to a sterilized jar to chill.
Cream Cheese Mixture
- Whisk the cream cheese.
- Add 30 g sugar when it starts to get creamy. Continue to whisk until smooth and creamy.
- Combine gelatin powder and hot sugar. Mix well. If it gets lumpy, you can put the bowl in a boiling water bath, which allows the gelatin powder fully dissolves in the water.
- Immediately adds into the cream cheese mixture. Whisk until combine.
- Combine whipping cream and 30 g sugar. Whisk until soft peak is formed.
- Put 1/2 whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture. Mix and fold in gently. Add the remaining whipping cream in. Mix gently.
- Separate the cream cheese mixture into three equal portions.
- Add 40-50 g blueberry jam into one bowl. Add 20g blueberry jam into another bowl. The remaining bowl is the original flavour.
- Bring out the crust from the fridge and add the darkest mixture to 1/3 of the cake mould. Freeze it for 25 minutes. Then, add the second layer and freeze it for 25 minutes. Lastly, add the original flavour/final layer.
- Leave it in the fridge overnight.
Holiday Hibernation Mode
Whether you're hibernating to get out of the cold or to get off the merry-go-round of holiday parties, you're no doubt going to want something sweet to snack on, all cozied up in your pjs and slippers. These blueberry Linzer cookies—a BC blueberry edition of the traditional Christmas cookie—impart all the sweetness of the season with none of the silliness.
Ingredients
Jam Filling
- 1 cup 150g B.C Blueberries- fresh or frozen
- 1 cup 165g Sugar
- 1 pkg 185ml Liquid Pectin/ or ½ pkg.-28g of powdered pectin
- 1 tbsp 15ml Lemon zest
- 1 tbsp 15ml Lemon Juice
Cookies
- 2 cups 260g Cake and pastry flour
- ½ tsp 5ml Baking powder
- ¼ tsp pinch Salt
- 1 cup 160g Almonds
- ¼ cup 40g Sugar
- 1 cup 240g Unsalted Butter- room temperature
- ½ cup 80g Sugar
- 1 large 50g Egg
- 1 large 15g Egg yolk
- 1 tsp 5ml Finely grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp 5ml Vanilla Extract
- ¼ cup 40g Confectioners’ Sugar
Directions
Jam Filling
- Starting on a medium heat, in a small saucepan, mash and break down the blueberries using a potato masher. Add the sugar, pectin, lemon zest and lemon juice, raise the heat and bring to a rolling boil for 1-2 minutes.
- Set aside and cool at room temperature.
Cookies
- In a 350F/160C oven bake almonds until fragrant and toasted, approximately 5 minutes, allow to cool.
- Place the cooled almonds and ¼ cup of sugar in a food processer and process until finely ground. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a hand or stand mixer, beat together the butter and ½ cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Mix in the almond/sugar mixture, lemon zest and vanilla.
- Mix in the flour mixture in three intervals, do not over mix.
- Divide the dough into 2, half-inch thick discs, then wrap tightly in cellophane and refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Place rack in the centre of the oven, and pre- heat to 350F/160C. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and allow to stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.
- On a generously floured surface, roll out the dough until about ⅛ - ¼ inch thick. Using a 2” or 3” decorative cookie cutter, cut out cookies and place one inch apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Using a smaller 1” cookie cutter with decorative shape, cut out the centers of half of the unbaked cookies, this will be the top half of the cookie sandwich.
- Bake the cookies for 10-13 minutes at 350F/160C until a very light golden. Cookies with cut-outs (for the top) will bake slightly quicker. Allow to cool.
- Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Sprinkle icing sugar over the cut-out tops of the cooled cookies.Dollop approximately 1 tsp of the blueberry jam filling in the centre of the bottom halves of the cooled cookies.
- Top with the sugared, cut out cookies and gently sandwich together.
- Cookies can be stored in an air tight container for 2-4 days, however best assembled to the day of consuming.