Spiced Blueberry Fool Recipes

BLUEBERRY FOOLS

Steps:

• Make the blueberry sauce: Heat 1 1/2 cups blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar and the salt in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbling. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and juice; remove from the heat. Stir in the remaining 1/2 cup blueberries and let the mixture cool to room temperature.
• Beat the heavy cream in a bowl with a mixer or whisk until soft peaks just begin to form. Beat in the vanilla and the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Gently fold all but 1/3 cup of the blueberry sauce into the whipped cream. Divide among glasses and top with the remaining blueberry sauce. Serve with cookies.

BLUEBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• Combine blueberries, lemon juice, cinnamon, 4 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer until blueberries burst and become very soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor and puree. Pour into a fine sieve set over a bowl, stirring and pressing on solids to remove as much liquid as possible. Discard solids and refrigerate puree until cold and thickened slightly, at least 1 hour and, covered with plastic wrap, up to 1 day.
• Whisk or beat cream with remaining 3 tablespoons sugar to soft peaks in a large, wide bowl. Drizzle puree evenly over cream and fold cream over puree twice with a large rubber spatula or wooden spoon just until puree is streaked throughout cream. (Do not overmix.) Transfer to a large serving bowl or individual serving dishes and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours and, covered with plastic wrap, up to 1 day. Serve cold.

SPICED BLUEBERRY JAMMIN'

Steps:

• For the jam: Place blueberries in saucepan over medium-low heat. Sprinkle with pectin followed by the anise, nutmeg, lemon juice and vinegar. Once liquid starts to gather in bottom of pan, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Lower heat slightly and boil gently for five minutes occasionally mashing mixture. Mash in sugar, add the water and return to a boil for 1 minute. You just made jam. Cool, jar, refrigerate and enjoy within 2 weeks. Or, move to the preserving phase. Preserving the jam: Thoroughly wash all hardware in hot soapy water. Then pile everything (excluding the jar lids) into the pot. Cover with hot water by at least 1-inch and bring to a boil and maintain for 10 full minutes to sterilize. Turn off the heat, wait 5 minutes then add the lids (waiting will insure that the sealing compound does not melt). Leave all hardware in the pot until you're ready to can.
• Remove the ladle, tongs, funnel and other tools from the pot, (careful please, it's hot in there) to a clean towel or paper towels. Using the jar tongs, remove and drain the jars, placing them on the towel/paper towel surface. (Avoid rock or metal surfaces which could result in thermal shock and breakage.)
• Place the funnel in the first jar (pick it up by the ring, avoiding the sterile interior.) Use the ladle to fill each jar just to the bottom of the funnel, about 1/3-inch from the bottom of the jar threads. This "headspace" is necessary for the jars to seal during processing.
• Wipe the jar rims with a moist paper towel, checking for any cracks or irregularities as you go. Use the magnetized device of your choice to position lids on each jar. Screw the rings on finger tight. (Remember, the rings don't seal the jars they only hold the lids in place. Heat will drive out the headspace air, which when cooled will create a vacuum, thus sealing the jars)
• Return the jars to the pot being certain that they don't touch the bottom of the pot or each other. (If you don't have a jar rack, try a round cake rack, or metal mesh basket. Even a folded kitchen towel on the pot bottom will do in a pinch.) Add additional water if necessary to cover the jars by at least an inch, and bring to a hard boil over high heat according to the table below. (Be sure not to start your timer until a true boil is reached. The headroom air may bubble out of the jars before a boil is reached. Don't be fooled.)
• Processing times: Within 1,000 feet of sea level: 5 minutes 1,000 - 3,000 feet above sea level: 10 minutes 3,001- 6,000 feet above sea level: 15 minutes 6,000 - 8,000 feet above sea level: 20 minutes Above 8,000 feet: wait until you're back down at base camp.
• Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

BLUEBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine blueberries,water, maple syrup and herbs.
• Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring constantly until the liquid has thickened and berries have popped, about 3-5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and transfer into a heat-proof bowl or measuring cup and purée using an immersion blender. You can also transfer into a standing blender and purée until smooth.
• Refrigerate until completely chilled.
• Make Berry Cream.
• Whip cream, sugar and salt in a standing mixer or large bowl until stiff peaks form and it starts to look a little lumpy (this is generally considered "over-whipped").
• Pour in 1/2 cup of chilled bb syrup (reserve remainder for the assembly), and whip on high to incorporate.
• Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the bowl, then whisk one more time to assure that streaks don't remain.
• Assemble.
• Distribute the remaining berries between 4 serving bowls or glasses.
• Dollop the berry cream over top of each, and drizzle with remaining berry syrup. Finish with an herb garnish. Serve cold.
• Note: the syrup can be refrigerated in an airtight container for a week, and the berry cream can be made and refrigerated for up to 24 hours. You can assemble the fools ahead of time in the serving vessels minus the syrup and garnish, covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

EASY BLUEBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• In a small, nonreactive saucepan, combine blueberries, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until blueberries begin to break down and juices boil and thicken, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and transfer to a small bowl. Place bowl in a larger bowl of ice water, and stir mixture occasionally until cold.
• In a separate bowl, combine cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla. Beat until stiff peaks form; fold in 1/3 cup of the blueberry sauce. Divide among 4 dessert dishes, and spoon remaining sauce over tops.

SPICED BLUEBERRY JAM

Steps:

• Remove any stems from berries. Crush fruit 1 layer at a time. Measure 2 1/4 cups, packed solidly, if necessary, add water to make up amount, pour into very large saucepan or dutch oven.
• Add lemon juice, sugar and spices, mixing well. Bring to a full rolling boil, stirring 1 minute Remove from heat and immediately stir in pectin.
• Ladle into hot jelly glasses or jars. Water bath can 10 minutes at 1000 feet. Remove from canner, cool and test lids.

MIXED BERRY FOOL (REDUCED CALORIE)

Steps:

• In small saucepan, combine raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, orange juice and sugar.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-high and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Carefully add fruit mixture to food processor and puree until smooth.
• Strain through a fine mesh strainer and place in the freezer for about 50 minutes, or until very cold.
• Place thawed whipped topping in a medium-size bowl; fold in yogurt and cooled fruit puree until just combined.
• Serve immediately.
• Garnish with berries, if desired.

SIMPLE BLUEBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• Heat 1 cup blueberries, sugar, and thyme in a small saucepan until berries just begin to burst. Remove from heat, stir in remaining berries, and let cool completely.
• Layer 1/4 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup meringue pieces, and 1/4 cup berry mixture in 4 shallow bowls. Garnish with thyme and serve immediately.

SPICED BLUEBERRY APPLESAUCE

Steps:

• Place the apples and blueberries into a heavy bottomed pot large enough to hold all the ingredients and allow room for stirring.
• Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot-about 1/2 inch of water on the bottom or so.
• Put the pot onto high heat and stirring constantly, bring to a boil.
• Turn heat down to medium, and stirring continually, cook until the apples are all soft and some are beginning to break down, thickening the released fruit juices.
• Stir in the sugar and spices and keep cooking until the sugar is well combined.
• Turn off the heat, but keep the pot on the stove in order to keep the applesauce hot.
• Using an immersion blender, a food processor or food mill, grind the fruit up into a slightly chunky puree-or, if you wish, grind it down to a perfectly smooth puree.
• Stir in the lemon juice thoroughly, then pack into hot pint or quart jars.
• Try to get any visible air bubbles out with a spatula; this is very difficult with very thick foods like applesauce, but try anyway. Wipe off the rim of the jar with a damp cloth, then center a lid on top and screw on a band.
• Do not tighten the band-just screw it down until it is closed, but not at all difficult to unscrew.
• Put into a hot water bath canner, making certain that water covers the jars completely.
• Bring to a boil, clap the lids on top of the canner and process the jars for 20 minutes-the processing time is the same for either pints or quarts.
• When they have processed for twenty minutes, turn off the heat and open the lid to the canner.
• Allow the jars to sit in the hot water for five minutes, then carefully lift up each jar and set it on a folded dishtowel in order to keep the counter from possibly cooling the glass too rapidly, causing the jar to crack.
• Check the seals on the lids-they should be concave and very tightly adhered to the jar rim.
• If after 24 hours the lids have not sealed, either use up the food that did not seal, or re-pack using new jars and new lids.
• Recipe makes eight pints or four quarts.

SPICED BLUEBERRY FOOL

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute), and lemon juice.
• Cook, stirring all the while, over low heat until the sugar dissolves and the berries start to give off liquid- about 2 minutes Increase heat to medium-high and simmer until the berries have broken down- about 4 minutes.
• Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger.
• Strain the berry mixture through a fine mesh sieve, pushing hard on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.
• Discard the solids- (You will have 1 to 1-1/2 cups liquid, depending on the juiciness of the berries).
• Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hours.
• Chill 4 parfait, or tall wine glasses (use champagne flutes, if you have them, as an impressive touch for a formal dinner).
• In a large bowl, whip the cream with the remaining tbsp sugar (or sugar substitute) and the vanilla, until stiff.
• Stir 1/4 of the blueberry mixture into the cream to lighten and gently fold in the rest of the mixture.
• Spoon into the chilled glasses, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 8 hours.
• Just before serving, garnish with a pinch of chopped ginger and a sprig of mint.