Blueberry Galette

This is one of those recipes that you can likely make with stuff you already have in your house. Which is really handy when you're having a low-key dinner and want to throw together a tasty treat to make dessert a little more special. It's also great for when you are in New Jersey and don't have access to a car, but still want to make a dessert (as though there's a time I don't want to make a dessert ...)

I used blueberries, but you could just as easily use peaches, nectarines, plums, or really any fruit that's in season. The fruit is the star of the show though, so you should pick one that is at its best.

There are at least a million galette recipes online, but I just used my favorite pie crust recipe and made the blueberry mixture by feel. If you use a store-bought crust, or have an extra in your freezer from a previous batch, this really is the easiest recipe in the world. To make mine a little extra special, I made whipped cream and sprinkled a little lemon zest on top.

Blueberry Galette
Note: If you want to make my pie crust, the recipe is below. If you are using ready-made, you can start here

2 cups blueberries
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
scant 1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp cold, unsalted butter in small pieces
1 tsp turbanido sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. In a medium bowl, mix blueberries, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, and sugar.

2. Transfer the blueberry mixture to the center of your pie crust. Leaving about 1 1/2 inch around the edges. Fold the crust toward the center. Repeat around the entire pie, pleating the crust as you work your way around (see 1st picture for a visual). Sprinkle small pieces of butter of the top of the blueberry center.

3. Brush outside of crust with egg wash and sprinkle with turbanido sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Depending on your oven, you may want to rotate a few times during baking.


Pie Crust
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 sticks, cold unsalted butter
1 cup ice water

1. Put a few ice cubes in your water and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.

2. Cut the butter into cubes and sprinkle over the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter work butter into flour until the dough starts to come together; don't over mix. Once larger clumps start to form, sprinkle a little bit of water over top, 1 tbsp at a time. Err on the dry side, too much water will ruin the dough. Use your hands to bring the dough together.

3. Slice the dough in 1/2 and place each half in plastic wrap. Place the one you want to use in the fridge for 2 hours. The other 1/2 can be frozen for future use.

4. After 2 hours. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Starting in the center of your dough roll away from you. Flour again and turn the dough a 1/4 turn. Repeat until the dough is a bit bigger than your pie pan. Transfer to your pie plate and return to the fridge.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

I am lemon-obsessed. I've lost count of the number of times that I have passed off a Magnolia Bakery lemon zest muffin as breakfast and I baked this lemon olive oil cake last week just because I wanted a snack. Also, lemonade has pretty much replaced water and diet coke in my life.

This cake lasted less than a day in our house. Tom and I basically split it down the middle and before 24 hours had passed, we had taken care of our respective shares. (I ate more than 1/2 for those keep score at home).

It was so light, thanks to the gorgeous egg whites. And the crunchy bits of turbinado sugar on top are perfect. AND, there's no butter! This is usually a sin in my kitchen, because it typically means that shortening has been used (yuck), but here, the light olive oil is really a stunning compliment to the lemon. Be sure to use a light bodied olive oil, so the flavor doesn't overpower your lemons.


And to celebrate my birthday (which was yesterday), Tom got me yet another lemon treat from Magnolia. This time, a lemon layer cake with tart lemon cream filling and lemon meringue buttercream icing. Seriously, I may turn into a lemon by the end of the month.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake (from Epicurious)
1 cup cake flour
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup light olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

4 egg whites
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a round cake pan or spring-form pan. Cover the bottom with a round piece of parchment paper.

2. Mix together flour and lemon zest. Set aside.

3. Beat yolks and sugar on high for about 3 minutes; until very light and fluffy. Reduce speed and slowly add in olive oil and lemon juice. Using a spoon or spatula stir in flour/zest mixture until just combined.

4. Carefully wash and dry your beaters. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites and salt until foamy. Slowly add in 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until soft peaks form; about 3 minutes.

5. Gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour into your prepared pan. Tap a few times to release any air bubbles. Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar.

6. Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Little Lemon Breakfast Cakes

I bought cake flour in July with the expectation of making scones. Fast-forward almost 7 months and I finally got around to using it. Not as I originally planned, but for these cute and tasty concoctions. They are definitely not scones, or biscuits, but are really more like breakfast cakes. They are not too sweet (just 1/4 cup of sugar), the glaze gives it a nice lemony kick, and the cake flour makes them super light.

They are the perfect way to make morning a little extra special. Or to bake for a friend coming over to study criminal law (as was the case here). They also come together and bake up really quickly, which is great if you have a legal writing assignment to finish. Enjoy!

Little Lemon Breakfast Cakes

2 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/3 cup heavy cream
juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
juice of 1 lemon

1. Sift flour, baking power, salt and sugar together. Add the zest.

2. In a separate bowl combine the heavy cream and lemon juice. Slowly add the liquid mixture to the dry, stirring until just combined.

3. On a floured surface knead the dough. Don't be afraid to add enough flour to make the dough manageable. Gently spread the dough until 1/2 inch thick.

4. Using a biscuit cutter, cut circles and place on a parchment covered baking sheet.

5. Bake for about 20 minutes until the bottoms are just browned.

6. In a separate bowl whisk together lemon juice and confectioner's sugar. When the cakes are done, let cool for a few minutes and then cover with glaze.

Lemon Roasted Chicken

In my apology last week for dwelling on the sweets, I mentioned lemon roasted chicken. And then, couldn't stop thinking about it. Lemony, garlicy, with some delicious potato chunks thrown in for good measure. Yum!

This is one of those pretty impressive dinners that truly doesn't take much effort. Yes, I basted and turned the chicken every 20 minutes, but other than that it just hung out in the oven and did its thing allowing me to study for my first-ever law final. So it worked out well for both of us. Though in the end the chicken was eaten and I had to sit for 4 hours typing as fast as I could about jurisprudence... so maybe "well" is an overstatement.

Admittedly, the only part of the chicken that had the lemon flavor was the breast, but all of the meat was juicy and full of flavor. And the potatoes! I'm going to sneak to the fridge and get some now, even though it's 7am. Is that weird?

Lemon Roasted Chicken

1 4 lb whole chicken
1 lemon, halved
1/2 head of garlic
salt & pepper
handful of thyme

3 handfuls of new potatoes, quartered
1/4 cup olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Make sure to remove the giblets package from the chicken. Rinse it with cool water inside and out; pat dry with paper towels.

2. Shove the lemon halves, garlic, and thyme inside the bird's cavity. Generously salt & pepper the cavity.

3. Place the bird in your pan breast side up and secure the legs with twine (or one of those special rubber bands made just for this purpose) and spread the potatoes around the pan.

4. Drizzle olive oil over the bird and potatoes and sprinkle the whole thing with salt & pepper.

5. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, rotating the pan a quarter turn and basting every 20 minutes. When the chicken is done, an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the bird will read 165 F. Let sit for 10 minutes so the juices settle and serve.

Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Two flavors that I've been obsessed with lately are blueberry and lemon. Seriously, obsessed. I wake up thinking of lemons and I always spend a little too much time perusing the awesome fruit cart that lives on our corner. I think the fruit man might be contemplating a restraining order...

There's something so summery and refreshing about both flavors. So a few days ago I set out on a quest to find a lemony-blueberry cake-type recipe that would satisfy (or at least quell) my hunger for these flavors.

There were recipes for muffins and for a buckle, which sounded delicious. But each was a little too fussy considering that I needed to be eating my blueberry lemony cake as close to now as possible.

I found the recipe I worked from on Cooking Light. I was really excited about using the reduced-fat sour cream to make this cake less dense, especially since I had my heart set on using my bundt pan, even though bundt cakes are traditionally on the heavier side.

My changes included adding lemon extract in addition to the called-for vanilla extract. I used a full pint of blueberries and didn't bother with the glaze. The result was a lot (yay!) of relatively fluffy cake, with gorgeous notes of lemon, and exploding blueberries in each bite. I know that I recently posted my Blueberry Nantucket Pie, but I donated that to our family July 4th party, so it doesn't really count (right?). Another great thing - this cake is even better then next day. Enjoy!


Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake adapted from Cooking Light

butter and flour for pan

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 heaping tbsp. lemon zest
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 (16 ounce) container reduced-fat sour cream
1 pint fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter the bundt pan and coat with a dusting of flour. Set aside.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Add granulated sugar, butter and lemon zest in a large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed until blended. It will be a light, fluffy yellow. (about 2 minutes)

4. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after adding each egg.

5. Beat in vanilla extract, lemon extract, and sour cream.

6. Add flour mixture, beat at medium speed until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix.

7. Gently fold in the blueberries by hand.

8. Spoon the batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. (This took my oven a full hour, which is rare. So make sure to check for done-ness)

9. Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then remove.

10. Serve with fresh whipped cream and more blueberries(!) or with just a dusting of powdered sugar.