Buttermilk Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Pancake is always a popular weekend breakfast choice in our house.  And the top pancake choice is of course, blueberry!  Every summer we go to blueberry farm and pick buckets of blueberries.  After making blueberry jam, cakes and other delighted desserts, I pack extra blueberries in zip-loc bags and store them in freezer so that they last through winter until the next summer comes.

We always do the pancakes DIY style.  A large griddle is set on the breakfast table, with pancake batter, toppings, jam, honey or syrup and spatulas on the side.  Both of us get to cook our own pancakes the way we like! O(∩_∩)O~

 

Pancake ingredients:

1 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
1 to 2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon cooking oil

Blueberry sauce ingredients：

2 cups of frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (use more if you have a sweet tooth)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon corn starch

Directions：

First we prepare blueberry sauce.

In a small soup pot, add blueberries, lemon juice, brown sugar and water.  Heat over high heat until the mixture comes to boil.  Reduce the heat to medium or medium low.  Cook for another 7 to 9 minutes until the sauce can thinly coat the back of a wooden spoon. 

Whisk together the corn starch and 2 to 3 teaspoons water. Add to the blueberry sauce while whisking. Cook for another minute.  Remove from heat.

I like my blueberry sauce a little thin and runny so that it can be poured over the pancakes like syrup.

Now, we can get started with the pancake batter.

Shift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

In a medium bowl, add eggs, buttermilk and oil.  Whisk together.

Add shifted flour to the egg milk mixture.  Whisk just until the dry flour is gone.  Don’t over mix because the more you whisk, the more gluten will form, and the chewier your pancakes will get.

Heat the electronic griddle to 350. 

Add batter.  We are using a non-stick griddle so I skip oil spray.  If you use a cast iron griddle or stainless steel pan, oil spray will be a life saver! O(∩_∩)O~ 

Let them cook on one side until you see a lot of bubbles, flip the pancakes.  It takes about more or less than one minute.

Both sides are golden brown.  That how you know they are ready.

Top with blueberry sauce.

Ok, a lot of blueberry sauce….O(∩_∩)O~

Time to enjoy!

Raspberry Frozen Yogurt

 中文： 树莓酸奶冰激凌

Well, I was actually planning on making ice cream.  But there was no eggs left in my refrigerator, so I changed to frozen yogurt, which turned out to be a great sweet surprise too.

When making ice cream or frozen yogurt, I always go with fruit jam instead of fresh fruits. Jams contain less water and are packed with more intense flavor.  They usually contain more sugar too.  All these help ice cream and frozen yogurt freeze beautifully without getting too much ice particles in them.

I use homemade yogurt and homemade raspberry jam and blueberry jam.  Store bought ones would work fine too.

For homemade yogurt:

 http://www.yankitchen.com/english-blog/homemade-blueberry-yogurt

 

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups of plain yogurt
4 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup blueberry jam

 

Directions：

Freeze the ice cream for at least 24 hours before ice cream process.  Refrigerate both yogurt and jams for at 4 hours or overnight.   

Homemade version yogurt

Start the ice cream machine.  Add yogurt and honey.  Let the machine run for 15 minutes.

Add raspberry jam and blueberry jam.  Run the machine for another 5 to 10 minutes. 

Transfer the frozen yogurt to a glass container with lid.  Cover and freeze for 4 to 6 hours.  You can also serve it as soft served frozen yogurt right out of ice cream machine.  It is very good too. 

 

Thanks to the raspberry jam and blueberry jam, the frozen yogurt has this beautiful bright purple color and very intense berry flavors.  O(∩_∩)O~。。。

Enjoy!

Raspberry Yogurt

Did I mention that the best yogurt I have ever had is my own blueberry yogurt?  Well, the raspberry yogurt here is equally good if not better. 

I love making yogurt at home so that I can have as much berry sauce/jam as I want.  The best part is that no additives are added!   We all know yogurt is really great for digestion and health.  So we should start asking “got yogurt”? 

ingredients：

4 cups of whole milk
1 pack plain Greek yogurt (172g)
2 cups frozen raspberries
1/3 to 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 to 3 tablespoon blueberries
1 to 2 tablespoon water
fresh raspberries
confectioner’s sugar

I have posted homemade yogurt before.  For more detailed information: http://www.yankitchen.com/blog/homemade-blueberry-yogurt

Directions：

Microwave the milk on high until it boils.  It might take 6 to 8 minutes give or take depending on the microwave oven. 

When the milk cools down, remove the milk skin on top.

Empty the plain Greek yogurt to a large clean bowl; whisk until it becomes smooth and runny. 

Gradually add milk while whisking.

Distribute evenly into the glass jars that come with yogurt maker.  Or you can use any small glass jars as long as they can fit in the yogurt maker.

over with lids and place them in the yogurt maker (buy from AMAZON).  Turn it on.  In 5 to 7 hours, transfer them to refrigerator to settle down overnight.  You will have 7 jars of tasty plain yogurt the next day. 

Leave them in the yogurt maker longer if you prefer firmer yogurt texture. 

When the yogurt maker is doing its job, we can make raspberry sauce.

Combine raspberries, blueberries, water, brown sugar and lemon juice in a small pot; heat over medium high heat until it boils.  Reduce the heat to medium low; cook until the sauce thickens up; stir from time to time to prevent burning on the bottom.

Raspberries will lose their beautiful bright red color once cooked for a certain amount of time.  so I add blueberries to make the color more vibrant.  Just a couple tablespoons of blueberries will do the job.  Don’t add too much, otherwise it is going to be dark red or purple instead of red. 

Remove the raspberry sauce from heat.  Allow it to cool down before transfer to a mason jar.  Seal the jar and store in the refrigerator.  It should be able to last for a week.

Add one layer of raspberry sauce to a glass bowl or jar, add one layer of yogurt, and repeat it again.  Sprinkle on top with fresh raspberries and powder sugar.

Isn’t it pretty? 

Blueberry yogurt

中文： 蓝莓果酱酸奶

The best yogurt goes to…tadah…my homemade blueberry yogurt!  I literally can’t get enough of them.  With a yogurt maker, I make seven or eight jar of yogurt at a time.  They are always gone in three days.  So I make yogurt and blueberry jam/sauce twice a week. 

Ingredients:

1 quart organic / regular whole milk (4 cups)
 1 small box of plain greek yogurt （5.3 oz, 150 g per box）

Notes:

I have tried both organic and regular whole milk.  The difference between them is not quite noticeable.  However, the yogurt made with whole milk tastes so much better than the one made with non-fat milk.  Please do use whole milk if you want your yogurt taste good.

Remember to read the ingredients list on the package before you buy any plain yogurt as starter.  It must contain live culture to make it work.

I don’t like to use homemade plain yogurt as starter to make another batch yogurt because the live culture will get weaker.  I always buy Meijer store brand or fage greek yogurt as starter.  

Directions:

Microwave the milk on high until it boils.  It might take 6 to 8 minutes give or take depending on the microwave oven. 

When the milk cools down, remove the milk skin on top.

Empty the plain greek yogurt to a large clean bowl; whisk until it becomes smooth and runny.  

Gradually add milk while whisking.

Distribute evenly into the glass jars that come with yogurt maker.  Or you can use any small glass jars as long as they can fit in the yogurt maker. 

Cover with lids and place them in the yogurt maker.  Turn it on.  In 5 to 7 hours, transfer them to refrigerator to settle down overnight.  You will have 7 jars of tasty plain yogurt the next day.

Leave them in the yogurt maker (buy from AMAZON) longer if you prefer firmer yogurt texture. 

I like to top it with homemade blueberry sauce.  It is way better than any blueberry yogurt I can find in the store, O(∩_∩)O~

I make one jar at a time. My husband and I were quite busy during summer time.  We camped, we hiked, we biked, and we went to farms to handpick blueberries and cherries and freeze them for later use.  I guess that is what makes it taste so good.  The secret ingredient is indeed love! 

For blueberry sauce：

3 cups frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 to 2/3 cup packed brown sugar (use more if prefer sweeter taste)

Place blueberries, lemon juice and brown sugar in a pot.  Heat over medium heat until it thickens.  Stir occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom.  Blend with a food processor (Buy from AMAZON) or hand blender (Buy from AMAZON) to make it smooth sauce. You can skip it if you prefer chunky blueberry sauce. 

When it cools down, cover with a lid and store in the refrigerator. 

How wonderful is this！O(∩_∩)O~ 

Sometimes I make yogurt in these cute pudding jars.  My sister sent them to me last year.  I just love them!

I can fit 8 of them in the yogurt maker at a time. 

You can also stir the yogurt and blueberry sauce together and then use a straw to enjoy them. O(∩_∩)O~  

Mixed Berry Smoothie

I don’t usually make fruit smoothies because they are always too sweet for my taste.  But I like to stock up all kinds of berries to make mixed berry smoothies.  They are refreshing, nutritious, and packed with vitamins and great berry flavor.  O(∩_∩)O~ 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds strawberries
1/2  cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/4 cup frozen blackberries
1/2  frozen banana
1/3 to 1/2  cup apple juice /water

Remove strawberry calyx, cut into quarters.  Add strawberries into the vitamix (AMAZON this one), along with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and banana.

Add apple juice / water, and cover with the lid. 

Turn on Vitamix (Amazon linl).  Gradually increase speed from 1 to 8 or 9, and then switch to high. Blend for another 30 to 45 seconds. You might need to use the temper to push fruits down.