The biggest problem with keeping cookbooks in the bedroom is that some mornings, as soon as my eyes open, I’ll find myself with a rumbling stomach, gazing over at book after book containing endless possibilities for curbing my hunger. With blueberries burning a hole in my fridge and a running streak of 3 for 3 with the recipes of baking goddess Dorie Greenspan, I didn’t even need coffee for my brain to process the next logical step.

Because when the blueberries are this plump and beautiful (let’s ignore that this is January for the moment)…

And there’s an abundance of crumbly, buttery topping…

And a sunny lemon zest…

How could I possibly resist this super-easy recipe?

One of the best parts is making the “zested sugar” by rubbing the sugar and zest together between two fingers. It smells like fresh lemonade in your mixing bowl and creates a subtle citrus flavor that lingers with each bite.

Carefully fold the blueberries into this rather thick batter to keep them from bursting and turning your batter purple.

With a recipe this easy, the hardest part is waiting the full hour it takes to bake it (it may be a little more or a little less in your own oven). It was a wonderful treat, especially at the end of a week-long juice fast. Now that’s what I call breakfast! There was plenty left for Brian to take with him to the office, which is good, because who needs delicious cake in the kitchen to tempt them all afternoon?

Blueberry Crumb Cake
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

For the crumbs:

5 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

For the cake:

1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (preferably fresh, or frozen, not thawed)

2 cups plus 2 tsp all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2/3 cup sugar

grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 and place the rack at the middle position in the oven. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

To make the crumbs: Put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. Scrape the topping into a bowl, stir in the nuts and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until needed. (Covered well the crumb mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

To make the cake: Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 tsp of the flour together in a small bowl just to coat the berries; set aside. Whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter and, with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. Don’t be concerned if the batter looks curdled — it will soon smooth out. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients.) You will have a thick, creamy batter. With a rubber spatula, gently stir in the berries.

Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Pull the crumb mix from the fridge and, with your fingertips, break it into pieces. There’s no need to try to get even pieces — these are crumbs, they’re supposed to be lumpy and bumpy and every shape and size. Scatter the crumbs over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.

My time is overdue to face post-holiday reality and get back on the balanced meal wagon. With that said, it is hard to go cold turkey after a whole season of diligent holiday eating. To help ease us back into reality with a light dessert featuring mostly fruit and absolutely no butter, eggs, or flour, I made a lovely, light sorbet this weekend using one of my all-time favorite kitchen gadgets – the ice cream maker.

There are two main ingredients in this sorbet: fresh blueberries (you can also use frozen) and pomegranate juice. Being the off-season, the blueberries mostly help the texture by providing some skins and seeds (those small enough to fit through the sieve, that is).

Most of the flavor and the beautiful, deep purple color comes from the pomegranate juice, which is sweet enough on it’s own but still has a bit of characteristic tartness that makes the sorbet interesting.

This recipe is my own, based on years of practice making various types of sorbet. Once you figure out the proper ratios (although they vary slightly depending on the acidity/sourness/sweetness of the fruits and whether you use juice as a base) you can confidently mix and match with flavors.

I like to add a little lemon juice to almost any type of fruit sorbet that I make. It balances our the flavor with acidity and a hit of tartness, without screaming “lemon!”

I used a hand blender to blend my ingredients right in the pot (because I’d rather dust my entire apartment than wash the blender), but it is also perfectly fine to use a stand blender to blend the sorbet mixture. 

Strain the mixture into a bowl and use a spoon to mash through as much as you can. This will add small bits of the blueberry skin to your sorbet. Refrigerate for at least one hour before putting it into your ice cream maker.

Run the sorbet in the ice cream maker for approximately 20 minutes, until you have a thick slush that will stand up on its own. 

Remove the slush from the canister of the ice cream maker and put it in a tupperware container with a lid. Place container in the freezer overnight. When you are ready to serve, allow the container to sit out for a few minutes before scooping. You will really be impressed by the color and flavor of this refreshing, post-holiday sorbet.

Pomegranate Berry Sorbet

Serves 4 people

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 and 1/2 cups pomegranate juice

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients over medium heat. Stir occasionally until all of the sugar is dissolved and the blueberries are beginning to puff and are easy to mash with a spoon.

Use a hand blender or a stand blender to blend mixture until all of the blueberries have been pulverized. Strain the mixture into a bowl and push as much as you can through the strainer with a spoon and discard the mush that you are not able to pass through. Chill the mixture for at least 1 hour.

When mixture is cool to the touch, pour it into your ice cream maker and run it for 20 minutes or until the mixture holds peaks. Transfer the mixture to a tupperware container with a lid and freeze overnight. When ready to serve, remove the container from the freezer and allow it to stand for one minute before scooping the sorbet into dessert dishes or (my personal favorite) martini glasses. Serve immediately.