Fluffy blueberry buttermilk pancakes

Buttermilk pancakes are lower in fat than pancakes made with regular whole milk, sometimes referred to as sweet milk. Traditional buttermilk is the liquid that remains after butter is churned from cream. Its consistency is thicker than sweet milk, but its taste is sour. This is because it is fermented to facilitate butter making. Sweet milk cannot be substituted in recipes calling for buttermilk because these recipes contain baking soda as a leavening agent. Baking soda works with acid to release carbon dioxide. If you’ve ever done the baking soda-and-vinegar experiment, you’ve seen this process. Sweet milk doesn’t contain the acid to facilitate the process. Sweet milk pancake recipes call for baking powder. Here’s a recipe for fluffy buttermilk pancakes with wild blueberries. You’ll notice buttermilk batter is quite lofty:

Blueberry buttermilk pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
¼ cup cooking oil
½ to ¾ cup of blueberries

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs lightly then add buttermilk and cooking oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until the dry ingredients are completely moistened. Do not over-mix. Fold in blueberries.

Pour batter by the half-cup measure onto a hot, buttered griddle to form pancakes. Flip cakes when bubbles appear and edges begin to firm up. Cook until golden. Serve with maple, or other, syrup,  if desired. Makes approximately 16 four-inch pancakes.

 

 

Homemade crème fraîche

Crème fraîche, the French version of sour cream, may sound fancy, but it’s a very simple condiment. And, yes, the early Plymouth colonists could have made it, although there is no record of this. Making crème fraîche requires only buttermilk and cream. Francis Cooke, who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620, kept at least one cow, according to Plimoth Plantation historians. The re-creation of his cottage at the living history museum includes a stone-floor milking parlour. His wife, Hester, was a French Huguenot from Lille. She could easily have known how to make crème fraîche. You can, too, by adding two tablespoons of buttermilk to two cups of heavy cream. The acid in the buttermilk will eventually thicken the cream and give it a tangy taste.

Here’s the process: Shake the buttermilk bottle or carton before measuring out your portion. Thoroughly mix two cups of heavy cream with two tablespoons of buttermilk in a medium-sized bowl. (I prefer glass.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it stand at room temperature overnight or until the mixture has thickened. You now have crème fraîche. Store it in the refrigerator, where it will continue to thicken and keep for several days.

Queen of tarts: raspberry

Every July, the raspberry patch offers its gift of edible red gems. And I make a raspberry tart to celebrate. While the Pilgrim colonists baked tarts and pies, a raspberry tart would have appeared in the New World later. Raspberries are not native to the area, although they have since naturalized. I baked my first raspberry tart in the traditional way, which calls for cooking the fruit, but because raspberries taste best in their natural, just-picked state, I soon settled on an unbaked version. This tart calls for a sweet pastry crust and whipped crème fraîche. If you don’t have crème fraîche, you can substitute whipped cream, but you’ll be missing the tangy element that contrasts with the fruit.

Cool raspberry tart

Pastry:
1 to 1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1/8 teaspoon salt
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Sift one cup flour, salt and confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. Cut in diced butter with two knives or a pastry cutter until mixture is pebbly. Add the egg and mix until pastry begins to hold together. If the dough is too wet, add more flour. When the dough makes a ball or disk, transfer it to a loose-bottom tart pan. Press the dough in place with your fingers dusted in flour. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least two hours. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the foil from the dough and set aside. Prick the bottom of the shell with a fork. Snugly line the shell with foil; then add rice, dried beans or other baking weights to prevent shrinkage. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove the weights and foil and continue to bake the crust for another 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on a rack before filling.

Filling:
Whip a cup of crème fraîche with a tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar until stiff. Fill pastry shell with whipped crème fraîche and top with fresh raspberries. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired. Serves six.