Smitten Kitchen’s Breakfast Apricot Crisp

Here’s Smitten Kitchen’s original post, with handy photos. Breakfast Apricot Crisp

Deb writes:
Apricots, especially these early-season ones I picked up, are a bright and tiny bunch. The first time I made this it was so tart, I thought it was borderline caustic. The second time, I tripled the sugar in the fruit from one tablespoon to three and ended up with something that was… also crazy tart.

But then, like magic, I chilled it in the fridge where its acidity mellowed and it’s flavors came together and the next morning, with a scoop of plain yogurt, I was in breakfast nirvana.

As for putting this together, it couldn’t be easier. Trust me, there is nothing more fun than a crisp you have made with fruit you tore apart with your bare hands. Heck, you could even mix the topping with your fingers, if you’re feeling that rustic.

Fruit Base
1 pound apricots
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flour
Grated fresh nutmeg, a pinch

Crisp Topping
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons, 2 ounces) butter, melted
6 tablespoons turbinado or regular sugar (turbinado, also sold as Sugar in the Raw, gives an excellent crunch)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour)
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Prepare fruit: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull apart apricots at their seam, remove pits, and tear them one more time into quarters, placing them in a small baking dish (one that holds two to three cups is ideal). Stir in sugar, flour and pinch of nutmeg.

Make topping: Melt butter and stir in sugar, then oats, then flour, salt and almonds until large clumps form. Sprinkle mixture over the fruit. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes and serve warm.

Although you could dust this with powdered sugar and serve it warm with vanilla ice cream for dessert, as I noted, it is on the tart side for an after-dinner treat. Truly, this excels cooled in the fridge overnight, and mixed with a scoop of plain yogurt for a weekday breakfast that will cure you of all weekday breakfast doldrums. It sure did for me.

Tyler Florence’s Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

From Food Network

For the base:
Butter, for greasing the pan
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 graham crackers
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
16 ounces (regular or light) cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Powdered sugar, for dustingPreheat oven to 325 degrees F.

For the base:
Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with butter. Cut a 9″ wide piece of parchment.  Place parchment paper in the pan, pressing down at the corners. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers until they are the texture of bread crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. When done set aside to cool. Wash the food processor bowl and blade.

For the filling:
To the clean food processor bowl, add cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar and mix until completely smooth. Pour onto the cooled base and then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed — as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.

Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 10 rectangular bars.

Recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence, 2007

© 2016 Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved.

Quick Rustic Blueberry Tart a la Sophia

1 Trader Joe’s pie crust, thawed
1 lb fresh blueberries, washed and dried
1/4 cup ground almonds
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons coarse sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place a piece of parchment on a large baking tray with sides.  Unroll the pastry and smooth together any breaks.  Sprinkle the ground almonds in the center of the pastry in an even layer, leaving a 2″ border all around.  Mix together the sugar and salt and sprinkle half of it over the almonds.  Dump the blueberries in the middle.  Sprinkle with lemon juice and the remaining sugar/salt mixture.  Carefully fold the edges of the crust over toward the center, smoothing over any holes.  If desired, brush the crust with water and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for approx. 35 minutes until the filling bubbles and the crust is as brown as you like it.  Let stand a bit to firm up before slicing.

 

Berry Topping

Serves 1 or 2

1/2 cup frozen blueberries
2 Tablespoons lingonberry preserves/jam (or your favorite flavor)

Pour blueberries into glass measuring cup, top with preserves/jam.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time until hot.  Stir well.  Pour over pancakes, waffles, French toast, crepes, pound cake, ice cream, etc. while still warm.

 

Karen & Mark’s Fruit Salad with Mint-Lime Syrup

Serves 8

10 cups prepared fruit:  peaches, strawberries, halved grapes, cantaloupe, blueberries
3 Tablespoons lime juice
3 Tablespoons honey
3 Tablespoons brown sugar
3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint.

Stir together the lime juice, honey, brown sugar and mint.  Pour over fruit.  Chill until serving time.

Sam’s Fruity Smoothie

The kids LOVE this recipe any time of day.

Serves 2

1 ripe banana, broken into pieces
10 frozen strawberries
1/3 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt
1/3 cup orange juice

Blend and enjoy!