Food Republik » Desserts

Blueberry Streusel Cake

Camilla — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:04:10 +0000

I’ve been having some major sweet cravings lately, especially when I start to feel peckish in the afternoons around coffee time. In Germany in mid-afternoon they always have a break for coffee and tea, a bit similar to how the British have their tea-time. In fact, I feel like Germans are eating all day long, and I have no idea how they manage to stay so much slimmer than us in the New World (less McDonald’s no doubt). I love the yeasted German cakes that are just sweet enough, with lots of fruit, for a satisfying afternoon snack. This one isn’t yeasted, but with its crunchy streusel topping, jammy blueberries, and tender white cake base, it definitely fits the bill for coffee time. And it reminds me of a really yummy cake that Chris’ aunt made for us in Germany with a yeast base and a streusel topping and served with steaming cups of fresh espresso.

The recipe is a basic one from Joy of Cooking. The only tip I would give is – use slightly tart blueberries, if you can find them. Mine were quite ripe, and the cake would have benefited from a little more acidity to cut the sweetness. And I’m sure you could use all kinds of fruit in this cake — raspberries or blackberries would be lovely (and summery) or maybe some stone fruit!

Blueberry Streusel Cake
From The Joy of Cooking

Streusel Topping
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cake Batter
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease an 8-inch round pan.

To make the topping:
Mix together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon, and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it forms coarse crumbs. Set aside.

To make the cake:
Whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer, until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined with the butter mixture.
Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, and mix until combined.
Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth with a spoon or spatula.
Scatter the blueberries evenly over the cake’s surface, and then sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the blueberries.
Bake 40-50 minutes until a tester comes out clean.

Aebelskivers – Danish Pancake Balls

Camilla — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:44:37 +0000

Aren’t these the cutest things?

If you’ve heard of Aebelskivers, also known as ebelskivers, you may have also heard of Solvang, California, a Danish village located on the Central Coast. Danish colonists founded the village in 1911, which has retained a Scandinavian flair ever since. My sister and I drove down there a couple months ago to check out the windmills, cheese shops and year-round Christmas stores, and took the time to enjoy a plate of these delicious pancake balls with raspberry jam. Aebelskivers are kind of like a cross between a pancake and a doughnut. When fresh, they have a delightfully crispy exterior and a slightly sweet interior, and are served sprinkled with powdered sugar. You can also fill the balls with jam, Nutella, fruit, and other fillings.

Chris grew up with Aebelskivers, not because he has Danish heritage, but because through visiting Solvang several decades ago, his grandmother acquired an aebelskiver pan, and started a tradition of making the pancake balls on family camping trips. So when Chris found a cast-iron aebelskiver pan at the local Goodwill, he snapped it up immediately.

This weekend, instead of our usual Saturday-morning pancakes, we made a batch of aebelskivers. And they were not just exciting as a novelty, but really good as well. The crust is crisp and golden, and the insides are fluffy and flavorful.

The recipe we used has the pancake balls subtly spiced with cardamom, which gives them a slightly lemony, nutmeggy flavor. To turn the balls, use a skewer to loosen the batter around the sides. Poke it through the middle of the batter right down to the bottom, and turn the entire pancake ball gently 1/4 turn. The center of the pancake ball should still be runny and the batter will run out, filling the extra space. After a minute or so, turn the ball 1/4 turn again so that the original bottom of the ball is now on the top.

You can get your own aebelskiver pan on Amazon – here’s an aebelskiver pan from Lodge and a rather cheaper pan from Norpro.

My husband reminded me that these are a lot like the takoyaki balls we enjoyed in Japan (we also had the opportunity to cook them at a Japanese inn). They are indeed made in a very similar way, but the aebelskivers are rather larger and fluffier. And they don’t have octopus in them, or shaved fish flakes, mayo and soy sauce drizzled over top. Takoyaki are very good too…but very very different.

Aebelskivers – Danish Pancake Balls
Adapted from Sunset

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp melted butter plus extra

Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl (dry ingredients). Then mix together the next 5 ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry flour mixture and stir until incorporated.

Heat cast-iron aebelskiver pan over medium heat until it sizzles when a bit of water is dropped onto pan. Turn heat down to medium-low. Grease holes in pan by brushing melted butter on with a pastry brush. Fill holes with batter, being careful not to over-fill them, as batter will puff up slightly as it cooks.

Once a crust has formed (about 1 min), loosen the batter from the sides of the holes with a skewer. Poke the skewer into the center of the batter right down to the pan, then pull skewer up the side of the hole, turning the entire ball 1/4 turn. Batter will spill out to fill the hole in the pan. When the crust is set, turn once again to form a complete ball. Cook for a minute or two until entire ball is golden-brown all over. Using the skewer, remove from pan. Repeat with the rest of the batter, greasing the holes with butter between each batch.

Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and a dollop of raspberry jam.

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Pie

Camilla — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:08:52 +0000

Strawberry season! It’s strawberry season! Whoohoo!

Can you tell how excited I am? I mean, amazingly sweet, luscious strawberries are at the market for $0.97 a basket. WOWEEE!

We’ve been eating them on our pancakes, over yogurt, drizzled with vinegar in green salads, and neat. And today, a strawberry pie was my goal.

Yes, I know that most people don’t cook up the strawberries when they make strawberry pies. Most of the recipes I’ve seen have been 1) Strawberry-rhubarb pies, 2) fresh strawberries piled in a pie shell and glazed, 3) gelatinous globs of jello in a pie shell, or something else. I couldn’t for the life of me find a straight-up, cooked strawberry pie from a reputable source. I don’t know why that is. I agree that fresh strawberries are fantastic, but they’re so hard to eat when you stick them in a pie shell and then try to cut the pie into slices. And honestly, I’d rather eat fresh strawberries sans the cornstarch-laced glaze. If I have to eat cornstarch, I’d like it in a gooey berry-full pie filling, please.

Plus, I’ll take any excuse to make a lattice crust. Isn’t there just something about a lattice crust that makes you think…pink gingham aprons, ruffled curtains, open windows, and a vintage ice cream truck pulling over in front of the house? Anyone?

So here’s my version of an old-fashioned, straight up strawberry pie. No rhubarb. No jello. Just delicious buttery pastry and juicy strawberry filling.

I have to say, I outdid myself on the crust this time. It’s really flaky and flavorful. I left larger chunks of butter this time before bringing the dough together with a bit of water, which helped a lot. My strawberries were pretty ripe, so just 3/4 cup of light brown sugar was enough to make them sweet, but not too sweet.

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Pie

Pie Crust
2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, chilled and cubed
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup ice water (or more)

Filling
5 cups strawberries
3/4 cup golden brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a bowl place the flour, sugar, salt and cubes of chilled butter. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, until largest pieces are about pea-sized. Add ice water little by little while mixing dough. When dough holds together when you squeeze it, it’s ready. Gather into a ball. Divide into two equal balls, wrap in plastic, and chill in fridge while making filling.

Wash, halve, and hull the strawberries. Mix with rest of filling ingredients and place aside in a bowl.

Roll out the bottom crust and place it in a pie pan, trimming it about 1 inch over the edge. Place pie pan in freezer while you roll out the top crust.

Roll out the second ball of dough, and cut it into strips with a sharp knife. Remove the pie pan from freezer, and pour the strawberry filling into bottom crust. Place or weave the strips of dough into a lattice on top of the filling and trim strips 1/2 inch over edge. Fold bottom crust over lattice strips and crimp.

Bake 15 minutes at 400F, then lower oven temp to 350F for another hour, or until crust is browned and filling is bubbling. If crust is browning too fast, cover edges with strips of foil.

Let cool and serve!

Almond Jelly – Guilty Pleasures

Camilla — Tue, 17 May 2011 23:07:14 +0000

In this picture you see one of the very few things I will make out of a box.

While I scorn Hamburger Helper, KD, and other things from a box, I will devour almond jelly from powder anytime I get a chance.

What exactly is almond jelly, you may ask? It’s a traditional Chinese dessert that is made from almond extract, milk/cream, sometimes some gelatin, and the most important ingredient, AGAR-AGAR. No, no, that’s not the sound made by Bigfoot’s cousin. Agar is a vegetable gelatin derived from seaweed, and is commonly used in Asian desserts, jellies, puddings, and the like. It has a different texture than normal gelatin – it seems to have a stiffer surface tension and it kind of bursts under your bite. Hard to describe, you just have to try it sometime.

You can think of almond jelly as a kind of Asian panna cotta, but the texture is really quite different.

I’m sure it’s quite easy to make almond agar from scratch with agar flakes, almond extract, and milk, and it’s probably far more delicious, but I’ve always made it from the box. So far, my favorite brand is “Golden Coins Almond Flavor Agar Mix”. I happen to love the taste of almond extract, so this saccharine pouch of jelly powder does it for me! Just don’t read the ingredient list.

Someday I’ll make a dolled-up version of Almond Agar Jelly for the site, with from-scratch ingredients and some fancy topping like ginger-infused simple syrup and poached pears or something…but for the time being, I’m happy with my agar from a box and a scoop of canned mandarin oranges. With syrup.

Hey, I did say it was a guilty pleasure, didn’t I?

Multi-Grain Blueberry Muffins

Camilla — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:45:46 +0000

You know what? These muffins are good. Real good.

What you don’t see in the picture are the four muffins I’ve eaten already. And it’s been less than 12 hours since I made ‘em. Must…not…eat…another…one… Aghhh! I can’t win this fight.

Thankfully, they’re supposed to be healthy, so I don’t feel too bad about myself. Yep, these muffins have cornmeal, oatmeal, and flax meal in them, and they taste YUMMY! They’re moist, healthy, and delicious, with a complex flavor from honey as a sweetener and the genius addition of lime zest.

They have less fat added than usual muffins, just 1/4 cup of heart-healthy canola oil, and a bright kick of antioxidants from organic blueberries!

They come from this cookbook that I picked up at the bargain rack at Barnes&Noble. I don’t always find good books there, but the James Beard Foundation Award was quite a recommendation. And it was pretty bargain-priced.

I made hardly any changes to the recipe. I just subbed blueberries for the raspberries, and flax meal for the wheat bran. Flax meal does have a bit of an aftertaste, so you might want to go the wheat bran route if you don’t like it.

Multi-Grain Blueberry Muffins
Adapted ever so slightly from The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook

1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1 cup low-fat milk or soy milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup wheat bran or 1/8 cup flax meal
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup (scant) canola oil
zest of one lime
1 egg
3/4 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 F.

In a microwave-safe bowl, mix oats and milk together and microwave on high for about 3 min until oats are cooked. Or cook them on the stovetop if, like me, you don’t own a microwave.

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, wheat bran/flax, baking powder and salt. On top of the combined dry ingredients, dump the cooked oats, honey, oil, lime zest, and egg. Mix just until combined. Fold in blueberries.

Grease a 12-hole muffin tin or line with muffin liners. Divide batter into muffin holes. Bake 16-18 minutes, or until gently browned on the top and a tester inserted into muffin comes out clean.

Cool and enjoy! (They’re really good warm).

Cornmeal Cranberry Cake

Camilla — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 16:25:09 +0000

Behold, it is time for good cheer!

What better way to show your loved ones how much you care than by stuffing them full of cake?

I was drawn to this cake by one interesting component – cornmeal. I don’t know about you, but I love cornmeal. So does Chris. Surprisingly, Chris doesn’t like whole kernel corn, though. He says it’s just a whole lot of nothing and can’t understand why people like it. Me, I’m indifferent. But cornmeal, now.

I always find it intriguing when cornmeal is worked into sweet baked goods. It seems to make them a little more substantial, a little more rustic, and I feel just the tiniest bit less guilty eating them. I know that really doesn’t make sense, because this cake contains a stick and a half of butter and 6 egg yolks, but it does. It just doesn’t seem so bad.

Now the cake. It was good. I liked the crunch of the cornmeal between my teeth as I bit into it, and the combo of orange zest and cranberries is always a winner. It made a dense, moist cake, punctuated by bursts of tart cranberries and the slightly gritty texture of the cornmeal (that doesn’t sound good, I know, but it is). So I’m not raving about it, but I liked it.

It was definitely a bit too sweet. I’d reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup, at least. Especially with something as hearty as cornmeal, you almost want the cake to be a little bit savory.

Cornmeal Cranberry Cake
From Giada deLaurentis

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar (reduce this if you like)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow fine cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 cup orange zest (from 2 large oranges)
1 1/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes with an electric mixer. Add eggs and egg yolks one at a time while beating. Mix in vanilla extract.

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and orange zest. Mix in little by little into the eggs/butter mixture, until incorporated.

Fold in cranberries.

Scrape into a buttered and floured 9-inch round cake pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until cake is golden on top. Let cool before removing from pan.

Lemon Cranberry Muffins

Camilla — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 01:41:45 +0000

When I was going to college at the University of Toronto, I used to drop by my local Second Cup every now and then for a nice big latte and a lemon cranberry muffin. It just hit the spot on blustery snowy mornings, and fueled me for the 20 minute walk across the icy campus to my classes at the very furthest end of the university. Sometimes, instead of going in the mornings, I’d spend a few hours in the coffee shop sipping my coffee and munching on my muffin, researching papers all afternoon (hooray for free wifi).

Tim Hortons also had a lemon cranberry muffin, and though it didn’t have the nice crisp cap of the Second Cup muffin, it had a deliciously fluffy cake-like consistency and was almost always gone by the time I got to the Tim Hortons on the south end of campus.

A good lemon cranberry muffin is just one of the best parts of winter. And despite the fact that it was probably 80 degrees out today on the Central Coast, cranberries are in season, and I’m stocking up. A few bags of cranberries thrown right in the freezer will last me through till spring, so I’m anticipating plenty of cranberry goodness all through the winter.

Check out the colors of this gorgeous muffin. I used a yogurt cake base, because every since I made this lemon yogurt cake by Orangette, it has become my go-to lemon cake recipe. It’s moist and fluffy, with a fine crumb, perfect as a base for poppy seeds or fruit (or both). I love the tart cranberries as they explode in your mouth! After making the muffins, I felt they needed a little extra sweetness, so I made a lemon simple syrup that I brushed over the top of the muffins. But you could just increase the sugar slightly, or sprinkle sugar over the top of the muffins before baking them.

I had a little extra batter left over at the end, so I made a giant muffin (or a mini loaf) in a buttered ramekin. I actually love the look of the ramekin muffin and think that a set of these little cups with muffins baked into them would make a great Christmas gift.

Lemon Cranberry Muffins

½ cup plain yogurt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
pinch salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup oil
2 cups fresh cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the yogurt, sugar, salt and eggs together in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir together until moistened.

3. Add oil and mix, mix, mix until batter is smooth and homogeneous. Fold in cranberries.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into muffins comes out clean.

Lemon Simple Syrup

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar

In a small saucepan, heat the lemon juice and sugar together gently until all the sugar dissolves. Brush over muffins.

Five Great Pies for the Holidays

Camilla — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 01:33:58 +0000

I was looking through my inventory of recipes the other day, reminiscing about the fun times that we had with many of them (how wonderful that a mere food blog should hold so many fun memories), and surprised myself at the number of pie recipes I’ve made. I guess I must like pie. Especially the filling – I’m definitely a filling person.

I haven’t quite decided which pie (or pies) I’m going to make for Thanksgiving yet, but to give us all a few ideas for pie, here are some of my favorites from the past two years. Behold, the pie retrospective.

Dark Chocolate Pie

While creamy pies don’t excite me as much as fruit pies do, I have to say this one was really good. Creamy chocolatey filling that’s not too sweet but has a good dark chocolate flavor means that this pie doesn’t feel too rich. And it’s really pretty.

Simple Apple Galette

One of the simplest of single crust pies, this galette was one of the first pies I ever made. It’s easy and rustic, and cute. I love the free-form shape that makes it easy to cut and eat.

Apple-Cranberry Crumb Pie

For those who love both pie and crumble, this pie packs SO much flavor and perfect crunch. One of my new favorites.

Key Lime Pie

While this might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a holiday pie, it’s light, sweet-tart and delicious, and as limes are available all year round these days, why not?

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

Simple and classic, the pumpkin pie is a perennial favorite. I wonder why it’s not so popular on our tables the rest of the year? I know pumpkins are in season in the fall, but put in a cool place they last all winter. Why not serve pumpkin pie all winter?

Well there you have it folks, the pie retrospective. Now go, make pie, and enjoy.

Apple-Cranberry Crumb Pie

Camilla — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:57:17 +0000

Yum yum! This pie is definitely a home run for Thanksgiving dinner.

(American) Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple weeks. Are any of you in a frenzy of recipe testing and stocking up on…stock, and other goodies? I’m not. Perhaps I should be, as we’re having Chris’ family over for Thanksgiving this year, which will be our first Thanksgiving with them as well as our first Thanksgiving together in the great US of A. But I figure, after cooking Thanksgiving dinner in China with nary a cooking appliance except a couple of toaster ovens and a hot plate, cooking for this year’s meal, with a full kitchen, ought to be a cinch. (Right? Right?)

That being said, I am starting to get a bit excited. The piles of squashes at the supermarket, the sweet smell of apples, fresh cranberries at the grocery store (a product of Canada, my homeland, no less), and the scent of spices in the air have kind of got me looking forward to the holiday season.

The only thing missing is the briskness in the air. Yes, the sun is shining on this November day on the Central Coast of California, the trees are still freshly green (with just a hint of tawny colors), and I plan to ride my bicycle to the farmer’s market this afternoon. It feels a bit strange that it’s still so nice out. I mean, there should be frost in the air. Dried piles of leaves. Maybe a hint of snow. It’s November, for goodness sake!

Of course, I’ll be eating my words when I go back to Toronto to visit in February and I’m snowed under 20 feet of snow. Maybe not. The climate’s been so temperamental lately.

Anyway, I’d rather eat this pie. It is definitely a keeper. The best of a pie and a crumble combined, with the tartness of cranberries perfectly complementing the juicy apples. It’s got the perfect combo of crunch and sloppy jamminess.

You can use a pre-made pie shell, which does make it faster and easier to pull together, but I don’t keep pre-frozen piecrust around the house, so I made my own. I also made my own super easy cranberry sauce, but canned is fine too. You can really cut down on the steps by using a few premade ingredients, if you’re pressed for time (and who isn’t at Thanksgiving dinner). However, I really, really, really, liked how it turned out with all homemade ingredients.

I like using Fuji apples – they keep their shape but still have good flavor, but you can use your favorite baking apple.

Apple-Cranberry Crumb Pie
Adapted from Epicurious

Crumb Topping
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/3 cup oatmeal
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Apple-Cranberry Filling
5 cups Fuji apples, cut into chunks (about 4 large or 6 small)
2 cups whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch

1 9-inch deep-dish frozen pie shell, unthawed, or your own pie shell recipe

1. If you made your own pie crust, put it in the freezer while you assemble the other ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat – it will catch any leaking juices from the pie.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients for the crumb topping. Rub the chilled butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips, until it resembles coarse meal with some larger bits about the size of peas.

3. Mix together the ingredients for the filling, and pour into the chilled pie shell, mounding in the center. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pie. Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes, until topping is browned and filling is bubbling. Cool and serve.

Alton Brown’s Super Easy Cranberry Sauce

Camilla — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 01:50:30 +0000

Remember that Simpsons episode where Bart asks Marge if he can help make Thanksgiving dinner? And Marge tells him he can help with the cranberry sauce? When Bart asks her how to make the cranberry sauce, she gives him a can and a can-opener. He then proceeds to slowly dump the cranberry sauce – “GLOOOPPPP” and “THUNK” – onto a plate, in its lovely cylindrical shape. That’s it.

Is that what your cranberry sauce is going to look like this year? I have nothing against canned cranberry sauce, except that it’s so darn unsightly, in its tubular gelatinous form. And when cranberry sauce is THIS easy to make, well, why not go ahead and make it?

I was standing in the grocery store checkout line when I found myself staring at jars of apple-cranberry pie filling. What a great idea! I immediately rushed to find the fresh cranberries, while the girl at the checkout counter magically managed to fit all of my groceries into one single reusable bag. Dang that thing was heavy!

Anyway, I got home and made the cranberry sauce first (the cranberry-apple pie is coming in a future post). It was also a good way for me to test the recipe, since Chris’ parents and grandparents are coming here for Thanksgiving this year and I would like everything to go swimmingly, thank you very much.

This cranberry sauce literally took me all of 15 minutes to make. Seriously. The recipe said 20, but my sauce came together and thickened so fast it didn’t even take that long. I love that it is sweetened with honey, one of nature’s healthiest sweeteners. I also love how short the ingredient list is. In fact, I shortened it even further. I didn’t have pure cranberry juice so I just used freshly-squeezed lemon juice instead of cranberry and orange juice, which worked just fine.

Alton Brown’s Cranberry Sauce

1 pound fresh cranberries
¼ cup pure cranberry juice (or freshly squeezed lemon juice)
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup honey

1. In a saucepan, combine the juices and honey. Bring liquid up to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 5 minutes. Then add the cranberries, keeping liquid at a simmer.

2. Cranberries will swiftly begin to pop (make sure you’re wearing an apron or your not so favorite clothes). Stir frequently until sauce thickens, about 5-10 minutes more. Don’t stew the berries too long, or the pectin will break down and stop thickening the sauce. Cool for a few minutes.

3. Once you refrigerate the sauce, it will gelatinize until firm, so you could pour it into a mold of some sort before chilling it. Or, you could just put it in a bowl, and heat it gently until it liquifies a bit before serving it with your turkey.

You could of course jazz up this basic recipe a bit. Throw in a cinnamon stick, or a vanilla bean, or some orange peel…whatever! I’m sure it’ll be delicious.