32 | 52 Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

I know, I know...

This name is way too long.

Maybe we should call this week's recipe LBCSB?

Or something like: The Perfect Summer Treat?

No, not very convincing...

But no matter its name - it's just pure yumminess.

It combines everything you love (or at least everything I love):

Lemon. Blueberries. Cheesecake. Streusel.

Summer. Freshness. Yum.

So give these a try. And do let me know if you come up with a good, short name.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Streusel Bars

From Inspired Taste

For the crust

9 graham cracker rectangles

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated

57 g (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling

454 g (16 oz) cream cheese, room temperature

2 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon zest, grated

60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

150 g (1 1/2 cups) fresh blueberries

For the topping

1 cup light brown sugar

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

85 g (3/4 stick) butter, cold

• Preheat oven to 160ºC (325ºF). 
• For the crust, place graham crackers, sugar, and lemon zest into your food processor and pulse until you have fine crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse again until crumbs are moistened. If you don't have a food processor, make crumbs the old-fashioned way: place crackers in a plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin (or the like) until you get crumbs. Place crumbs in a bowl together with the remaining crust ingredients and stir until crumbs are moistened. 
• Press crumb mix into your prepared square pan (23 cm / 9 in) and bake for 10 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes. 
• For the filling, mix together cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar until smooth. Pour the filling over the crust and top with blueberries. 
• For the streusel topping, combine all ingredients with your hands until you have a (more or less) crumbly dough. Crumble over the filling. 
• Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cool 1 hour at room temperature, then at least 1 hour in the fridge before serving.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Delicious! It really combines so many good things that you can't go wrong with it. And it tastes like pure summer. Not light but still refreshing.

What's your favorite baked summer treat?

28 | 52 Berry Pavlova

When my mother requested 'something with fruit and meringue' for her birthday cake, she was probably thinking more in the direction of the Redcurrant Meringue Pie I made for her birthday last year (and which was delicious).

But of course I wanted to try something new.

I've seen so many Pavlova recipes over the last couple of years but never made one.

BIG MISTAKE, as I know now.

If you like meringue (and berries, in this case) then this is for you. It's the perfect summer dessert.
And it was a big hit with my mom (and me) :)

Oh, and it looks real pretty, too.

Berry Pavlova

From Morrisons Magazine

For the meringue

4 egg whites

250 g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon cornflour

For the topping

250 g (9 oz) fresh raspberries and blueberries

1 tablespoon icing sugar

200 ml (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons) double cream

150 g (5.3 oz) Greek yogurt

• Preheat the oven to 150ºC (300ºF). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
• Whisk egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Continue to beat and add the sugar slowly. Add vinegar and cornflour. Spoon the mixture onto the parchment paper, forming a circle (or 2 smaller circles). Make the sides slightly higher than the middle of the circle. 
• Bake for 1 hour, turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside until it has completely cooled down (2-3 hours).  
• To prepare the topping, press some of your raspberries through a fine sieve with the back of a spoon. Throw away the seeds and mix the juice with the icing sugar. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until stiff and fold in the yogurt. 
• Just before serving, spoon the cream-yogurt-mix on top of the meringue, drizzle the raspberry juice over it and top with fresh berries.

My modifications:

None. Other than using raspberries and blueberries (not just raspberries).

The taste:

Heavenly. Really. So light and yet so so good. Perfect for summer. You might not be able to stop eating it.

What is your favorite way of eating meringues?

24 | 52 Blueberry Brownies

Have you had enough of blueberries yet?

Oh wait - is that even possible?

Not for me. I could honestly eat them every day. Several times a day, actually.

I don't think I've ever made anything with blueberries and chocolate though.

Very strange. Because I could eat chocolate... - let's not talk about that.

So let's see what this blueberry chocolate concoction is all about...

Blueberry Brownies

From Hummingbird High

140 g (5 oz) dark chocolate

85 g (6 tablespoons) butter

2 eggs

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

100 g (3/4 cup) flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

140 g (1 cup) blueberries

2 tablespoon flour

70 g (1/2 cup) blueberries

• Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF).
• Melt the chocolate and butter over a bain-marie.
• Combine the 140 g / 1 cup blueberries with the 2 tablespoons flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the brownie.
• In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar.
• Add vanilla. Then add melted chocolate-butter mix.
• Fold in flour and salt (do not overmix). Carefully fold in floured blueberries.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes.
• Carefully press 70 g / 1/2 cup of blueberries into the brownie while still warm.
• Let cool and enjoy.

My modifications:

I reduced the sugar to 170 g (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon).

The taste:

I wasn't 100% convinced when I took the first bite. But from the second bite onwards - berrylicious chocoliciousness. Definitely a fruit chocolate combo to keep and repeat. Often.

What's your favorite fruit chocolate combo?

17 | 52 Strawberry-Blueberry Crumb Bars

Fresh strawberries!

You just gotta do as much as you can using strawberries, while you can.

(Maybe in your part of the world you have fresh strawberries all year round but that's unfortunately not the case in Switzerland...)

And blueberries!

You just can't go wrong with blueberries.

Crumbs!

Yes! Always!

Sorry for the very boring pictures - I can't seem to shoot any good pictures before everything's eaten up lately...

Strawberry-Blueberry Crumb Bars

Adapted from the baker upstairs

200 g (1 cup) sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

375 g (3 cups) flour

227 g (1 cup) cold butter, cut into pieces

1 egg, beaten

400 g (2 cups) fresh strawberries

200 g (2 cups) fresh blueberries

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

4 teaspoons corn starch

• Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF).
• Whisk together sugar, baking powder, salt, and flour. Add cold butter and mix in with your hands. Add the egg and make a crumbly dough. 
• Press half of the dough onto the bottom of the prepared pan (23cm x 33xm / 9in x 13in). 
• Wash your strawberries, chop off the green part and cut into quarters. Mix all berries with the 1/2 cup sugar and corn starch, then spread them on top of the dough in the pan. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the berry layer. 
• Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cool.

My modifications:

None. Except for mixing strawberries and blueberries. The original recipe is for either one but not combined.

The taste:

Very good! Moist from the berries and very summery!

I stored it in the fridge and it actually tasted better the day after baking...

What's your favorite summer bake (with or without fruit)?

16 | 52 Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Now. When a recipe title has the word 'perfect' in it I get sceptical.

Perfect. I almost feel like there's no way it could live up to the expectations.

But this recipe did. Big time.

I mean - it's Blueberry Muffins we're talking about.

But still. It's Blueberry Muffins, y'all!

And they really were perfect.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

From Smitten Kitchen

For 9-10 smaller muffins:

71 g (5 tablesoons) butter, softened

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 teapsoon lemon zest, grated

191 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

100 g (3/4 cup) blueberries, fresh or frozen

• Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF) and line muffin pan with paper liners.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, then sour cream and lemon zest.
• Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Carefully fold in blueberries.
• Fill muffin cups 3/4 (for smaller muffins) or almost full (for bigger muffins).
• Bake 25-30 minutes until tops are golden brown.

 they were gone so quickly - I wasn't even able to take a good picture of the inside!

My modifications:

None. But next time I would omit the lemon zest or reduce it a bit. In my opinion, the muffins would even be more perfect then.

I also used frozen blueberries and it worked very well. There really is no need to defrost them. My dough did kind of freeze when I added the frozen berries but that wasn't a problem.

Oh - but I did double the recipe and received 12 perfect standard sized muffins with a great muffin top. So if you would like your muffins to be on the bigger side with muffin top - please double the amounts above. If you like your muffins smaller and without muffin top - use the amounts above.

The taste:

Perfect! What more can I say? They taste exactly like I want them to taste. And they taste really American. I know, that might sound a bit weird but it's true.

What's your favorite and most perfect muffin recipe?

16/52 Blueberry Cheesecake

New York Cheesecake is my absolute favorite! I just felt that you should know that before I continue...

It was my friend Martina's birthday last week and I told her that I would bake her any cake she wanted. So after some thinking, she decided that she wanted a cheesecake. But not the NY kind...
It is hard to believe but there are actually people out there who do not like NY cheesecake! And Martina happens to be one of them. She likes the German version that uses 'Quark' (curd cheese or fromage blanc).

Since I promised to bake whatever she likes, I grudgingly had to give in... But not before trying to convince her to at least add something to the filling, like tangerine slices (very good in cheesecake) or chocolate chips (never tried that but imagine it to be good, too). So she gave in a little as well and decided for blueberries.
Fine by me.

Blueberry Cheesecake

Adapted from here

For the base/crust:

200 g (1.6 cups) flour

75 g (1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon) sugar

75 g (1/3 cup) margarine

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

For the filling:

125 g (1/2 cup) margarine

225 g (1 1/8 cup) sugar

1 packet vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

1 packet (= 40 g) vanilla pudding powder (or: 4 tablespoons corn starch + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

3 eggs

500 g (2 1/4 cups) quark

200 g (0.87 cup) sour cream

200 g (0.84 cup) heavy cream, fluid

250 g (1 2/3 cup) blueberries

• Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).
• Mix all ingredients for the crust and quickly combine them using your hands, until you have a smooth dough.
• For the filling, mix together margarine, sugar, vanilla sugar (or extract), pudding powder, and eggs. Add quark and sour cream. Beat heavy cream until stiff and carefully fold into the quark-mix.
• Spread out crust into greased springform pan (and don't forget to pull it up the sides as well). Using a fork, put some holes in the crust bottom and arrange blueberries on it.

• Pour cheese filling on top and bake for about 1 hour.

• When done, leave oven door open for a couple of minutes before taking out the cake so that it doesn't collapse too quickly. Be prepared for it to collapse though, that's how it's supposed to be!

My modifications:

The original recipe does not include any fruit or other additions to the filling.

The taste:

I love New York Cheesecake. Wait... did I mention this already?
But - I have to admit that this cake is delicious! It looks perfect and it tastes perfect. You should definitely try it!

Oh, and in case you're wondering why I know how it tasted if I made it for Martina - we agreed that we will split the cake so she got half and I got half. That's fair, right?

Do you like cheesecake? Which is your favorite version?

12/52 Heidelbeer-Streuselkuchen

Or: Blueberry Crumble Cake. For my cousin Stephanie. I'll explain why later.

Streuselkuchen is a very typical and traditional German cake.
It is originally made of a yeast dough base with crumbles (= Streusel) on top. In between, as a filling, there can be a kind of vanilla cream/pudding, all sorts of fruit, or poppy seeds.

I always liked the fruit Streuselkuchen best.
In late summer, plums are the most common filling (and one of the best, in my opinion). Cherries are very good as well. Or raspberries. Rhubarb. You pretty much name it. The plain Streuselkuchen with no filling at all, just base and crumbles, has always been a bit too boring for me.
But I will eat it if it's the only kind of Streuselkuchen around...

So back to my cousin Stephanie. She asked me last week if I ever make Zwetschgenstreuselkuchen (the aforementioned plum version). Apparently it reminds her of our Grandmother who was one of the best bakers I know. I guess it might also symbolize Germany for Stephanie, since she grew up in Canada. Yes, this is the short short version but I thought it made sense mentioning.

(Stephanie - if there is anything you would like to add or adjust - please let me know!)

Anyway, since plums aren't in season, I decided to try blueberries for the first time in a Streuselkuchen.
(Yes, I know, blueberries aren't really in season here either, but at least you can buy them...)

I also wanted to make the quicker version with a sponge cake base instead of the yeast one.

So here it is - for Stephanie.

Heidelbeer-Streuselkuchen

Adapted from Heidelbeerhof Foelster (a blueberry farm in nothern Germany)

500 g (3 2/3 cups) blueberries

125 g (1.1 stick) butter, softened

125 g (10 tablespoons) sugar

1 sachet (2 teaspoons) vanilla sugar (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)

pinch of salt

2 eggs

250 g (2 cups) flour

1 sachet (1 1/2 tablespoons) baking powder

Streusel:

125 g (1.1 stick) butter, cold

125 g (10 tablespoons) sugar

125 g (1 cup) flour

• Preheat oven to 175°C (347°F).
• Beat together sugar, eggs, salt and vanilla sugar, until light and fluffy.
• Add butter and mix well.
• Fold in sifted flour and baking powder.
• Spread batter evenly into a prepared pan (about 24 cm/9.5 in in diameter).
• Arrange blueberries on batter.
• Using your hands, quickly mix cold butter, sugar, and flour to crumbs. Crumble them over the blueberries.
• Bake on second lowest oven rack for 50-60 minutes.

My modification:

I only had 375 g (2 1/2 cups) of blueberries and that was enough to cover the base.

I used raw cane sugar because I was out of "regular" sugar.

My cake was done in 45 minutes. Just keep an eye on the Streusel, they are supposed to be golden but not brown. 

Please note: if you ever plan on making the plum Streuselkuchen, please do make a yeast dough base. It just suits the plums so much better. For every other fruit, feel free to make the quicker version like above.

The taste:

Cake base & blueberries & crumbles - I don't think there is anybody who wouldn't think this is a great combination.
If you like it a bit crunchy (expecially for the crumbles), eat the cake on the same day as you baked it. If you like it a bit soft and soggy, wrap your cake in aluminum foil and eat it one, two or even three days after you baked it.

I still have to admit that nothing beats the yeast base/plum Streuselkuchen, so come around plum season!

Which cake do you associate with your childhood, or a specific member of your family?