Legends of Canadian Pastry: The Saskatoon Berry Pie

The Sweet Canada: Domestic stamps series

If you haven't heard of Saskatoon berries, it's probably because of the part of Canada you live in. Also known as serviceberries, the Saskatoon berry (Amelanchier alnifolia) is a deciduous native shrub that grows not just in Saskatchewan as you would expect if you know your geography, but also in parts of western Ontario, British Columbia, and the Yukon. Like the city it's named after, the sweet, fleshy fruits take their name from a Cree word, and were used by both Aboriginal people and early colonizers. With a lifespan of 30 to 50 years, saskatoons are hardy plants that can survive winter temperatures of up to -50 to -60º Celsius. The berries are a good source of antioxidants, have similar nutritional properties to other dark-coloured berries, and can be used in jams, syrups, and pie fillings. Gas prices may keep you from heading out to this year's Saskatoon Berry Festival but the recipe below will allow you to enjoy this legendary Canadian pastry any time you please.

Note: Blueberries can be substituted for Saskatoon berries, but actually saskatoons can be ordered frozen online, just remember to thaw them before use.

Ingredients

1 9 inch/23 cm. pre-made pie crust
(If you have a favourite homemade pie crust recipe, feel free to use it; if you need one, here's a good recipe.)
760 g fresh Saskatoon berries
150 g white sugar
25 g all-purpose flour
15 g butter
60 mL water
30 mL lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
2. In a large saucepan, simmer berries in the water for 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice with berries. Combine the sugar and flour together in a medium bowl, then stir into the berry mixture. 
3. Pour mixture into either a pre-made pie crust or a pastry-lined 9-inch pie pan. Dot with butter. Top the pie with more crust, then seal and flute (crimp) the edges.
4. Bake the pie in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 175°C and bake for an additional 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

Woo-hoo! Easy Crème Brulée

The first time I had crème brulée was at my wife's suggestion at the end of a date night meal. I've never been much of a dessert guy, but it's hard not to love the taste of sweet luxurious custard under a layer of caramelized sugar that you have to crack with a spoon to access. When I came across this version of the decadent dessert, I knew I had to try the recipe; when I came across the butane torch you see to the right of this paragraph, I knew I had to try the recipe as soon as possible. Sure, you can get yourself a more professional-looking kitchen torch (it's definitely more powerful than what you can find among the other lighters at the convenience store), but I think Homer would appreciate a simpler way to make a tasty treat.

Ingredients

125 g vanilla ice cream (a great substitute for the cream, milk, sugar, and thickener that is custard)
2 egg yolks
8 -12 g granulated sugar         

1. Preheat oven to 163°C. Melt the vanilla ice cream in a microwave-safe bowl for one minute, then whisk, and let it cool. Whisk in the egg yolks, and pour the mixture into ramekins.
2. Place the ramekins into a cake pan, then pour hot water into the pan, letting the water fill about halfway up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the middle is still jiggly and almost set. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
3. Spoon the sugar onto each crème brûlée, turning each ramekin to distribute the sugar in an even layer. Use either a kitchen torch or place the crème brûlées under the broiler for about three minutes to brown the sugar, checking to make sure the sugar doesn't burn. Let them cool for at least 10 minutes, then serve.

Legends of Canadian Pastry: The Butter Tart

The Sweet Canada: Domestic stamps series

As we can now interact with more people as vaccination numbers increase, be the hit of your backyard barbeque with some buttery goodness. Butter tarts have been a favourite ever since France send women to help colonize their Quebec territory 350 years ago, and they adapted the recipes they brought with them with what was available in their new home. Today, most butter tart recipes are a variation of a recipe from 1900 submitted by Mary Ethel MacLeod to The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. Whether you like them firm or slightly run, or with (or without) raisins or pecans, the recipe below will satisfy your cravings.

Ingredients

12 pre-made tart shells
(If you have a favourite homemade pie crust recipe, feel free to use it; if you need one, here's a good recipe.)
50 g butter, melted and cooled
90 g brown sugar, lightly packed
170 mL corn syrup
2.5 mL vanilla
1 egg
salt
120 grams raisins (optional)
40 grams coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. If you are making a pie crust from scratch, prepare the dough and refrigerate it for 30 minutes. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 204°C, and grease and flour the muffin tin you plan to use.
2. Remove the pie pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a 3mm thickness and cut out pieces with a round cookie cutter or a glass. Gently form the dough into the muffin tin.
3. If you want raisins in your butter tarts, place them in a medium bowl, cover them with boiling water, and let them sit for 5 minutes. Remove the raisins from the water and immediately stir them in the butter, then add the egg, vanilla, brown sugar, corn syrup, and a pinch of salt and combine well. If you want nuts in your tarts, this is where you can add them into the mix.
4. Pour the filling into the prepared tart shells and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 177°C and continue baking for approximately 10 - 15 minutes or until they start to brown.  Let cool before serving. Store the tarts in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to five days, or keep them at room temperature; keep in mind they will only keep for up to two days.

Legends of Canadian Pastry: The Nanaimo Bar

The Sweet Canada: Domestic stamps series

Looking for something to do this Canada Day? Celebrate by making one of most Canadian of desserts, the Nanaimo bar. The most addictive thing to come out of British Columbia other than marijuana, the no-bake dessert bar was popularized in the years following World War 2, reaching national notoriety after Expo 86. Traditionally consisting of three layers (a graham wafer crumb and shredded coconut base, custard-flavoured butter icing in the middle, and a chocolate ganache on top), the official city of Nanaimo-approved version of the pastry came to be after Joyce Hardcastle's recipe won a contest the city held. With Canada Day options limited this year, why not give this recipe a try? It will definitely add to the excitement of virtual fireworks - stay safe and happy Canada Day everyone.

Ingredients - Bottom Layer

425 g graham wafer crumbs
250 g shredded coconut
125 g unsalted butter (European style cultured if possible)
125 g finely chopped almonds
75 g cocoa
50 g sugar
1 egg, beaten

1. Melt the first 3 ingredients in the top of a double boiler. Place on the stove over medium heat and bring the water to simmer. 
• If you don’t have a double boiler, half-fill a saucepan with water and heat over medium heat until the water begins to simmer. Then, place a metal or glass bowl over the simmering water and proceed as directed.

2. Add the egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. 
3. Stir in the crumbs, the coconut, and the nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 2 L baking pan.

Ingredients - Second Layer

500 g icing sugar
125 g grams unsalted butter
30 g vanilla custard powder
40 mL cream

4. Cream the butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light and fluffy. 
5. Spread it over the bottom layer.

Ingredients - Third Layer

115 g semi-sweet chocolate
30 g unsalted butter

6. Melt the chocolate and the butter over low heat. Remove it from the heat and let it cool. 
7. Once cool, but still liquid, pour it over the second layer. Cover everything and let it chill in the refrigerator until cold.

Legends of Canadian Pastry - The Blueberry Grunt

The Sweet Canada: Domestic stamps series

When it's time for some baking therapy in Atlantic Canada, some people like to make blueberries grunt. The grunting comes from the sounds made when cooking this dessert of tea biscuit dumplings cooked in blueberries. Also known as a “slump” or “fungy” (this dessert gets the short end of the stick when it comes to names), the blueberry grunt was first made either by early colonial settlers as an adaptation of British pudding using local ingredients, or as a food cobbled together by the Acadians from what they foraged in the area.  In any case, this recipe is a tasty way to take advantage of the anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidants, vitamin C and potassium that blueberries have to offer.

Ingredients

400 g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
280 g flour
225 g sugar (To cut back on sweetness, use 3⁄4 the amount instead)
115 g butter
14 g baking powder
4 g sugar
2 g salt
120 mL milk
5 mL lemon or lime juice
1 egg

Note: Measurement conversions from Cook It Simply/ 

1. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Pour the blueberries into an oven-safe deep-dish pie plate and add the citrus juice and the larger amount of sugar. Stir well, then place the pie plate in the oven and bake uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes if you are using fresh berries, 20 minutes for frozen berries. 
2. While the berries are in the oven, whisk in a large bowl the flour, baking powder, salt, and the remaining sugar. Break the butter into small pieces and add to the mixture in the bowl. Combine the butter into the flour mixture with a fork until the butter and mixture have formed small crumbly pieces. Crack the egg into a measuring cup and top with milk until you hit the  3⁄4 cup mark. Mix the egg and milk together with a fork, then add it to the flour mixture and blend with a fork until everything is combined — mix in any remaining dry bits by hand. 
3. Take the blueberries out of the oven. Using a  1⁄4 cup measuring cup (or your largest spoon), scoop out the biscuit dough from the bowl, and arrange on top of the hot berries - you should get about 11 biscuits. Carefully cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and put it back in the oven to bake for 15 minutes. 
4. Remove the dish from the oven and carefully remove the foil, then place back in the oven and continue to bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until the biscuits are lightly golden. Take the dish out of the oven, and allow it to cool for 10 minutes or so —the longer the grunt sits, the more blueberry liquid the biscuits will soak up. Serve hot or warm, ideally with either ice cream or whipped cream either as a dessert or for breakfast.

Celebrate Bacon with the Bacon Ice Cream Sundae

As it is International Bacon Day today, and with Baconpolooza happening next weekend, I thought this would be a good time post this dessert recipe I received in the gift bag I got when I volunteered at Baconpolooza's inaugural event last year.

Ingredients 

500 g sugar
185 mL water
60 mL heavy cream
30 mL butter
2 strips bacon
your favourite ice cream

Caramel Sauce

1. Mix 250 g of sugar and 125 mL of water in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high until mixture starts to turn colour.
2. When the mixture turns golden, add the butter and cream.
3. Remove from heat. Use a wooden spoon to stir until smooth.
4. Pour into a heatproof container, and let cool.

Bacon Brittle

1. Mix the remaining sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat on medium-high until mixture starts to turn colour, about five minutes.
2. When the mixture turns amber, remove from heat and pour out on a non-stick baking sheet.
3. Chop the bacon into 1/4" pieces, place in a frying pan, and cook until bacon is crispy.
4. Drain the bacon fat, then sprinkle the bacon bits onto the cooked sugar.
5. When completely cool and hard, break into pieces.

  Bacon Ice Cream Sundae Assembly

1. To serve, scoop some ice cream into balls and roll in the bacon brittle to coat completely.
2. Place in individual serving bowls. Top with the caramel sauce.
   
   Note: Adding whipped cream and a cherry on top is optional but recommended.