Witchy Kitchen

Tag: blackberry

  • Donut Gems

    Donut Gems

    Humans just lead short, boring, insignificant lives, so they make up stories to feel like they’re a part of something bigger. They want to blame all the world’s problems on some single enemy they can fight, instead of a complex network of interrelated forces beyond anyone’s control. -Pearl

    Steven Universe is an adorable animated series, always funny, sometimes almost unbearably deep, and often very, very sweet. It explores themes growing up, gender, relationships and acceptance, and of what it means to be a family.

    Because Steven lives next to a donut shop with the Crystal Gems, his aunts Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, jewel toned donut holes seemed like a fun thing to make! I’m a fan of the cake donuts rather than the traditional yeast type, so that’s the road I went, but what makes these special are the completely simple 2-ingredient glazes. I love mashing berries to mix with powdered sugar, because you get such a lovely color, naturally.

    Donut Gems

    For the sour cream donuts – from Hummingbird High

    • 2 1/4 cups cake flour
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
    • 2 large egg yolks
    • 1/2 cup sour cream
    • vegetable oil for frying

    Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat sugar and shortening together until sandy, then add the egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Add the sour cream and mix, then add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Transfer to a clean bowl and chill for an hour.

    Heat several inches of vegetable oil. Roll the dough into balls, and fry for several minutes, rolling until browned on all sides. Drain on a paper towel and move to a rack. Glaze while still warm

    For the glazes

    • 1/2 cup raspberries, mashed and strained
    • 1/2 cup blueberries, mashed and strained
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons cream
    • powdered sugar

    Mix each of the liquids (raspberries, blueberries, cream) in separate bowls with enough powdered sugar to make a glaze (should be thick but still liquid, about 1 cup to 1 1/2 cups per mixture).

    Dip warm donut holes in the glaze, turn to coat, and leave to cool on the rack.

    We’ve been swirling leftover glaze into plain yogurt 🙂

    This dish was first posted for Fiction Kitchen Episode 41: STEVEN UNIVERSE in which Carrie and Diana discuss the animated series and many munchies, including dognuts, fry bits, cookie cats, transfats, chaps, free napkins, and together breakfasts.

  • Zubat Blackberry BBQ Wings

    Zubat Blackberry BBQ Wings

    While I just missed the Pokemon craze when I was younger (#old, although the kids I babysat were into it), I’ve definitely gotten caught up in the cultural phenomena that is Pokemon Go. It’s been so fun to play with my kids – even though their aim sucks and they waste all my pokeballs! – and I fight my army of Vaporeons at the public library gym. Mostly I’ve enjoyed going on peaceful walks at night, catching dem Pidgeys and listening to Last Podcast on the Left or my The 1975 Spotify station. I had kind of a rough early part to the year, but somehow this weird little routine really contributed to clearing my mind and lifting my mood.

    zubat

    Zubat inspired this recipe; I love that creepy flappy fangy little guy! Catherine at The Gluttonous Geek joked that she was the only one so far twisted enough to make a play on actually cooking the little creatures. I laughed to myself because oh yeah, I’m going there too! These BBQ wings have the wing and drumette intact to look battier, and the Asian-inspired blackberry BBQ sauce is both sweet and spicy and zubat-tinged purple. With a garlicky buttermilk dipping sauce, they turned into a dish we could really sink our teeth into.

    🎵 I wanna be the spookiest
    Flap around, drink some blood and train,
    Sunlight is my real test
    But at night, feel my Poison Fang! 🎵

    Zubat Wings

    • 3 pounds chicken wings (wings and drumettes intact (you could of course do them split apart, just slightly lessen the cooking time)<br />)
    • salt & pepper
    • 2 cups blackberries
    • 1 cup chicken broth
    • 2 inches ginger (grated)
    • 1 cup ketchup
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
    • 2 cloves garlic (grated)
    • fresh ground black pepper (about a teaspoon)
    • 1-2 tablespoons srirach ((I left this out until I had dipped half the wings in order to make not-spicy wings for the kids))

    1. Preheat oven to 400°. Position a rack over a baking sheet and spray or rub with oil. Wash, dry, and season the wings liberally with salt and pepper, and arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes or so, flipping once, until cooked through and golden.

    2. Meanwhile, prepare the bbq sauce. In a saucepan, bring chicken broth, blackberries, ginger and a sprinkle of salt to a boil, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring/smashing occasionally, until blackberries are completely broken down.

    3. While the blackberries are simmering, in a mixing bowl whisk together ketchup, honey, soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and sriracha (if you are doing a split batch like I did, wait until after you dip half the wings to add the sriracha). Strain the blackberry mixture through a mesh strainer into the ketchup mixture, pressing to get most of the liquid out, whisk everything together and return to the sauce pan. Simmer another 15-20 minutes until thick.

    4. When the wings are cooked, dip each in the bbq sauce and return to the rack, brushing a little more over the top. You can reserve the leftover sauce for another purpose. Bake another 5 minutes or so, then let cool slightly, garnish with green onions, and serve with garlicky buttermilk dipping sauce (below).

    Garlicky Buttermilk Dipping Sauce

    • 1/2 cup buttermilk
    • 1/2 cup sour cream
    • 1 clove garlic (grated)
    • coarse salt to taste (about 1/2 a teaspoon)

    1. Whisk together all ingredients and serve!

    More batty BBQ recipes:

    Originally posted for #PokeNOM month! Catherine at The Gluttonous Geek hosted this theme for Fandom Foodies. Her awesome pick sparked so many creative and delicious-looking recipes! Head over to the linkup, or look for #PokeNOM on social media to check them out – gotta eat ’em all!

    Update, June 2019 The Cupcakedex is hosting #PokeNoms to celebrate Detective Pikachu!

  • Cornmeal Cake with Blackberry Glaze

    Cornmeal Cake with Blackberry Glaze

    I saw Nigella, kitchen goddess, make this elegant and unfussy polenta cake on her show. The blackberry glaze idea came from the photo of these donuts – gorgeous!

    Note: although purple and lovely, my cake was a little dry since my blackberry glaze just sits on top, so next time I will try half her lemon glaze and let that seep into the cake, then top with the blackberry glaze.

    Cornmeal Cake with Blackberry Glaze

    Variation on Nigella’s Lemon Polenta Cake

    • 200 grams ground almonds
    • 100 grams cornmeal
    • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
    • 2 sticks unsalted butter
    • 200 grams sugar
    • 3 large eggs
    • blackberries and powdered sugar for glazing

    Heat oven to 350° F and grease a 9 inch spring form pan.

    Whisk together almonds, cornmeal and baking powder. Cream together butter and sugar, then add eggs one by one and combine. Stir wet and dry ingredients together until just combined, then spread into springform pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

    Glaze with a mixture of mashed and strained blackberries and powdered sugar (start with just a few tbsps of juice, add more if needed). Garnish with blackberries.

  • Sweet Corn and Blackberry Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

    Sweet Corn and Blackberry Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

    This hardly needs a recipe, other than the directive: throw yummy things in a bowl. This does check all the summer salad boxes though: something fruity, something crunchy, homemade dressing (the only kind), ubiquitous pickled shallot.

    Sweet Corn and Blackberry Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

    For the dressing

    • 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
    • 1 tsp maple syrup
    • 2 tsp finely chopped basil
    • salt and pepper
    • 1 medium shallot
    • 1/4 cup olive oil

    In a small bowl, combine vinegar, maple syrup, basil, salt and pepper. Thinly slice shallot and stir into vinegar mixture and allow to pickle for half an hour minimum, ideally more. Right before serving, add olive oil in a stream while stirring.

    For the salad

    • 2 ears sweet corn
    • Several handfuls baby greens
    • 1 pint blackberries
    • dressing (above)
    • sliced almonds

    Boil corn in salted water for 2 minutes (turning), drain, cool, and cut off the cob. Toss together with greens and blackberries, and lightly dress with the liquid from the dressing. Spoon shallots on top and sprinkle with almonds.