By Barbara Beltrami

Blueberries! Blueberry pie, blueberry fool, blueberry buckle, blueberry crisp, blueberry crumble, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes, blueberry tarts and cakes, smoothies, coolers, and just plain blueberries that leave stains on your teeth and fingers. What recipes shall I choose? I can’t decide! So I’m going to share with you some spin-offs on a few of them and hope you like them as much as the traditional ones.

Blueberry-Pecan Bread

YIELD: Makes one loaf

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2 eggs well-beaten

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 5 x 3” loaf pan with waxed paper. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar; add berries and nuts and stir to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and oil; add to dry mixture and stir just enough to moisten; pour into prepared loaf pan and let sit about 20 minutes. Bake one hour or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Serve with iced coffee or iced tea.

Blueberry Skillet Pancake

YIELD: Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup half and half

1 large egg at room temperature

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 pint blueberries

Confectioners sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Place oven rack in upper third of oven; preheat oven to 375 F. Place 10” cast iron skillet in oven. In large bowl combine flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl whisk together the half and half, egg and two tablespoons of the butter. Stir wet mixture into dry mixture until just moistened. With a potholder carefully remove skillet from oven; swirl remaining tablespoon of butter to coat bottom and sides of pan; pour batter in pan and smooth top; sprinkle evenly with blueberries and remaining teaspoon sugar. Bake 20 to 30 minutes until cooked through and golden on top; sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve with blueberry syrup, fresh blueberries and whipped cream.

Blueberry Custard Tart

YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:

4 large eggs, well beaten

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 2/3 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 unbaked 9” pie shell

1 cup blueberries

2 tablespoons orange juice

3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a medium bowl combine eggs, sugar, salt, milk, nutmeg and vanilla; stir until smooth; pour mixture into pie shell and bake 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 F and bake 30 minutes more, until knife inserted about one inch from edge of pastry shell comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool; refrigerate if not serving immediately. In a medium bowl toss the blueberries, orange juice and confectioners’ sugar; spoon over cream filling just before serving.