Blueberry Pie

2 pie crusts
½ cup (4oz/115g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice
4 cups (20oz/568g) blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tablespoon (½ oz/14g) butter, diced
egg wash
1 tablespoon coarse granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Roll out one pie crust and line a buttered 9" pie pan with it. Place in the fridge until needed.

In a bowl, sprinkle sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon zest, and lemon juice over blueberries and stir to combine.

Pour the blueberry mixture into the pie crust. Dot blueberries with the diced butter.

With a little egg wash brush the pastry around the edge of the pie pan. This is to seal the crust together.

Roll out the second pie crust to roughly 2" larger than the pie of the pie pan to give you extra pastry to work with.

Lay pastry carefully on top and fold the excess top crust underneath the bottom crust and press together with your fingers or a fork to seal. Cut a few slits on the top crust for venting.

Brush the top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Place the pie on a lined cookie sheet to catch any drippings and bake on the bottom rack for about 60 minutes or until juices start to bubble up. (I bake it on the bottom to ensure the pastry on the bottom cooks). If the crust starts to get too brown before the juices bubble up, you can cover the edges of the pie with foil.

Let the pie cool for at least 4 hours before cutting. Store leftover pie at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen for up to 4 weeks.

From: https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/blueberry-pie-recipe/#wprm-recipe-container-37313

General TSO sauce

 3 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce (low sodium)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth (low sodium)
1 tablespoon chili sauce
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon fresh ginger (minced)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon cornstarch

From:https://sweetandsavorymeals.com/general-tso-sauce/

Spicy Southwest Tomatoes and Okra:

5 slices of bacon cut into small pieces
1 chopped onion
4 cloves of minced garlic
2 whole tomatoes (diced)
1 can of Hot RO*TEL
2 tablespoons of chicken broth
1 tablespoon of sugar
3 cups of fresh okra
One teaspoon of pepper
One teaspoon of favorite hot sauce 

Cook bacon slightly. Sauté onion and garlic with bacon until tender. Add tomatoes and RO*TEL, chicken broth, sugar and pepper. Stir well and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the okra and simmer until okra is done, about 20 more minutes.

Also make your favorite rice and add one can of green chilis. Serve in a bowl with rice 1/4 on the bottom and tomatoes and okra on top. More hot sauce is okay! 😅🤗

Buttercream Frosting

 Yields 2 1/2 CUPS 

Prep time 10 MINUTES 

Total time 10 MINUTES

 4 cups Powdered Sugar (or 1 pound)

 1 cup Butter (Softened Salted Sweet Cream)

 2-3 teaspoons Vanilla

 1-2 tablespoons Milk

INSTRUCTIONS

Add softened butter and vanilla to the mixing bowl and mix until completely combined.

Add Powdered Sugar and beat on low until it is incorporated. Then move mixer up to medium-high speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When completely mixed the frosting may appear dry.

From: https://www.twosisterscrafting.com/buttercream-frosting/#mv-creation-497-jt

Pepperoncini Relish

1 cup Mezzetta Golden Greek Peperoncini, stems removed

1/3 cup Mezzetta Sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers

1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

1/2 yellow bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

1/4 white onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic, halved

2 Tbsp Mezzetta Golden Greek Peperoncini juice

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Add pepperoncini, jalapenos, bell peppers, onion, and garlic to the food processor. Pulse until everything is finely chopped.

Dump out the mixture into a saucepan and stir in pepperoncini juice, lemon juice, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the vegetables, are slightly softened.

Drain out any excess liquid with a fine-mesh

sieve. Let cool completely and place in a medium bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients and serve.

To store, place in an airtight container (I like to use a mason jar!) and store in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks.

This relish goes well on everything from brats to burgers and more!

From: https://www.cakenknife.com/pepperoncini-relish/#mv-creation-916-jtr

Béarnaise Sauce

 ¼ cup white-wine vinegar

1 small shallot, peeled and minced

½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped tarragon leaves

2 egg yolks

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

 Kosher salt, to taste

 Splash of lemon juice, optional

Put the vinegar, shallots, black pepper and 1 tablespoon of tarragon leaves into a small saucepan, and set over a medium flame. Bring just to a boil, and then reduce heat to a simmer until there are only a few tablespoons of liquid left, approximately 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside to cool.

Fill a small saucepan with an inch or two of water, and set over medium-high heat to boil.

Put the cooled shallot-and-tarragon mixture into a metal mixing bowl along with a tablespoon of water and the egg yolks, then whisk to combine.

Turn the heat under the saucepan of water down to its lowest setting, and put the bowl on top of the pan, making sure that it does not touch the water directly. Continue to whisk the yolks until they thicken, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. You should just about double the volume of the yolks.

Slowly beat in the butter, a tablespoon or two at a time, whisking slowly to combine and emulsify. Remove the bowl from the pan occasionally, so as not to overcook the eggs, and taste the sauce. Season with salt. If the flavor is not sharp enough, add a splash of lemon juice. If the sauce is too thick, stir in a splash of hot water. Add the remaining teaspoon of tarragon leaves, and serve.

Black Forest Cake

Chocolate Cake:

6 large eggs , at room temperature (Note 7)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (or unsweetened regular cocoa power, Note 1)
2/3 cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)
150g / 10.5 tbsp unsalted butter , melted and cooled

Cherry Syrup:

670g / 23.5 oz pitted morello cherries in syrup (sour cherries, in jar or can) , drained and juice reserved (Note 2)
1/3 cup kirsch or cherry liqueur (optional – sub with more reserved cherry juice, Note 3)
1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
4 tsp cornflour / cornstarch

Decorating:

4 cups / 1 litre thickened / heavy cream (Note 4)
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup soft icing sugar / powdered sugar (Australia: Not pure icing sugar, Note 5)
100g / 3.5 oz dark chocolate / bittersweet chocolate
12 maraschino or fresh cherries (for decorating top of cake)

Instructions

Chocolate sponge cake layers:

Oven and cake pans: Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Grease 3 x 20cm (8”) cake pans with butter, line with parchment / baking paper.

Sift dry ingredients: Combine dry ingredients by sifting the cocoa and plain flour into a bowl. Set aside.

Beat eggs: Beat eggs for 30 seconds on speed 6 of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or hand beater.

Slowly add sugar: With the beater still going, slowly pour the sugar in over 45 seconds, then add the vanilla.

Beat 7 minutes: Beat for 7 minutes more on speed 8, or until tripled in volume and pale in colour. Don't shortcut this step; this is what makes the cake rise (there's no baking powder used).

Fold in dry ingredients: Add the flour and cocoa mixture to the batter, folding in with a spatula until just combined (a few streaks of flour remaining is fine). Be gentle here, we don't want to knock out the air bubbles.

Fold in butter: Add the butter and fold gently through until just combined. Once you can no longer see any flour, stop stirring.

Fill cake pans: Pour the batter into the three prepared pans. The batter should be fairly thin and pourable.

Bake: Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the cake centre comes out clean. (Note 5 regarding shelf placement)

Cool: Remove from the oven. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out onto a rack to cool completely.

Cherry syrup:

Drain cherries: Drain jar of cherries, reserving liquid.

Cherry cornflour slurry: Measure out 1/4 cup (60ml) of the reserved cherry juice and mix with the cornflour to make a slurry. Set aside.

Make cherry syrup: Place a medium pot over medium-low heat. Add the sugar and another 1/3 cup of reserved juice. Bring to a gentle simmer to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the cornflour slurry and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, until it thickens into a thin syrup.

Soak cherries, cool: Remove from the heat and stir in the kirsch. Pour the syrup over the drained cherries and allow to cool completely before using.

Chocolate curls (Note 8):

Melt chocolate: Break up the block of chocolate and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Gently melt in microwave by heating over three 20 second bursts, stirring in between.

Spread: Pour the melted chocolate over the back of a baking pan and spread out with a spatula as thinly as possible. Refrigerate for 3 - 4 minutes until the centre is just set.

Scrape curls: Using something with a sharp, straight edge (I use a bench scraper, spatula or the back of a knife also works), hold it at a 45 degree angle and scrape along the tray away from you to create curls. Do a small test patch first. If the chocolate is too hard, the curls may break or flake (leave to soften slightly and try again). If the chocolate is too soft, the curls sag and won't roll (refrigerate more to harden).

Having problems?? Don't worry! Just scrape to make shavings instead – it still looks amazing!

Refrigerate: Carefully place curls on a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.

Whip cream:

Just prior to assembling, place cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip into pretty stiff peaks - about 5 minutes on high. Refrigerate until needed.

Assembling:

Place one cake layer upside down on a serving platter (or cake decorating turn table, if you're a pro! :) ).

Brush with cherry syrup: Brush the cake layer with 1/4 cup of the cherry syrup the cherries are soaking in.

Cream layer: Spread with 1 cup of whipped cream, leaving a 1cm (1/2") border (the weight of the next cake layer gently pressed will push cream to edge).

Layer cherries: Top the cream with half the cherries (in a single layer), using a slotted spoon to drain well (but don't pat dry, want the cherries juicy!).

Repeat: Top with another cake layer, brush with 1/4 cup syrup, spread with 1 cup cream, top with remaining cherries, and place 3rd cake layer on top.

Cover with cream: Reserve 1 1/2 cups whipped cream for piping cream decorations. Spread the remaining cream over the top and side of the cake. Pipe dollops around the edge of top using a large star-tipped nozzle. Top each dollop with a maraschino cherry.

Chocolate shavings: Pile large chocolate curls in the middle (I stack in a tent shape like building a fire!). Use the smaller broken shavings to coat the base of the sides of the cake (using cold hands, scoop up shavings, press on side).

Rest 4 hours+: Leave cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, to allow flavours to develop and syrup to really soak into the cake.

Take out of fridge: Remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to serving (but be mindful of cream melting on hot days). Slice and serve proudly!

From: https://www.recipetineats.com/black-forest-cake/#wprm-recipe-container-62768