Sonoma County berries make great summer desserts

All over Sonoma County, the local blueberries are popping, the blackberries are drooping with ripeness and the fragrant aroma of sweet strawberries wafts from roadside patches and farmstands.

If you make pies or preserves, you’re in seventh heaven. But not everyone has the time or the desire to put up their own jams and make their own pie crust, especially when the weather is already hot and sticky.

Less labor intensive but equally satisfying are some of the fruit desserts we inherited from early American colonists and the Europeans: crisps and biscuit-topped cobblers, creamy trifles and almond-scented cakes and galettes.

At Backyard in Forestville, chef/owner Daniel Kedan and his wife, pastry chef Marianna Gardenhire, source from local farms to turn out an array of accessible yet elegant fruit desserts.

“We do very, very simple desserts,” said Kedan, who has earned a 2015 Bib Gourmand award from Michelin for being one of the best, moderately priced restaurants. “You just leave it alone, and let the ingredients shine.”

The couple sources blueberries from Sonoma Swamp Blues on Occidental Road in Sebastopol and blackberries and raspberries from the Sebastopol Berry Farm on Ross Station Road. Their strawberries come from Lao Saetern’s farmstand on Highway 12 and from Bloomfield Organics on Valley Ford Road, which also offers a u-pick adventure to the public.

“The berries from the Sebastopol Berry Farm are easy to find (at farm markets),” Kedan said. “We get marionberries (the most common blackberry cultivar) from Rainbow’s End Farm in Occidental.”

Some of the summer fruits commonly known as berries do not have much in common genetically. Many also have complicated family trees, the result of multiple hybrid experiments. Case in point: the boysenberry, which is a cross between a raspberry, blackberry, loganberry and dewberry. The deep-purple, sweet-tart boysenberry was developed in the 1920s in Napa, and later championed by farmer Walter Knott of Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California. (Locally, you can find artisan boysenberries at Kokopelli Garden south of Sebastopol through mid-July.)

One of the easiest desserts for beginning bakers to tackle is the cobbler, which has many different variations in the U.S., including the oddly named buckle, the grump and the slump. While crisps have an oat topping, the cobbler is topped with a sweet biscuit made from butter, flour, sugar and buttermilk.

“We use ceramic loaf dishes, and we put the fruit and the lemon juice in, then top it with a biscuit, on top,” Kedan said. “We like to do it with blackberries and marionberries.”

Another popular dessert at Backyard is the Lemon Trifle, created from layers of lemon curd, berries, whipped cream and cake. The dessert is traditionally made with an Italian sponge cake, but home bakers might want to substitute an olive oil cake that’s easier to make but equally delicious.

The biggest challenge to making a trifle is creating and assembling the components for the various layers, which should meld into a sum that is greater than its parts.

“We do the trifle in an 3-ounce Mason jar, so you can see all the layers,” Kedan said. “Then we top it with candied nuts.”

Backyard also bakes a tasty financier cake that provides a perfect foil for the season’s fleeting blueberries. The brown-butter almond cake is light and moist, like a sponge cake, with a nutty flavor derived from almonds.

“It’s very easy and a great way to utilize egg whites,” Kedan said. “You put the berries inside the batter to bake.”

The cake tastes even better with a scoop of homemade ice cream, which Gardenhire likes to make with fresh strawberries and either yogurt or kefir.

“There’s no egg, so it’s really a sherbet,” she said. “A lot of strawberry ice cream tastes baked instead of fresh. With this one, you’re really getting a mouthful of strawberry.”

Up the street at Twist Eatery in Forestville, chef/owner Jeff Young has been picking blackberries from his back yard and turning them into his favorite dessert: blackberry galette with blackberry ice cream.

“Galettes are quicker and easier than pies,” Young said. “And the ice cream is about the purity of the blackberry.”

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The following four recipes are from Daniel Kedan and Marianna Gardenhire of Backyard in Forestville. “We are huge fans of anything topped with biscuits,” Kedan writes. “We love adding peach pit ice cream to give it a nutty, sweet flavor.

Marionberry Cobbler

Makes 4 servings

For Sweet Biscuit topping:

2½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 stick (½ cup) butter, diced and kept cold

2 tablespoons evaporated cane sugar

1 whole bean vanilla (or ¼ teaspoon vanilla)

1 cup buttermilk

For berry filling:

4 pints marionberries (or blackberries)

4 teaspoons of evaporated cane sugar

1 teaspoon arrowroot powder (or flour)

For Sweet Biscuit topping: In a food processor, place the butter in the bottom, then mix all of the dry ingredients and place on top of the butter. Pulse the food processor just until all of the butter is incorporated. Put in a mixing bowl and add the buttermilk. Mix just to form a moist dough.

For berry filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix berries with cane sugar and arrowroot. Place into your baking dish.

To bake: Place the sweet biscuit topping on top of the berries in dollops with a spoon. Make sure it’s not too thick, since the dough will rise about four times its size.

Place in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until biscuits are golden brown. Take out of oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving with your favorite vanilla or fruit ice cream.

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“This is a great dish that can be made ahead for a dinner or birthday party,” Kedan said. “You can also make this in a larger, trifle container instead of smaller ones.”

Raspberry and Blueberry Trifle

Makes 8 servings

For Lemon Curd:

8 egg yolks

6 whole eggs

8 lemons, juiced and zested

1 cup sugar

½ pound butter

For Olive Oil Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups evaporated cane sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 tablespoons salt

4 whole eggs

1? cups milk

1½ cups extra virgin olive oil

2 lemons, zested

Nonstick cooking oil

Berry and whipped cream filling:

2 pints blueberries

2 pints raspberries

4 cups whipped cream

Extra berries or nuts, for optional garnish

For lemon curd: In a pot, whisk together yolks, whole eggs, lemon juic and zest and sugar. Place on the stovetop on medium heat. Continue to whisk until the curd begins to slightly thicken. Add the butter and continue to whisk until it is incorporated and the curd has thickened to hold on a spoon. Pass it through a fine mesh strainer and cool.

For olive oil cake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry, whisking until smooth and fully incorporated. Line a 4x4- or a 6x6-inch baking pan with parchment paper, spray with non-stick cooking oil and pour the batter until pan is three-quarters full. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

To assemble: Cut olive oil cake in half, then cut that half into smaller pieces that will fit into eight. clear glasses or Mason jars. Add to the glasses or jars a layer of lemon curd, whipped cream, berries and olive oil cake, then repeat until you reach the top. Top with more sliced berries or nuts. Chill for at least one hour before serving.

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“This cakes are great to make a day or two ahead,” Kedan said. “We like to serve them on top of lemon curd with some Strawberry Yogurt Ice Cream.” These small cakes can be baked in silicone molds, regular molds or cupcake tins.

Blueberry Financier

Makes 4 to 6 cakes, depending on size of mold

Butter, for molds

½ cup, plus 2 tablespoons evaporated cane sugar

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup almond flour

3 egg whites

¼ cup brown butter (see note below)

1 pint blueberries

Optional for garnish:

Lemon curd (see recipe above)

Strawberry yogurt sherbet (see recipe below)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter the silicon molds or use a nonstick spray. Mix sugar, flour and almond flour n a bowl. Add the egg whites and whisk to incorporate the dry ingredients, then whisk in the brown butter. Spoon or pipe the batter into the molds, and fill them three-quarters of the way to the top. Place blueberries in the batter then bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Unmold and let cool on a rack.

Note: To make brown butter, heat a thick-bottomed frying pan on medium heat. Slice and add the butter. Cook the butter, whisking often.

Once melted, the butter will foam up a bit, then subside. Watch carefully as lightly browned specks begin to form at the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and place on a cool surface to help stop the butter from burning. Brown butter should have a nutty aroma.

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Strawberry Yogurt Sherbet

Makes about 1½ quarts

1 pound strawberries, sliced

1 cup evaporated cane sugar

Lemon zest (optional)

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup plain, cultured whole milk yogurt or kefir

Place the ice cream maker’s canister in your freezer according to the directions (4 to 12 hours in advance).

In a large bowl, mix together the strawberries, sugar, lemon zest and salt. Let sit out at room temperature until the juices from the strawberries are released.

Puree strawberry mixture with a blender or immersion blender, and strain to get all of the seeds out.

Add the yogurt to the strawberry mixture and whisk until fully incorporated. Strain again, if desired.

Refrigerate for at least two hours before churning in your canister ice cream maker.

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The following two recipes are from Jeff Young, chef/owner of Twist in Forestville.

Twist’s Blackberry Almond Galettes

Makes 8 galettes

For pastry:

2¼ cups flour

1 cup butter, chilled and diced

¾ cup sour cream

½ teaspoon salt

For almond filling:

½ cup almond paste

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

4 tablespoons flour

For berry filling:

4 cups blackberries, blueberries, or mixture

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoons flour

For pastry: Place flour, salt and butter in a food processor, and pulse until it resembles cornmeal. Next, add sour cream and pulse until a ball forms. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and form into balls, place on a plate, wrap and refrigerate for ½ hour.

Place the dough on a floured board and roll out one at a time and place on a parchment lined baking pan. Repeat with remaining balls.

For almond filling: Place all ingredients in a food processor and combine until completely blended. Spread almond filling equally between pastry circles, leaving a border of a 1-inch border uncovered around the edge.

For berry filling: In a bowl, lightly stir together the berries, lemon juice, sugar and flour. Spoon the filling onto the dough, leaving a 1-inch border uncovered around the edge. Fold the edge up and over the filling, forming loose pleats. Bake until the filling is bubbling and pastry is golden brown, about 25 minutes.

Serve with homemade blackberry ice cream (see recipe below).

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Fresh Blackberry Ice Cream

Makes 8 servings

2 cups freshly picked blackberries

1 cup sugar

2 cups cream

2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Puree berries in food processor and force through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Add sugar to the cream adn mix until dissolved. Stir in berry puree and lemon juice (adjusted for the correct tartness). Freeze in an ice cream machine.

Staff writer Diane Peterson can be reached at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56.

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BERRIES 2.0

Here are some of the berries that are available in Sonoma County:

Blackberry: The blackberry is the largest of the wild berries, with a tart flavor and prominent seeds. Ideal for eating out of the hand, they are perishable and best used immediately. Puree with sugar for a dessert sauce, make into jam or bake into a cobbler.

Blueberry: One of the few berries native to North America, the blueberry is regarded as a superfood high in antioxidants. This year is the centennial of the first commercial crop in the U.S., which still leads the world in production. Toss into a savory salad or fruit salsa, bake into a cake or pie.

Boysenberry: This maroon-hued berry is a cross between a raspberry, blackberry, loganberry and dewberry. It is bursting with tart flavor but has thin skins that burst easily. Best used in pies and jams.

Loganberry: A cross between a blackberry and a red raspberry, these juicy berries offer the flavors of both parents. If you can still find them at farmers markets, bake them into pies and jams.

Marionberries: Named after Marion County, Oregon, where it was tested, this dark red berry offers the complex flavor of wild blackberries, earning it the nickname as “the cabernet of blackberries.” It is preferred over other blackberries as an ingredient in pies, ice cream and preserves.

Raspberry: Raspberries are formed as clusters of many “drupelets,” or tiny stone fruits, and are indigenous to North America. Colors range from golden to the more common red, which thrive in the Pacific Northwest. The delicate berries can be pureed into a dessert sauce or used in a vinaigrette for green salads or grilled chicken.

Strawberry: A member of the rose family, the strawberry has crunchy, seed-like nodules and a sweet, luscious flavor. Choose bright red berries that are fully ripe, as they do not ripen after picking. Popular varieties include Chandler and Seascape. Dip in sour cream and brown sugar or puree into ice cream.