Blueberry Cheese Tart & Blueberry Muffins

I know... here comes desserts again and we love fruit desserts! It is summer right now and who can live without nice summer fruit? I have made two all time favorites this week with the healthy ingredient of fresh blueberries which have lots of anti-oxidants, good for your skin and eyes! Moreover, have you heard of a type of fruit called bilberry? It resembles that of wild blueberries and it is very good for the human eyes that its juice has become mandatory in some pilots' diet. Blueberries have proven to be the top ten healthiest food on earth! I just had a warm blueberry muffin with a cup of wildberry fruit tea this morning and it makes a great relaxing breakfast! The blueberry cheese tart, inspired by Evil Shenanigans' Cherry Cheese Tart, makes great tea break snack or after dinner dessert.

Blueberry Muffins:

Ingredients:
For 12 muffins you will need:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powdeer
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or unthawed frozen blueberries
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/3 cup melted butter or margarine


Steps:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in blueberries.

2. Add milk, egg and butter. Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be lumpy. Do not overbeat.

3. Spoon batter into twelve 2 1/2 inch greased muffin cups.

4. Bake at 400F for 25 min. or until tops spring back when lightly touched.

Serve warm!


Blueberry Cheese Tart

Crust:
1 pkg Italian Amaretti cookies (100g), crushed
50 ml butter or margarine, melted

Filling:
1 pkg (250g) cream cheese, softened
1/3 sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest
1/4 milk
1 Tbsp flour

Blueberry Dessert Sauce:
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp water

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the Amaretti crumb with the melted butter and press evenly onto the bottom of a 7 inch springform pan. Bake for 8 to 10 min. until lightly browned. Cool.

2. Mix all the filling ingredients in a mixer over medium speed for about 2 min. Do not overmix. Pour mixture into baked crust and bake for 30 min. or until filling is well puffed. Cool on wire rack.

3. In a small saucepan mix all the dessert sauce ingredients together and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 min. until sauce thickens, changes to a dark purple colour and blueberries are softened. Cool and refrigerate in covered container until needed.

4. Refrigerate cooled cheese tart for about 3 hours or overnight and serve with blueberry dessert sauce!

Enjoy!


Meditate on the Truth

If we can realize and meditate on ultimate truth, it will cleanse our impurities of mind and thus eradicate the sense of discrimination.

by Dalai Lama