Here’s another delicious blackberry recipe: Chocolate Blackberry Macarons. Blackberry, a summer fruit, is a nice change from the chocolate or raspberry fillings often found in macarons.

The recipe was developed by blogger Naomi Robinson of Bakers Royal, and contributed to Driscoll’s recipes. Visit Naomi’s blog for more delicious recipes.

Prep time is 30 minutes, cook time is 15 to 17 minutes, plus cooling time.

RECIPE: CHOCOLATE BLACKBERRY MACARONS

Ingredients For 24-30 Macarons

For The Chocolate Macarons

 
For The Blackberry Filling

A summer flavor for macaron lovers. Photo courtesy Driscoll’s.

Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 330°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

2. TRACE out 1 inch circles on parchment and set this aside as a “master copy.” Reserve two extra sheets of parchment and set aside.

3. PLACE egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer bowl and fit mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium low speed until egg whites start to form loose, translucent bubbles.

4. INCREASE mixer speed to medium and beat until meringue turns foamy and white and starts to resemble well-lathered shampoo, about 2 minutes. Increase mixer to high and beat until meringue holds glossy stiff peaks, about another 2-3 minutes. Turn off mixer.

5. PROCESS almond meal, powdered sugar and cocoa powder in a food processor and then sift. Add these dry ingredients to the meringue. Using a sturdy spatula fold and smash dry mixture into meringue against the bowl for about 20-25 folds.

Don’t worry about being gentle; the idea is to knock the air out. The batter should hold its shape when spooned on itself and start to slowly flatten out after about 15-20 seconds. Start checking the batter after 20 folds for readiness. Transfer batter to pastry bag and let rest for 20 minutes before piping.

7. GIVE each pan a quick hard tap against the counter, turn the pan 90 degrees and give it another quick hard tap. This will deflate any bubbles and prevent cracked shells.

8. BAKE for 15-17 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave meringue shells to cool completely on the pan. Shells will cleanly peel away from the parchment when ready.

9. MAKE the blackberry filling. Place water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir until sugar is melted. Transfer pan to wire rack to cool, 15-20 minutes. Once cooled, sprinkle gelatin on top and leave untouched for 1-2 minutes for the gelatin to bloom.

10. RETURN the pan to the stove top and over low heat stir the mixture until the gelatin bloom melts and mixture resembles the consistency of maple syrup. Remove from heat and stir the gelatin mixture into the blackberry purée. Transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 10-15 minutes or until the filling becomes thick and slightly sets.

11. ASSEMBLE the meringues. Pipe the filling onto one shell, place a second shell on top and repeat.

We love this idea from Spoonful Of Comfort: a soft drink turned into “ocean water.”

It’s not just for kids! Even adults like the Swedish Fish garnish; and they’ll especially appreciate it with a hit of vodka or other clear spirit.

RECIPE: OCEAN WATER

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. FILL a glass or mason jar with soda. Add spirit to taste.

2. Using an eye dropper, add one drop of blue food color. Stir. Add more color as desired.

3. Drop in a Swedish Fish. Serve with a straw.

[2] Why not grow these heirloom lemon cucumbers at home. Head to Burpee for the seeds (photos #2 through #5 © Burpee).

[3] These White Wonder cucumbers were a mutation. The seeds were then developed into this eye-catching variety, which happens to be extra-crisp.

[4] Check farmers markets for specialty varieties like the Armenian cucumber, shown here.

[5] Brown Russian cucumbers have a brown peel.

The different types of cucumbers are below, but we’re starting with a cocktail to celebrate National Cucumber Day, June 13th.

Hendrick’s Gin sent us a cocktail recipe called Cucumber Lemonade. We enjoyed both the drink and the garnish and thought: Why don’t we use more cucumber garnishes?

The Cucumber Lemonade recipe is below, but you can also use a cucumber garnish with:

 
Try adding a cucumber spear to these drinks, and you’ll have a crunchy snack to enjoy with it.

> The history of cucumbers.
 
 
RECIPE: HENDRICK’S CUCUMBER LEMONADE

Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the first three ingredients in a tall glass. Add ice.

2. TOP with sparkling water, stir gently and garnish with a cucumber spear or wedge.
 
 
CUCUMBER TYPES
 
You can garnish with any supermarket cucumber, but why not have fun and look for specialty varieties?

Add them to your salads, and serve them as crudités.

And check out the history of cucumbers.

Growers define cucumbers in five categories: slicing, pickling, burpless, space savers, and specialty.

 
There are nearly 100 varieties of cucumbers grown in most countries in the world.

Here’s your homework:

Go to a farmers market and look for specialty cucumbers. If you have a garden, check out the options and plan to plant at least one variety next year.

By the way: cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are a fruit, not a vegetable. They are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, which also includes watermelons, pumpkin, and zucchini, among others.
 

*Botanically, cucumbers, Cumis sativus, are fruits. They are members of the same binomial genus as cantaloupe, honeydew, Persian and other melons. The difference between fruits and vegetables:

Fact: Fruits are not necessarily sweet. Tomatoes are fruits, avocados are fruits, hot chile peppers are fruits, cucumbers and squash are fruits.

Because they aren’t sweet, people think of them (and classify them in recipes and in produce departments) as vegetables.

But by botanical definition, fruits have their seeds on the inside; the only exception is the strawberry.

With fruits, the seeds, or pits, are contained in the fruit’s ovary sac. True vegetables have no “pit” or seed sac.

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While several of us tried to determine the name of the company, we all agreed: These Pistachio Chewy Bites are good stuff.

Simple and nutritious, they’re a blend of roasted pistachios and dried cranberries, bound in a honey-like mix of two low-glycemic* sweeteners, agave and brown rice syrup.

The bites are small—2″ x 1-1/2″—but nutrient dense and filling. One is enough, really, although the serving size is two.

We’ve been enjoying them as an on-the-go snack, for breakfast and at tea time. We have afternoon tea at THE NIBBLE, and these snacks can hold their own with biscotti, cookies and other sweets we sample each day.

If you need a quick dessert garnish, you can dice the bars as a topping for cupcakes, ice cream or sorbet.

The only confusion is the name of the company, only visible on the bag in the logo. There’s no URL, no company name in the marketing copy on the bag.

We don’t have room for a photo here, but look at it.

Is it Seffon Farms? Selton Farms? Setton Farms.

It’s the latter. We had to Google it.

The line is certified gluten free and certified kosher by OK.

Learn more about Setton Farms, a California pistachio grower,

Buy the bites on Amazon.
 
*The glycemic index of table sugar is 60-65. The glycemic index of agave is 32, and brown rice syrup is 20. Honey is 58 and pure maple syrup is 54. Agave is 1.4 to 1.5 times sweeter than sugar and honey, so you don’t need to use as much.
 
  

We love burrata, and love it all the time since our local Trader Joe’s always has it in stock.

In this recipe from EatWisconsinCheese.com, burrata provides a different take on a fruit and cheese dessert. It’s more special than simply putting out a platter of cheeses and fruits, but not much more difficult.

 
> The history of burrata.

> The history of mozzarella.

> The history of cheese.

> The different types of cheese: a photo glossary.

> The year’s 30 cheese holidays.

> The year’s 80 fruit holidays.

While there isn’t yet a National Burrata Day, some burrata lover out there should make it happen!
 
 
WHAT IS BURRATA

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese, creamy and luscious, made in the Apulia region of Italy. The name means “buttery” in Italian. It’s a hollow ball of mozzarella di bufala, filled with panna, cream that contains scraps of mozzarella left over from mozzarella-making.

How Burrata Is Made

Small pieces of mozzarella curd are soaked in a bath of hot water and sea salt. The cheese is then cooked and stretched with a wooden spoon until the curds can be stretched to create a pouch. The pouch is filled with a combination of mascarpone cheese, ricotta cheese and heavy cream, and tied off with a knot.

Some cheese makers use different recipes, but the center is always a rich, oozing cream. When you cut into the ball, the cream oozes out.

In Italy, the cheese is packed into plastic bags with a bit whey to keep it moist, and the bag is tied with a fronds of an Italian plant called asphodel, a relative of the leek. The cheese is highly perishable, and the leaf is an indicator of freshness. As long as the leaf is still fresh and green, the cheese within is still fresh. Dried-out leaves mean a cheese is past its prime.
 
 
RECIPE: BURRATA & FRUIT

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. SCOOP granola into an individual bowl or onto a dessert plate.

2. SLICE fruit and arrange atop granola.

3. TOP with two quarters of a burrata.

4. DRIZZLE with honey and garnish with chopped pistachio nuts.
 
 
WHO INVENTED BURRATA?

This addictively good cheese was created by a mother (or father) of invention, in the Puglia region of southern Italy. Cheesemakers had curds left over from making mozzarella.

Somewhere around 1920 in the town of Andria, a member of the Bianchini family figured out how to repurpose the curds, and burrata was born. It was a local product, premium priced, and remained the delight of the townspeople only for some thirty years.

In the 1950s, some of the local cheese factories began to produce burrata, and more people discovered its charms. Only in recent years, thanks to more economical overnighting of refrigerated products, did we find it in New York City’s finest cheese shops.

It was love at first bite.

[2] Burrata: a shell of mozzarella with a creamy center (photo by Elvira Kalviste | © The Nibble).

[3] Burrata is delicious with prosciutto, and makes a dish of melon and prosciutto even better (photo © Chris Ralston | Wesual | Unsplash).

[4] Roasted beets and butternut squash with burrata and pepitas on a bed of arugula. Here’s the recipe (photo Facebook).

When we first wrote about burrata seven years ago it was hard to come by, made only in Puglia and flown to the U.S. The limited amount that was imported went straight to top cheese stores; the minute it appeared on store shelves, it was snatched up by burrata lovers on the prowl. (We knew what day of the week the plane set down.)

But that’s old news. Since then, American cheese makers have been making burrata, and much of it is just as delicious and creamy as the Apulian product.

Burrata works with sweet or savory pairings. In addition to fruit (figs, pears…any fruit, really), serve it as a first course, cheese course, light lunch or snack:

 
Once, at the end of a trade show, we were given several burratas to take home. We used three of them to top a pizza: a memorable luxury.

For breakfast the next day, we married the burrata with pan-fried slices of herbed polenta and sundried tomatoes, but it could just as easily have been fruit and honey.

The memories still resonate happily, whenever we pass a cheese case.
 
 

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