Saskatoon Berry Creations

I bought an ice cream pail of saskatoons at the Farmers Market this week, so I kept myself busy with lots of saskatoon-inspired desserts.  I made two crisps (one was just saskatoon crisp, and the other one was saskatoon and apple crisp), saskatoon cheesecake ice cream, and my very first pie from scratch!  Here are all the recipes:

SASKATOON PIE

3 1/2 - 4 c. saskatoon berries
1/4 c. water (next time I think I'd try red wine!)
2 tbsp. lemon juice
3/4 c. sugar
3 tbsp. flour
double pie crust (I used this recipe from Dinner with Julie)

Bring berries and water to a gentle boil for about 10 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, sugar, and flour and simmer until thickened. Pour into pie crust and place second crust on top (or make a lattice-top). Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 F and bake for another 35 minutes. Serve with whipped cream (I added a little sugar and almond extract to the cream).

I'm so proud of this pie!!

This was quite simple to make, and it was fabulous!  Here are a couple tricks I used to ensure the pie crust would turn out okay:

• Keep things cold - make sure your butter and shortening are very cold when you add them, and refrigerate the dough for at least half an hour before rolling it out.
• Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper - trust me, this will make things so much simpler!

SASKATOON CRISP
3 c. saskatoons
1/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. rolled oats
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. Fruit Crumble spices
1/4 c. butter

Coat saskatoons with sugar and lemon juice in a 8" round baking dish.  Combine remaining ingredients until they form a crumble, and spread it over top of the berries.  Bake at 375 F for 45 minutes.

The measurements in this recipe are not set in stone - feel free to adjust the amount of berries and sugar.    This dessert was perfect - there's really nothing better than saskatoon crisp!  (Although mixing in some peaches or rhubarb would have been a nice way to change up the recipe.  Next time!)

SASKATOON CHEESE CAKE ICE CREAM adapted from The Baking Beauties
1 1/3 c. saskatoons, mashed and strained
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
1 c. milk (I used 2%)
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/3 c. whipping cream

Add at the end:
2/3 c. saskatoons, whole
2 tbsp. graham cracker crumbs

Combine the first set of ingredients (except whipping cream) in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly until it comes to a gentle simmer.  (See note below before continuing.)  Remove from heat and refrigerate until cool before stirring in whipping cream.  Pour into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions.  A few minutes before the ice cream maker finishes, add in the whole saskatoons and graham cracker crumbs.  Transfer to container and put in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

*Note: I mashed & strained the saskatoons and only got about 1-2 tbsp. of juice, so while the mixture was heating up on the stove, I put the remains of the mashed saskatoons into a small saucepan with about  3-4 tbsp. water and let them simmer.  Then I strained that liquid into the ice cream mixture to give it a much deeper purple colour.  I let the ice cream mixture steam over low heat for a few extra minutes just to help evaporate some of that extra liquid that was added.

This is my new favourite ice cream!!  It was heavenly.

I still have about 9 c. of frozen saskatoons, so I look forward to trying out more recipes in the future.  If you have any suggestions, let me know!