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Wild blueberries
"Is your bucket full yet?" asked my mother. She peered into my pail, which held an inch of small berries and six inches of air. I looked sheepishly at her. My blue lips, tongue and fingertips indicated a more abundant harvest than the contents of my pail.
"Let's try to get a few more berries in your pail than in your mouth," she scolded with a smile. Her lips were tinged with blue as well.
Our annual family outing to pick wild blueberries is one of the few clear memories I have as a preschooler. Each year, the first week in August, my mother would scrub our sandbox pails, march us up a trail, then plop us amidst endless acres of wild blueberries. I relished the day.
As the sun massaged my back, I gorged myself on the small, succulent balls that fell six at a time off the low bushes into my hand. Once in a while, I placed a few token berries in my bucket. Only when my bulging belly could hold no more would I pick berries for the freezer.
I've gotten worse as an adult, unable to save a single berry when I happen upon them in the backcountry. Wild blueberries are among Mother Nature's most delectable crops.
Low bush wild blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium) are different than the cultivated high bush variety in the grocery store. They grow in glacial soils, mainly in the northeastern United States and Canada. They are similar to bilberries in Europe and huckleberries in the West. Mid-summer, hikers often find them along treeless sections of trail, such as backcountry meadows, rocky ledges and near the alpine zone. Though they bloom, which produces the berry, they propagate mainly by rhizomes or underground runners.
Blueberries get their blue-purple color from anthocyanin, a plant-produced sunscreen that has potentially huge health benefits to humans. Foods containing anthocyanin, such as blueberries, cranberries and concord grapes, have been linked to lower incidence of cancer, aging and neurological diseases, diabetes and bacterial infections. While all blueberries contain this anti-oxidant, wild blueberries are particularly rich in it.
Wild blueberries differ from domestic blueberries in other important ways. The wild ones are smaller with lower water content, which contributes to their more intense, sweeter flavor. They freeze better, lasting two years or longer in the freezer, and they hold their shape and color better when you cook with them, assuming, of course, you get enough of the little darlings in your bucket. — Lisa Densmore
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World's Best Wild Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2½ cups wild blueberries
- 2 cups flour
Preheat oven to 375 F. Cream together butter and 1 cup of sugar. Add eggs, then milk, baking powder, salt, vanilla and lemon juice. Mash 1 cup of blueberries and stir by hand into batter. (Skip this step if the blueberries are frozen.) Add flour and the remaining blueberries, stirring by hand into the batter until just mixed. Distribute batter evenly into a greased and floured muffin pan or using paper muffin liners. Combine 1 tablespoon of sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle the mixture over the tops of the muffins. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool another 30 minutes and enjoy. Yields 12 muffins
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Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1½ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1¼ cups milk
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- ¾ cup wild blueberries
- additional butter as needed for the griddle or frying pan
- maple syrup, warm
Preheat the griddle or frying pan on medium heat. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center of the batter, then add milk, egg and butter. Stir until just smooth. Add the blueberries, gently stirring until the berries are evenly distributed throughout the batter. Place a generous dollop of butter on the cooking surface. After it melts, use a large kitchen spoon (approximately ¼ cup of batter) to place batter in the pan. Cook about 4 minutes or until air holes being to appear on the tops of the pancakes. Flip the pancakes and cook for about 2 minutes longer. Serve immediately with warm maple syrup. Yields 8 average-sized pancakes
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Wild Blueberry Jam
Ingredients
- 10 cups wild blueberries
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup water
- 5 cups sugar
- 1 package powdered pectin
- 8 sanitized 8-ounce canning jars with tops and rims
Wash berries removing all stems and leaves and drain in a colander. Place berries in a large pot. With a potato masher, crush the berries, reducing them by a third. (For smoother jam, crush the berries in a food processor or a blender, then place the berry mash in the pot.) Mix in pectin and ¼ cup of sugar. Add lemon juice and water. Bring to a hard boil, stirring periodically. Add remaining sugar and return the mixture to hard boil while stirring. Boil for an additional minute. Fill jars to within ¼ inch of the top, cover and allow them to cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator once open. Yields about 8 jars
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Wild Blueberry Pound Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, melted • 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups flour • ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon salt • 1½ cups wild blueberries
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients, except the blueberries, in a large mixing bowl. Gently stir ¾ cup of wild blueberries into the batter. Place half the batter in a greased and floured loaf pan. Distribute ½ cup wild blueberries over the batter in the pan. Place the remaining batter in the loaf pan. Put the remainder of the blueberries (¼ cup) on top and gently press them into the cake. Bake for 75 minutes. Yields one pound cake
