Blueberry Topping

Blueberry Topping is a simple and versatile dessert-recipe building block – quick and easy to make, with a thousand uses.  Thick and juicy, with a consistency not unlike blueberry pie filling, brightened with lemon and warmed by cinnamon and nutmeg, it transforms anything it touches into something special.

It’s the easiest dessert formula ever:  take a relatively plain foundation (pound cake, cheesecake, vanilla ice cream) and top it with a simple sauce made from fresh fruit.   For example, strawberry shortcake, in which peak-season berries are sliced and macerated in sugar until they soften just slightly and produce a thin, flavorful juice.  Most types of berries can be given this simple treatment with delicious results.

Except blueberries, which need to be cooked in order to soften their thick skin and release their juiciness.  It only takes a few minutes on the stove to produce spectacular results — dark purple, sweet, and syrupy.

A cooked fruit sauce will keep longer than macerated fresh fruit – days as opposed to mere hours — making it much more versatile and convenient.  Another advantage is that the fruit you start with doesn’t have to be perfect.  If you have gorgeous farm stand blueberries in July, they’ll make a great sauce – but so will the February berries from the grocery store, and this sauce can bring a welcome taste of summer just when you’re thinking it will never come again.

(I do advocate eating seasonally, and locally when possible.  But eating local in Connecticut in winter would be limiting, so I don’t object to buying imported, out-of-season fruit to bring some color and vitamins to my plate.  I prefer imported fresh blueberries to frozen, since the skins of thawed frozen berries have a leathery texture that I don’t care for.  If that doesn’t bother you, then frozen berries would be a good alternative in the off season.)

This recipe makes enough sauce to top one standard-sized cheesecake or Cracker Pie, or to serve 6 to 8 as a topping for ice cream or cake or….whatever you like.  Depending on the flavor profile of your base, you may want to alter the flavorings in the sauce so as not to clash.  The cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon in the original version are great over vanilla ice cream, or on a cheesecake that’s flavored with lemon.  For bases with an almond profile, such as Cracker Pie or angel food cake, use this almond variation, below:

Almond Variation:

• Omit the cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon zest and juice.
• Add 2 tablespoons water with the blueberries in the first step.
• After thickening the mixture with the cornstarch slurry, remove the pan from the heat and stir in ¼ teaspoon of pure almond extract.

Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:

• Blueberry Topping can be served warm (nice over ice cream) or cold (a must over cheesecake).  If you’re going to serve it cold, make it at least 3 or 4 hours in advance to give it time to chill.  If you’ve made it ahead and want to serve it warm, heat it in the microwave or over medium heat on the stove until warm.
• The topping will keep for a week in the fridge, so make it ahead or use leftovers within that range.
• You can freeze this sauce, and it is nice to have a sauce like this at the ready in the freezer for impromptu desserts, as long as you don’t mind the way the texture of the skins changes after freezing (see above).
• If you have more Blueberry Topping than you need for whatever dessert you have planned, the excess makes a yummy breakfast dolloped over vanilla Greek yogurt and sprinkled with toasted sliced almonds or hazelnuts.

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