In wild blueberry country the blueberry plants are like a carpet on the fields and hills, a carpet of blue and green. The photo is courtesy of the Wild Blueberry Association of North America.

I have had the pleasure of picking wild blueberries - and who wouldn't want to pull the dusty berries off low-slung bushes like the ones above. Most of my picking, however, has been in Ontario where the season starts early - mid to late July and involves sweaty hours under the sun, an ear cocked for the rustle of black bears engaged in some berry harvesting, all the while swatting flies and mosquitoes. Blueberries picked under those conditions have incomparable flavour.

The Ontario harvest is tiny compared to berries gathered in blueberry fields in Quebec, especially the Lac St. Jean area, and in Atlantic Canada, notably around Oxford in Nova Scotia. In these areas the harvest is later, finishing in early September. While much of the blueberry harvest goes to frozen blueberries, wild blueberries have become more and more popular fresh in season, and for a price, consumers can dig into a bowl of wild blueberries - or sprinkle a few on ice cream or yogurt.

Blueberries, like apricots, take on another dimension when cooked - hence all the blueberry muffins, pancakes and handsome double-crust pies that are icons of Canadian home cooking. But wild blueberries, special in themselves, deserve a dish that shows them off - hence the Wild Blueberry Bundt Cake. 

It all starts with a bowl of fresh wild blueberries. 

 Wild blueberries tend to be small and intensely flavoured. 

Wild Blueberry Bundt Cake

Whether you're using one of the handsome decorative bundt cake pans, or a tube or angel food cake pan, this cake is simply a stunning looking dessert. The important aspect of the pan is the volume of batter it holds - 11 to 12 cups (3.75 t 4 L) are the figures that matter.

The finishing touch? More wild blueberries snuggled into the centre of the cake.

Let the eggs, orange juice and butter all come to room temperature before starting the cake.

Note that the butter and flour needed to coat the cake pan is extra to the ingredients listed below.

1 cup (250 mL) butter, softened

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided

4 large eggs, separated

1 tbsp (15 mL) finely grated orange rind

3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour

1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

1 cup (250 mL) fresh blueberries

Glaze:

1/4 cup (50 mL) granulated sugar

1/4 cups  (50 mL) orange juice

. Using a pastry brush and soft butter, grease a 10-inch (3 L) Bundt pan or angel food cake pan.

Soft butter is ideal for coating all the ins and outs of a decorative cake pan.

Sprinkle about 1/3 cup (75 mL) flour over inside of pan. Rotate the pan, tapping as you turn the pan until the entire surface of the inside of the pan is covered with flour. Turn pan over and tap smartly to remove caked flour and leaving the thin film of butter and flour over the entire surface of the pan. Return any excess flour to the flour canister. 

If when you tap out excess flour you find a spot that missed the initial greasing, use you pastry brush to lightly grease that spot; dust the area with flour again and tap out excess.

. In a large bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup (250 mL) of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, 1 at a time, then the orange rind. 

. In separate large bowl, and using clean beaters, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Beat in the remaining sugar, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time, until firm glossy peaks form. Set aside.

. In separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With wooden spoon, or mixer set a lowest speed, mix dry ingredients into butter mixture, alternating with orange juice, making 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of juice. The batter will be quite stiff.

. Stir one-third of the egg whites into the batter.  

To fold in, cut down through the centre of the batter, and bring your spoon back up along the inside of the pan. Your spoon should always be in contact with the batter while folding.

. Fold in remaining egg whites. Sprinkle blueberries over the batter; gently fold into the batter using as few strokes as possible.

.Scrape into prepared pan, pressing batter into the crevices; smooth the top. Tap the pan smartly on the counter to make sure the batter is well gets into all the pan's nooks and cranies. 

. Bake in the centre of a 350°F (180°C) oven until a cake tester or skewer inserted into centre comes out clen, about 55 minutes. Let cool on rack for 20 minutes to firm up the cake structure.

. Glaze: Meanwhile, in a small saucepan or in glass measuring cup in the microwave, bring the sugar and orange juice to the boil, stirring. Boil for 30 seconds; let cool. 

. Loosen cake from edges of pan. Place a rack over the cake pan; gripping the rack and pan firmly with potholder-proteced hands, turn the cake over and onto the rack. Let cool.

Just waiting to lift the cake pan to see if the cake is intact!

. With a pastry brush, brush glaze evenly over cake. Transfer to cake plate. If desired, fill centre with fresh blueberries - you will need about 2 cups (500 mL). 

. Makes 12 slices.

The glaze adds an appealing sheen to the cake - but if you're in a hurry, skip the glaze and dust the cake lightly with icing sugar.

It would be tough, stranded on a dessert island,  to have to limit myself to only 3 different kinds of jam. Choice 1 -  Summer Berry Jam with raspberries, strawberries and two other fruits such as cherries and red currants: Choice 2 - Ruby Red Grapefruit or Seville Orange Marmalade: Choice 3: Golden Plum and Apricot, edging out pure apricot by a nose.   

Last August, when both apricots and cheeky little yellow plums with a pinkish red blush arrived at the St. Lawrence Market I bought a basket of each and made my first batch of this combo. It was so beautiful, a warm golden colour with chunks of apricot and smooth background of plum, so magnificent in flavour, a blend of the perfumy apricot and tart plum, with a very appealing texture. Not the stiff set you get from purchased pectin, but a soft set, thanks to the pectin rich plums. This sort of preserve spoons divinely over croissants, bagels and cream cheese, ice cream, yogurt - you name it - even as a glaze for loin of pork or chicken, or a fresh fruit tart.

Beforehand Notes

. Heating the Jars: Before starting to cook your jam, place 7 (8 oz/250 mL) canning jars in the rack of a boiling water canner. (I also like to heat a few small canning jars in case there's not enough jam to fill one of the larger canning jars. I often add a small jar I don't intent to water bath so as to have a small "tester" I can store in the fridge and savour its contents within three weeks.) Pour in enough water to come about two-thirds of the way up the side of the canner. Cover, and when the jam has been boiling for about 5 mniutes, start to heat the water in the canner. By the time the jams is ready, the jars will be hot. Remove the jars with canning tongs and set upright on a tray before filling.

The canning tongs, centre, grip canning jars securely and are the one piece of canning equipment I deem absolutely essential. Hardware stores are a good source of canning equipement, including canning jars designed for holding preserves..

. Preparing the Lids: Always use new lids. Supplies are available in hardware stores and supermarkets. Place the lids in a heatproof bowl. About 5 minutes before filling the jars, cover lids with hot tap water. There's no need to boil them, or to heat the bands.

. Testing for Set: Place 2 small plates in the freezer before starting the jam. These are for testing the setting point of the jam.

. The Boiling Water Bath: 

. You need to boil all cooked jams in a water bath. This step, sometimes called "processing" pretty much a guarantee that your preserves, the ones you spend all that money and time  making, will last a year without spoiling. If you don't have a large blue speckled enamel water bath with specially designed rack that holds, lowers and raises the jars before and after processing, you can improvise with a large deep pot and a rack on the bottom that keeps the jars away from the intense heat at the bottom of the pot. The pot should be deep enough that there is an inch or two (2.5 to 5 cm) of boiling water over the top of the jars being processed. Space jars so that they do not touch each other.

Golden Plum and Apricot Jam

For the jam you will need to buy about 12 golden plums (1-1/4 lb/625 g) and about 20 small apricots, 1-1/4 lb (625 g). If buying fruit by the basket, check the fruit carefully as rainy weather in some fruit-growing regions has resulted in softer fruit that spoils quickly. When you get a basket of fruit home, remove fruit from the basket and set on a tray in a single layer. If the fruit needs a little more ripening time, leave the tray on the counter away from the sun. As soon as the fruit gives to a light touch, refrigerate and use as soon as possible. 

Note that the plums and apricots are not peeled.

4 cups (1 L) thickly sliced pitted golden/yellow plums

4 cups (1 L) quartered pitted apricots

1/3 cup (75 mL) water

1 large lemon

6 cups (1.5 L) granulated sugar

. Place plums, apricots and water in a large heavy bottomed Dutch oven. 

. Scrub and rinse lemon; roll firmly on counter to loosen juice. Squeeze out juice and strain juice onto fruit. Remove any seeds lurking in the lemon halves and nestle both halves into the fruit mixture.

. Place over medium heat and bring liquid to a simmer. Cover; reduce heat to low and cook very gently until the fruit has softened slightly, but is not mushy, about 10 minutes. Stir once or twice and peek as necessary to see that the liquid has not evaporated.

. Stir in the sugar. Increase heat to high. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard, stirring constantly, until the boiling jam appears less frothy, starts to clear and thicken, about 10 minutes. Now is the time to test for set.

. To test for set, remove jam from heat. Test by dribbling a small spoonful of jam on plate chilled in the freezer. Let stand for a minute; run tip of a spoon through the jam. If surface wrinkles, jam is set. However, if the surface remains liquid, return the plate to the freezer to reuse. Place jam back on the heat and boil, stirring constantly until a satisfactory set has been reached, always using the coldest plate for each test. 

. Remove from heat. Remove lemon halves and let cool. Stir jam for 5 minutes, skimming off any foam with a metal spoon. Squeeze any jam out of lemon halves; stir well into jam. 

. Using a funnel and 1/2 cup (125 mL) metal measuring cup, pour jam neatly into prepared jars (see below), leaving 1/4 inch (5 mm) headspace (canning lingo for space between top of jam and rim). Centre prepared lids on jars. If any jams touches the rim, simply wipe the rim with damp paper towel.) Screw on bands until resistance is met, then tighten to fingertip tight.

. Place jars in rack in canner. Add boiling water if necessary to ensure there's at least 1 inch 2.5 cm) over top of jars. Cover and bring to boil. Boil for 10 minutes. Turn off heat under canner and uncover. When boiling subsides, lift rack and remove jars using canning tongs. Let jars cool on rack.

. The next day, check that all the lids have curved downward - any that don't and aren't sealed properly are an extreme rarity if you've used new lids, canning jars and  been careful filling the jars. In this rare case, simply refrigerate the jam and use within 3 weeks.

Makes 7 jars, each 8 oz (250 mL) jam.

Good jam goes fast!

There's something very special about summer weekend mornings away from home. For me, it's at a cottage - but depending on where you live in Canada, the spot of ultimate relaxation could be called a chalet, a camp, acreage  - or a place in the country. What counts, is being out of the city, preferably by the water, breathing the proverbial fresh air and working up an appetite as your mind starts to focus on the day.

It's a time when you can give the high-fibre cereal a day off, and forget about the usual grab and go fare. Weekend mornings are the time to putter in the kitchen, make a batch of muffins, and once they're in the oven, put on a pot of coffee, pour some blueberries into bowls and sit down to visit - read the paper.  Or enjoy the view.

Nobody needs to be told that muffins are popular in Canada - even though we  love our doughnuts. But doughnuts are for getting in the car while muffins are about getting out an egg and milk, checking baking supplies and not worrying about getting out of your pyjamas...for a little while yet. 

The recipes I've chosen to showcase weekend muffins represent two kinds of muffins - the first , the Cherry Orange Muffins, make no pretense at being earnest - just fabulous to look at, and great to serve when there's company. The Honey Bran Muffins fall into the sort-of -health-oriented with bran cereal, milk and eggs. For neither recipes do you need to be a pastry chef to succeed - or require a lot of equipment, although muffin pans are useful.*

Another point to think about as you whisk up the dry ingredients.  Muffins may be the entry point into baking, i.e. easy to tackle, but in terms of appreciation and compliments, they rank right up there with fancy almond chocolate croissants. Hot from the oven with butter and honey, muffins have a knack of making most people weak in the knees - as they ask you to pass another one...or two. 

Cherry Orange Muffins

This recipe is a framework with which  you can indulge your talents for culinary improv. It calls for orange rind, juice and dried cherries. But, replace the cherries with blueberries, wild ones are best and they can be fresh now or frozen later and you have a whole new muffin. Ditto for dried cranberries or halved fresh or frozen cranberries, golden raisins or currants or chopped walnut or pecan halves. Or even chocolate chips if you so desire - but do call them cupcakes when you go that far. 

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar

2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder

1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda

1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt

1 large egg

1 tbsp (15 mL) coarsely zested or grated orange rind

1/2 cup (125 mL) each orange juice and milk

1/4 cup (50 mL) canola oil

1 cup (250 mL) roughly chopped dried cherries

Topping:

3 tbsp (45 mL) granulated sugar

1 tbsp (15 mL) coarsely zested or grated orange rind

. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease; set aside.

. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

. In separate bowl, whisk the egg until smooth. Whisk in the orange rind, orange juice, milk and oil. Pour over the dry ingredients; sprinkle on the cherries. Mix with a wooden spoon just until dry ingredients are moistened.

.  Scoop into prepared muffin cups. 

An ice cream scoop, or a "disher" as it's known in restaurant kitchens, is a neat way to scoop the batter evenly into muffin cups. A #16 disher, slightly heaped, fills typical muffin cups perfectly.

. Topping: In a small bowl, toss the sugar and orange rind together. Sprinkle equal amounts over the muffin batter.

. Bake in the centre of 375°F (190°C) oven until beautifully domed and golden, about 18 minutes. Let rest in the pan for 5 minutes for the still-delicate structure to firm up. Serve immediately, or let cool on rack. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, wrap individually in plastic wrap and enclose in airtight container and freeze for up to 2 weeks.)

. Makes 12 muffins.

* Instead of muffin cups, it is possible to bake the muffin batter like a snacking cake in a 9- x 9-inch (2.5 L) square metal cake pan at the same temperature, but for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester or skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Kitchen Tip: a large navel orange yields 2 tbsp (30 mL) coarsely zested orange rind and about 1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice. If there is not quite enough juice, simply add a bit more milk so that the liquid in the recipe totals 1 cup (250 mL). 

Honey Bran Muffins

There's no doubt that muffins taste better when hot. So, if you do make muffins ahead and store them at room temperature for a day or two, reheat in a toaster oven. If the muffins come straight out of the freezer, unwrap, cover loosely and microwave on high until steaming hot, about 20 seconds.

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) 100% Bran or All-Bran cereal

1 cup (250 mL) raisins, preferably golden or Thompson, or currants

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) buttermilk

2 large eggs

1/3 cup (75 mL) canola oil

1/4 cup (50 mL) liquid honey

2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla

1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar

1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking soda

1/2 tsp (2 mL) freshly grated nutmeg**, or ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp (2 ml) salt

1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped walnut halves

8 walnut halves, optional

. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners or grease; set aside.

. In medium bowl, stir together the cereal, raisins and buttermilk; set aside to soak for 15 minutes. Whisk in the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla.

. Meanwhile, in large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Pour bran mixture over dry ingredients; sprinkle with chopped  walnuts. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Stop stirring when the last of the dry ingredients meld into the batter.

. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling to top.

. If using walnut halves, cut in half lengthwise; centre one per muffin on muffin batter.

. Bake in centre of 375°F (190°C) oven until domed, deepened in colour and firm to the touch, about 18 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes; serve immediately or let cool on rack. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or, wrap individually in plastic wrap and enclose in airtight container and freeze for up to 2 weeks.)

. Makes about 16 muffins.

** So Why Use Freshly Grated Nutmeg?

Like all spices, nutmeg starts to lose its unique flavour as soon as it's ground or grated. To maximize nutmeg's aroma in a recipe like Honey Bran Muffins, I recommend buying whole nutmegs - sometimes still in their shells and wrapped in mace, but more often already shelled and ready to grate. A few years ago whole nutmegs were hard to find, but now they are available in Indian and West Indian shops, specialty food and bulk stores. They are worth searching out.  

Freshly grated nutmeg. Store the rest of the whole nutmeg, with the grater in an airtight jar in a cool dark spot in your kitchen.

Red currants and gooseberries provide the natural pectin that sets the jam.

When it comes to jam,a totally unprofessional poll indicates that red jams out sell jams of other colours. Take that peach jam, apricot conserve and blueberry spread! But other fruits can take heart - each makes superlative preserves, and while they may not get gold as the most popular pick, there are plenty of people who wait all year for apricots - and I count myself among them.

That said, last Saturday at the St. Lawrence Market, locally grown strawberries were the big seller. Yes, there were the first raspberries and red currants and gooseberries, but it was remarkable the number of flats of strawberries being carried off by shoppers. And I suspect, unless the market-goers were all having a few dozen friends over for shortcake, that jam was on their mind. 

Jam was on my mind too - a companion to the Seville Orange marmalade I make in the winter. In addition to strawberry, I also like to make one called Summer Berry Jam, but it goes by other names, Four Fruit and Jewel Jam are familiar. Luckily this jam is a little elastic in its ingredients, and while the mix you will find in The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook calls for red currants, sour cherries, strawberries and raspberries, the recipe works with the currants, both berries plus gooseberries. That's what I made on Saturday, as there were no sour red cherries at the Market. Both recipes follow.

A potato masher is the most useful for mashing berries, about 1 cup (250 mL) at a time. It presses out the juice, but leaves chunks that give texture to the finished jam.

Summer Berry Jam

Worth every minute you spend in the kitchen. This is the original, and very red jam. As a general rule, you need to double the volume of whole fruit to obtain the volume of crushed or chopped berries and cherries.

2-1/2 cups (625 mL) crushed stemmed red currants

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) chopped pitted sour cherries

3/4 cup (175 mL) crushed hulled strawberries

3/4 cup (175 mL) crushed raspberries

3-1/2 cups (875 mL) granulated sugar

. In large Dutch oven, combine currants, cherries, strawberries and raspberries. Bring to a boil, stirring almost constantly with a long wooden spoon. Reduce heat to low and simmer very gently, stirring fruit occasionally, for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

. Stir in the sugar; bring back to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring. Boil vigorously, stirring constantly until setting point is reached (see below), about 10 to 15 minutes.

A rolling boil is one that can't be stirred down. Much of the foam you see in the photo will disappear as the jam comes to the setting point.

. Remove from heat; stir well. Let jam settle; with a metal spoon skim off any foam around the edge of the pot. 

. Using a funnel and 1/2 cup (25 mL) measuring cup, fill prepared 1 cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch (5 mm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs and bands. Boil on rack in boiling water canner for 10 minutes. (See Canner Basics below).  Turn off heat and let jars stand in canner for 5 minutes for the boiling to subside. Remove and let cool on rack.

. Makes about 5 cups (1.25 mL).

Summer Berry Jam #2

The procedure is exactly the same, with the following ingredients: The jam is still very red.

2-1/2 cups (625 mL) stemmed, whole red currants

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) quartered, topped and tailed gooseberries

1 cup (250 mL) crushed hulled strawberries

1 cup (250 mL) crushed raspberries

Always include at least one smaller jar among the ones filled with jam. There may not be a whole cup (250 mL) to fill one of the larger jars, and the smaller 1/2 cup (125 mL) is perfect. Any more left over is for the cook and friends to enjoy on toast the next morning.

Strawberry Jam

What's very agreeable about this jam is that does not have a hard set so familiar in jams set with pectin. It's more like the confiture you find in a little pot beside your baguette and croissant in France (just dreaming). The familiar 1 L green punnets in which berries are often sold contain about 4 cups (1 L) berries.

8 cups (2 L) strawberries, hulled

4 cups (1 L) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (50 mL) fresh lemon juice

. In a wide bowl and using a potato masher, lightly crush 1 cup (250 mL) of the berries at a time; measure fruit to make 4 cups (1 L).

. In large Dutch oven, combine crushed berries, sugar and lemon juice; stir over low heat to dissolve the sugar. Increase heat to high and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring very often. Boil hard, and stirring often until setting point is reached (see below), about 10 minutes. 

. Remove from heat. Let cool for 5 minutes; with a metal spoon skim off foam from around the edge of the pot. Stir well. 

.  Using a funnel and 1/2 cup (25 mL) metal measuring cup, fill prepared 1 cup (250 mL) canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch (5 mm) headspace. Seal with prepared discs and bands. Boil on rack in boiling water canner for 10 minutes. (See Canner Know How below).  Turn off heat and let jars stand in canner for 5 minutes for the boiling to subside. Remove and let cool on rack.

. Makes about 5 cups (1.25 mL).

Setting Point

Before boiling the jam, chill 2 small plates in the freezer. To test, remove the jam from the heat. Drop 1/2 tsp (2 mL) jam onto plate and let cool. Run the tip of a spoon or your finger through the jam. If the surface wrinkles, the jam is ready to jar. If still syrupy, return plate to freezer and pan to heat. Continue boiling and testing every few minutes until a satisfactory wrinkle is reached, always using the coldest plate.

Canning Know How

. Check your supply of canning jars, ensuring that  you have enough new lids and that the jars are free of cracks and nicks. Grocery and hardware stores stock these in the summer. Be sure to buy enough to see you through the season into the fall and winter if you make marmalade.

. Wash, rinse and air-dry the jars. Set the lids aside in a bowl. Have the bands handy.

. Fill a boiling water canner about 2/3 full with water. Place jars on rack, , lower rack, cover and heat. The jars should be hot when filled but do not need to be boiled/sterilized. Time this heating to coincide with the time the jam is ready to be jarred. 

. A few minutes before filling the jars, pour hot, not boiling water over the lids to soften the sealing compound. Do not boil the lids or bands.

. I find a funnel with an opening large enough to let chunks of fruit through into the jars the most useful, as well as a half-cup (125 mL) dry measuring cup for scooping the jam into the funnel. Place the funnel in the jar. As you pour the hot jam into the funnel, lift the funnel to avoid messing the rim of the jar with the jam. Leave the headspace recommended in the recipes - usually 1/4-inch (5 mm) for jams. If some jam does get onto the rim, dampen a piece of paper towel and wipe the rim clean.

. Centre warmed lids on the jars. Screw on bands until resistance is met; increase to fingertip tight. 

. Return jars to canner. Lower rack and cover. Add additional boiling water if necessary to cover jars by at least 1 inch (2.5 cm). Cover and bring to the boil; boil for specified time, usually 10 minutes for jams.

. Turn off heat. Uncover and let jars stand in canner for 5 minutes.

. Lift up rack with jars. With canning tongs, transfer jars to rack to cool and set for 24 hours

. Check that lids curve downward. Refrigerate any that do not and use within 3 weeks. If you have followed the rules of new lids and intact canning jars, and respect the headspace,  it will be very rare indeed if a jar does not seal. 

. Wipe, label and store the jars in a cool, dry, dark place for up to one year. You can haul them out from time to time to gloat over the summer sunshine you have captured in your jams. And of course, you can eat the jam or give it away to favoured friends and family.