Blueberries: Classic or Cutting Edge?

Like a little black dress, Little Blue Dynamos adapt to every occasion. You can dress them up for a high-style finale or use them in homespun desserts. They can go classic or contemporary, hot or cold. They remind diners of summer farmstands yet have the appeal of a special treat. Pastry chefs know that blueberries play well with others, especially lemon, orange, almond, cassis, cinnamon, ginger and sour cream. And did someone say chocolate? Yes!

Heirloom desserts like shortcake and cobbler seem up-to-date when made with blueberries. It's like they came from Grandma's kitchen but from a Grandma with an eye for trends. Consider these fresh spins on old-time favorites:

Blueberry Cassis Shortcake: a split biscuit layered with fresh blueberries, blueberry-cassis sauce and Chantilly cream

Blueberry Cobbler: top sweetened blueberries with a cornbread or biscuit mix for a super-quick dessert

Blueberry Parfait: layer blueberries and blueberry sauce with pudding or frozen yogurt; and crumbled oatmeal cookies, granola, vanilla wafers or sliced pound cake.

Blueberry-Lemon Charlotte: Line molds with fat-free poundcake. Fill with a mousse of lemon gelatin, lowfat yogurt and blueberries. An elegant, skinny dessert to delight even diners not counting calories.

Blueberry-Nectarine Crostata: A rustic Italian farmhouse tart made with the All-American berry.

Blueberry-Apricot Pot Pies: The old-fashioned pot pie is today's hottest trend. Serve warm with an ice-cream option.

Saucy Blueberries: Keep this easy refrigerated topping on hand for spooning over cheesecake, ice cream, frozen yogurt, rice pudding or as a super-quick foundation for smoothies and shakes.

Blueberries can also be fashion forward. Contemporary pastry chefs are flavoring blueberry compotes with savory herbs like bay leaf; spicing blueberry sauce [Dessert Waffles with Spiced Blueberry Sauce] with black pepper; and serving Blueberry Lemon Shooters in shot glasses to respond to the trend toward mini desserts.

In the hands of a creative pastry chef, blueberries can inspire some head-turning desserts, like a Blueberry Basmati Rice Pudding topped with whipped cream and a scoop of blueberry sorbet; or Chocolate Blueberry Clusters served in paper candy cups, a clever riff on the familiar chocolate-dipped strawberry.

Featured Recipe:
Polenta and applesauce in the batter give Blueberry Upside-Down Cake more healthful credentials. Chef Scott Samuel demonstrates this recipe in this video.

Featured Recipe:
In this video demo, Chef Scott Samuel prepares a Chilled Blueberry Soup with Lemon Sorbet, an elegant and contemporary dessert concept. "lemon sorbet is excellent with the cold Blueberry Soup, but if you're purchasing sorbet, try lemon, mango or coconut. All good options," says the chef.