Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Orange Cardamom Blueberry Crostata


WooHoo! I done did it! Well---almost. You are looking at a semifinalist finalist (!) in the 46th Pillsbury Bake-Off®! Have you heard of this contest? It is probably the most famous cooking/baking contest in the history of cooking/baking contests. No lie. Take a look at this:




This year's contest is a little different from before....the public gets to vote on the recipes! Pillsbury actually chose 60 recipes in this round of Simple Sweets and Starters, but only 34 of us will get to go to the finals. One thing that hasn't changed is that the grand prize is still $1 MILLION. You heard right. I said $1 MILLION. Before I beg for your vote, let me tell you a little bit about my recipe.....


The theme this year is simple. We can only use a maximum of seven ingredients, two of which have to come from the Pillsbury list. Regular table salt, pepper, and water are free. Oh...and prep time is limited to under 30 minutes, not including baking or cooling time. Whew. Tricky stuff, but not really so hard.

One of my favorite Pillsbury products is the pie crust. Seriously, I always have a box or two in the fridge. I do know how to make my own pie crust, but I don't always have the time. Plus, it's a lot less messy to roll out a Pillsbury crust. I'm all for less messy....so that's what I started with.


Start out by softening the crust for a few minutes, just like the package says. Then roll it out onto a parchment lined baking pan. Oh...and set the oven temperature to 425 degrees.


Next, measure out 1/2 cup of Smucker's Orchard's Finest Pacific Grove Orange Marmalade Medley (Have you tried this stuff? Wow...it's so good!) into a medium sized bowl.  Then, stir in 2 tablespoons of flour and 1/4 teaspoon cardamom.


Blueberries might just be my favorite fruit....


Carefully fold 2 cups of fresh blueberries into the preserves......


......and spoon it all in the middle of the pie crust dough, leaving a 2" edge.


Next, fold the crust over the filling, pleating the dough as necessary. 


Slightly beat one egg yolk with a couple teaspoons of water and lightly brush it over the edges of the crust. A sprinkle of sparkly, coarse sugar is the finishing touch. Who doesn't like sparkly?


Bake the crostata for 17 to 23 minutes or until the edges are browned and the filling is bubbly. Cool for a least 30 minutes.


How's that for a quick dessert that is fit for company? I think you need to go vote right now, don't you? You can get a printable recipe and show your support by visiting BakeOff.com. You will need to register and there is only one vote per recipe. If you see another recipe you like, go ahead and vote for that, too. Voting is open until 11:59 a.m. CST on June 27, 2013. Feeling inspired? On July 4, you can enter your own recipe into the Quick Rise and Shine Breakfasts category.

Update: This girl is meeting the Doughboy in Sin City---I'll keep you all posted!

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