Blueberry Traybake
With a glut of British blueberries in the supermarket I decided to whip up a batch of something yummy mid-week. Both Serious Eats and Outsider Tart had recipes for an American style ‘coffee cake’ using blueberries. (Erroneously named – no coffee in sight, the idea is that it’s consumed with coffee). I combined the two and this is the result!

The cake mix has a sour cream base – this works beautifully with the sweetness of the blueberries and gives it a creamy lightness. The ‘streusel’ on top adds a light crunch and stops it becoming too bland. The touch of cinnamon makes the cake smell amazing. The only thing I’d change is to coat the blueberries in flour to stop them sinking so much.

Home-made Sous Vide Burger
With a barbecue pending next weekend, I was keen to sort out a really good burger – I got out the mincer attachment and made a mix that was mostly chuck steak, with a bit of ribeye thrown in. I aligned the strands, Heston style, sliced off the burger shapes and cooked it for 2 hours at 52 degrees before searing it. I made a ‘Fake Shack’ sauce, which is just mayo, mustard, tomato, gherkin, Tabasco, garlic salt and paprika. The result was amazing – really beefy, very moist and slightly crunchy from the sear. Next time out I’ll use a slightly different cut to add more fat – brisket has a lot of potential!