Enjoy your Raspberries without any seeds

Since all my jellies start out as a bottle of wine I was very excited to find my Raspberry. It comes from the Chatham Hill winery near Raleigh, NC. Now don't get me wrong, I love fresh raspberries but I hate the seeds. Now I can enjoy all the flavor of fresh raspberries without having to grab the floss.

My raspberry wine jelly has many great uses so it was tough to pick one to feature but I finally settled on one of my favorites that I like to make for breakfast on the weekends. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

1/3 Cup sugar                                                    1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 Cup Cornstarch                                            1/2 Cup sugar
3/8 Cup cold water                                             3/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 oz Aunt Bunny's Raspberry Wine Jelly.      1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Cup frozen raspberries                                    1/2 Cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice                                 1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 Cup all purpose flour                                 1/2 Cup milk
                                                                            1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

In a saucepan over medium low heat, combine1/3 cup sugar, cornstarch and water. Stir until cornstarch and sugar have dissolved. Add jelly and stir until well combined. Add raspberries and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add butter and mix using an electric mixer on low speed until well combined.

Mix in egg, milk and vanilla.

Grease and flour an 8 inch round cake pan. Pour 1/2 of the batter into the cake pan. Spread raspberry mixture over batter. Top with remaining batter.

Bake 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean. Remove from oven and cool slightly before removing from pan.

Makes 6-8 servings

Blueberries are not just for muffins!

There is a family owned Vineyard in Albemarle NC called the Dennis Vineyard. They have a wide variety of wines but today I want to talk about their Blueberry. This wine is made from the best available blueberries. They do not blend their blueberries with any grapes so the wine is very true to the flavor of the fruit.

I use this wine when making my Blueberry Wine Jelly. I have been told it is better than Smuckers! So I know what your thinking - what do I do with Blueberry Wine Jelly. Well besides the obvious of putting it on toast, crackers or a sandwich, check out the recipe below courtesy of the Cookbook "Eat, Drink and have Jelly".

CORN AND BLUEBERRY SALAD

6 ears of corn; husks removed and cleaned
1 cup fresh blueberries
4oz Aunt Bunny's Blueberry Wine Jelly, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup red onion; diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro; chopped
1 jalapeño; seeded and minced
3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat grill to medium high heat. Grill corn until lightly charred on all sides. Allow to cool slightly then remove corn from cob.

In a bowl, combine corn, blueberries, jelly, red onion, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice and olive oil. Stir well to combine.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

Makes 4-6 servings

Blackberry Wine Jelly

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am Bunny Powers and I am the owner of Aunt Bunny's Gourmet Wine Jelly. I have 2 grown daughters, a husband and a beautiful 3 year old Granddaughter. I am an IT Manager by day and the creator of some really awesome jelly by night (and weekends).  I plan on spot lighting one of my jellies each week to let you know a little more about how they are made, where the wine comes from and what you can do with it besides the obvious of putting it on toast or a peanut butter sandwich. If any of you have a  favorite wine you can take a look at my website at www.abwinejelly.com and see if it is one I use. If it isn't and you would like to do a special order I can arrange for that as well.

I would like to tell you this week about one of my flavors called Blackberry. It is made from a wine from the Dennis Vineyard in Albemarle, NC. One of the coolest things about many of the fruit wines from Dennis is that they don't blend grapes into the mixture. Their Blackberry wine is made from pure blackberries. Because of this you get a taste that is truer to that fruit. When I turn it into a jelly you get the best of both worlds, jelly and wine. How often to you get to have wine with breakfast and not worry about a DUI on the way to work - ha ha.

My 3 year old granddaughter, Lila loves to put the Blackberry wine jelly on her pancakes instead of syrup. Now, I know what your are thinking, "You give your granddaughter Wine Jelly". Well of course I do - after all the alcohol all cooks out during the process of turning the wine into jelly.

Now if you want another idea of something to do with Blackberry Wine Jelly check this out.
We call this recipe "Blackberry Brie En Croute"

Ingredients:
1/2 sheet frozen puff pastry; thawed
4 oz. Aunt Bunny's Blackberry Wine Jelly
2 brie rounds; 4.5 oz. each
4 Tablespoons pecans; chopped and toasted
1 egg; slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400. On a lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry into a 16x10 inch rectangle. Cut into 2-8 inch circles. Spread 2 oz. of jelly over the top of each brie round. Sprinkle each with 2 Tablespoons of pecans. Press pecans into jelly.
In a small bowl, make an egg wash by combining egg with 1 Tablespoon of water.
Place the puff pastry circles over cheese rounds. Turn over and brush edges of the pastry with egg wash. Bring the edges of the pastry over the bottom of the cheese. Pinch to seal and trim off excess as needed.
Place rounds, sealed side down on a greased baking sheet.
Cut 2 slits in the top of the puff pastry to vent. Brush top lightly with egg wash.
Bake 20-25 minutes until deep golden brown.
Let stand 15 minutes before servings.
Makes 10-12 servings

Enjoy and we will talk again next week!