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My almost 2-year-old granddaughter is here visiting us in Maine, and it’s such a joy to watch her discover a New England summer. She loves to swim, help me cook, take walks and listen to bird songs, but the activity that seems to captivate her the most is picking raspberries from the rambling bushes that line the outside of our garden. “Berries! More berries!” This is a long, complete sentence for her and one that makes me smile every time. There are so many berries this year, and her little fingers seem to be able to find the ripest, most red-purple berries on the vine. One goes into her mouth and one into the bowl for making muffins, pancakes, cakes and sprinkling over our morning yogurt.

The blueberries are just beginning to morph from green to their stunning purple-blue and August means blackberries will be ripe any day now.

The berry pancakes are a great start to any day, but they are particularly good for a lazy summer weekend morning. The berry cake is so simple that my granddaughter helped me mix the batter and pour it into a springform pan, and it was ready in about an hour. “Cake! Yummy!” And one very humid night last week, I made a raspberry panna cotta, a cool, refreshing Italian dessert that shows off our raspberries beautifully.

Find a local farm that offers pick-your-own (PYO) berries and make some pancakes or cake, or freeze them for later in the season when you’ll wish your family was still visiting and it was still berry time.

Buttermilk berry pancakes

Summer weekends were made for these fluffy buttermilk and berry pancakes. Top them with Greek-style yogurt, more berries and maple syrup. You can use any fresh berry or a combination of berries.

Serves 4 to 6.

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Ingredients 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, or 1 cup flour and 1 cup almond flour
• Heavy pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar or maple syrup
• 2 medium eggs
• About 1 ½ cups buttermilk *
• 2 tablespoons melted and cooled butter, plus about 2 tablespoons butter for the griddle
• About 1 ½ cups berries (blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries, blackberries or a combination)

Toppings:

• About 1 to 2 cups mixed berries
• Maple Syrup
• Greek yogurt

*If you don’t have buttermilk, place 1 ½ cups milk into a bowl and stir in 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice or cider vinegar. Let sit for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
2. Make the batter: in a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add the sugar (or maple syrup) and eggs and whisk until incorporated. Add the buttermilk and the 2 tablespoons of melted butter and mix until just smooth; a few lumps won’t hurt the pancakes. Gently fold in the 1 ½ cups of berries just before making the pancakes and not ahead of time or it will alter the batter.
3. Melt one tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet or griddle and when it’s bubbling add about ¼ cup pancake batter, and repeat with a few other pancakes, making sure not to crowd the skillet or griddle. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown and bubbles form and then gently flip over. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter. Keep the pancakes warm in the oven.
4. Serve hot with the toppings on the side.

Mixed berry cake

This is the simplest of cakes, a quick and easy batter mixed with an assortment of fresh summer berries — raspberries, blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. The entire cake takes about an hour to make. It can be served lightly dusted with confectioners’ sugar and surrounded by more fresh berries or served with vanilla-scented whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Serve for breakfast, a snack, or dessert.

Serves 6 to 8.

Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
• 1 ½ cups (180 grams) cake flour, plus extra for flouring the pan (you could substitute all-purpose flour but it will result in a denser cake)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• 4 ½ cups mixed fresh berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and/or blackberries)

Garnish:

• Confectioners’ sugar, whipped cream or ice cream
• 2 cups mixed berries
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Instructions

1. Butter and flour a 10-inch springform pan with a removable bottom. Shake out excess flour; set aside.
2. With an electric hand mixer or KitchenAid, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add 1 ¼ cups of the flour and the baking soda, and place the remaining ¼ cup flour in a medium size bowl and set aside. Gently mix the cake batter until just incorporated.
3. In the bowl with the remaining ¼ cup flour, gently stir in the berries. Gently fold the berries and flour into the cake batter and mix by hand until just incorporated.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan (the batter will be quite thick). Place the cake pan on a cookie sheet and place on the middle shelf of the preheated oven. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the edge of the cake begins to pull away from the sides. Let the cake cool to room temperature and then release the sides of the cake pan. If the cake sticks at all, run a flat kitchen knife around the edges to loosen the cake.
5. Place on a serving plate and sprinkle the top with confectioners’ sugar sifted through a small sieve. Scatter the remaining berries on top or along the sides.

Raspberry-lemon panna cotta

Panna cotta literally translates to “cooked cream.” It’s an ideal summer dessert, particularly when paired with a fresh berry puree. Ideally, panna cotta has time to sit in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to two days. It couldn’t be simpler: cream is simmered and then mixed with very little sugar, lemon peel, vanilla extract and unflavored gelatin. Individual ramekins are lined with a quick raspberry puree, and the panna cotta mixture is placed on top. That’s it. Chill. Unmold, and you have a gorgeous, refreshing dessert or snack.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

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The raspberry puree:

• 1 ½ cups raspberries, or black berries or strawberries or blueberries
• ½ cup sugar

The panna cotta:

• 2 cups heavy cream or 1 ½ cups heavy cream and ½ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 strips lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) powdered unflavored gelatin
• Six 4-ounce ramekins or one 24-ounce soufflé dish
• Arrange six 4-ounce ramekins or one large 24-ounce souffle dish on a small tray and set aside.

Instructions

1. Make the berry puree: Mix the berries and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the berries break down. Remove from the heat. If using blueberries or strawberries, place the mixture through a fine sieve and cool until ready to use. Raspberries and blackberries can stay whole and don’t need to be strained since the heat breaks them down. If you object to raspberry seeds, you can strain the puree through a fine sieve.
2. Make the panna cotta: In a medium saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat until it just begins to simmer. Once the cream simmers, remove from the heat and add the sugar, lemon peel, and vanilla.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix the gelatin and 3 tablespoons cold water and stir until it’s a smooth thick paste. Whisk the gelatin mixture into the cream mixture, whisking until completely smooth. Place a fine sieve over a bowl or measuring cup and strain the panna cotta mixture.
4. Add a heaping tablespoon of the berry puree to each of the ramekins or about ½ cup of the puree to the bottom of the large souffle dish. Divide the panna cotta mixture on top, filling the ramekins a little more than half way or pour it into the large souffle dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place the tray with the ramekins in the refrigerator. Chill for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
5. To serve: Use a flat kitchen knife and run it around the edge of the panna cotta, loosening it from the ramekins. Place a small serving plate on top of the ramekin and carefully flip it over. Tap on the bottom of the ramekin with a kitchen knife to release the panna cotta. Serve cold.
6. Serve any remaining berry puree on the side; it’s also delicious spooned over yogurt, ice cream. Or toast.

More favorite berry recipes:

• Berry galette
• Blueberry lemon tea cake
• Berry muffins

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

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