The compote works

The hill behind us here at Kinloch is full of blueberry bushes, but as they turn from tiny and green to larger and red, and my hopes rise that this will be the year that I'll pick them once they plump up and turn blue, almost overnight they vanish.

I really should know better by now. I fear that this year, again, I am fated to buy my supplies, secure in the knowledge that the local birds are very well fed on Kinloch's crop.

Fortunately for us we have Ian Brown, an architect by training who came to live in Skye some years ago and who grows berries – gooseberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and blueberries. Skyeberries (01740 582462) is the name of his business, and we impatiently await his fruit as the season approaches. When we first bought his blueberries, he apologised that, so far, he grew only four or five varieties – I was amazed that there could be more than that, but he told me there are some 125 different types.

Blueberries are highly nutritious, full of vitamin C and antioxidants. They change their identity completely when cooked. Raw, blueberries have a bloom to them and are – usually – sweet, making a perfect fruit for breakfast or at any other time of the day. Cooked, they lose their bloom and become much sharper of taste, so they need sweetening. This can be done using sugar, honey or maple syrup. They combine very well with brambles, raspberries and strawberries, and also with bananas.

I simply love blueberries, and eat them for breakfast most days. You will notice that in all the recipes this week lemon features as an ingredient – this is because it greatly enhances the flavour of the berries.

BRAMBLE AND BLUEBERRY COMPOTE WITH MAPLE SYRUP AND LEMON AND GINGER CRèME FRAÎCHE

This compote can be eaten warm or cooled. The lemon and ginger crème fraîche complements the fruit very well.

Serves 6

1lb/450g brambles

1lb/450g blueberries

1/4 pint/140ml water

4 tablespoons maple syrup

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

For the crème fraîche:

1/2 pint/285ml thick crème fraîche – buy reduced fat if you like, but for this I prefer full-fat

6 pieces of ginger, drained of its preserving syrup

2 tablespoons of the ginger syrup

finely grated rind of 1 lemon

Put the brambles and blueberries into a saucepan with the water. Cover the pan with its lid and cook over moderate heat until the juices run and the fruit is soft – about 10 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the maple syrup and finely grated lemon rind. This can be done a day ahead of eating. If you want to serve this compote warm, just heat it up in a saucepan before pouring it into a heatproof dish to serve.

Tip the crème fraîche into a bowl and fold in the ginger syrup. Chop the pieces of ginger neatly into even-sized small dice and fold them and the lemon rind thoroughly through the crème fraîche mixture. Serve this separately in a bowl, as an accompaniment to the berries or, if you prefer, divide the fruit between individual glasses and top with dollops of the ginger and lemon crème fraîche.

BLUEBERRY AND LEMON CAKE

6oz/170g butter

6oz/170g caster sugar

3 large eggs

6oz/170g self-raising flour, sieved

finely grated rind of 2 small lemons or 11/2 large lemons

8oz/225g blueberries

For the top:

3oz/85g granulated sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Butter a 2lb/900g loaf tin and dust it out with a scant teaspoonful of the sieved flour.

Beat the butter with the caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, alternating with spoonsful of the sieved flour, until all the eggs and flour are incorporated. Then, with a flat whisk, mix in the grated lemon rind and, lastly, the blueberries.

Scrape the cake mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the surface. Bake in a moderate heat, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for 35-40 minutes (it may need a bit longer than this – ovens do vary), until the cake is risen and just slightly coming in from the sides of the tin.

Mix the granulated sugar and lemon juice and spoon this over the surface of the cake while it is in its tin and leave to cool. The blueberries make great juicy splodges through the cake – slightly inelegant, but the effect, combined with the lemon, is delicious.

BLUEBERRY TART WITH RICH LEMON AND BISCUIT CRUST

SERVES 6

For the pastry:

4oz/110g butter, hard from the fridge, and cut into small bits

6oz/170g plain flour

2 rounded tablespoons icing sugar

finely grated rinds of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:

11/2 lb/675g blueberries

finely grated rind of 1 lemon and juice of 2 lemons

6oz/170g sugar – either caster or granulated

2 level teaspoons arrowroot (this is a terrific form of thickening – as it boils it clears, unlike cornflour which remains cloudy; it can be found in health food shops if you have difficulty sourcing it in supermarkets)

Put the hard bits of butter along with the flour, icing sugar, grated lemon rind and vanilla extract into a food processor and whiz to the texture of fine crumbs. Press this mixture firmly over the base and up the sides of a flan dish that measures about 9in/16cm in diameter.

Put the flan dish into the fridge to chill for at least an hour, then bake it straight from the fridge in a moderate oven, 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4, for about 20 minutes. Towards the end of this cooking time, should the sides of the pastry appear to be slipping down towards the base, scrape them back into place with a metal spoon and press against the sides of the flan dish. Bake until the rich pastry is golden and just slightly coming in from the sides of the dish.

Take the flan dish out of the oven, and allow to cool. The pastry base can be made a couple of days in advance. To store, wait until the flan is quite cold, then wrap the complete dish in a double thickness of clingfilm and return it to the fridge to keep chilled.

To make the filling, put the blueberries into a saucepan with the grated lemon rind and juice and cover the pan with its lid. Cook over a gentle to moderate heat until the juices run from the berries and they feel quite soft. Then stir in the sugar, and cook for a further 4-5 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the arrowroot in a cup or small bowl with some of the hot berry juices from the pan. Return this arrowroot mixture to the fruit in the pan. Stir, until the blueberries in their juices bubble and allow them to bubble gently for a minute.

Take the pan off the heat, taste, and add more sugar if you think it is needed – the sugar will quickly dissolve in the heat of the blueberries. Cool for ten minutes, then spoon the fruit mixture into the cooled lemon and vanilla pastry base, smoothing the filling evenly.

This is very good served with plain crème fraîche or whipped cream – but it is particularly delicious with the lemon and ginger crème fraîche from the first recipe.

Look for blueberries that are firm and dry. If storing, put them in the fridge, covered, for up to ten days.