How to make and photograph Blueberry Pancakes

A few years ago a friend gifted me a blueberry plant, and this year we've had a nice little pick from i. I've been guilty of eating them straight off the bush. But I thought what better way to celebrate the blueberries summer goodness than with Blueberry Pancakes with cream and lemon curd.

 I saw a recipe in a foodie magazine, but I adapted it slightly. It is such an easy recipe and the lemon curd adds a little zing. So here is my recipe for how to make Blueberry Pancakes with lemon curd.

First off just make your pancakes using your favourite recipe. I used my pikelet recipe. 
So easy to remember - 4 tablespoons of self-raising flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 egg, and half a cup of milk. Do you see the formula? 4, 2, 1, and a 1/2.

 For the lemon curd recipe, I used a variation of my lemon meringue pie filling recipe, but used about half these amounts - 

2/3 cup lemon juice, 
3/4 cup white sugar, 
1/3 cup cornflour, and 
1 cup water. 

Combine all in a saucepan and stir till smooth. Stir constantly over a medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and quickly mix in 55 grams (2oz) butter or margarine till completely melted. Cool. 

To serve stack your pancakes in individual serving plates. Dollop on some lemon curd, a spoonful or so of thickened cream, and blueberries. Dust lightly with icing sugar. Yum!

 In case you were wondering the food images you see here were taken in RAW and the settings I used were - F 5.6, ISO 100, 1/13 sec exposure, 100mm macro lens, DSLR camera mounted on a tripod with a plug in shutter release. A little processing in Lightroom.  I chose a blue checked tea-towel to team in with the blue edging of the plates and the blue blueberries.  Take shots vertically and horizontally, review and move things about a little, and don't be afraid to crop the plate!

 As you can see below I just set the blueberry pancakes up on my kitchen bench which has a fairly neutral top. I set up a white card opposite the light to bounce light back in on the opposite side. The bounce card is white "foam core" card which you can buy in a framing shop.
 

Recently I finally bought myself a light for photography - you can see it set up above. I LOVE natural window light and that is my preference, but there are times as a food photographer where you might not have natural light. I have been looking and researching for a long time and finally came up with this LED light which I think will suit my purposes. It is a Edgelight LED light. 

This is a continuous light which is what I was looking for, as you can see straight away what your set up looks like lit. It has variable brightness adjustments and adjustable temperature from amber tungsten 3200k to white daylight 5600k. The light itself is thin, and the lights instead of being directed outwards, are directed inwards and diffused through the front, which means there is no harsh light on the product, and can also be used for portrait photography without the subject having to squint into a bright light. It comes packed flat in a portable padded carry bag. In addition you will need to purchase a light stand to mount the light. It runs on batteries or can be plugged into mains power.  

 The one I bought is a 52cm round panel which cost nearly $1,000.00 Australian, so not cheap. But there are smaller cheaper options. There are different styles available, and even one that can be mounted on to the top of a DSLR camera. I bought mine in Perth, but here is a link so you can look into it further - Protog - Edgelight
and here are a couple of little videos I found on the web - YouTube - Flapjack LED light 
and   You tube - Behind the Scenes

On the same day I made the blueberry pancakes I made these ones topped with crushed nuts and cream, and drizzled with caramel sauce. I had fun trying to drizzle the caramel sauce and take the picture at the same time. A remote shutter release will help you with this. The advantage of a remote shutter release is that there is no movement of the camera when you press the shutter, which is important if taking images in low light with a slower shutter speed.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed this post. Do you like blueberries? Do you have a favourite blueberry recipe? Perhaps you'd like to share it in the comments. 

Natural light outside under my patio

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday 
Life Thru the Lens 

Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard

Apple roses - easy and delicious dessert

I don't know if you have seen the little video that this trolling around Facebook at the moment for little Apple Roses.

 I've been seeing it pop up now and then over the last few months. They looked so delicious and easy to make. A couple of weeks ago we had some friends coming to our house for lunch so I decided Ito stop procrastinating and make them! They were a hit with our guests.

I'm not sure how to upload the little how to video - but please go to the link from Just Eating Real Food - Apple Roses - I hope it works for you ok. 

They were fun and easy to make and used very few ingredients. They were a bit fiddly to make so allow 1 hour preparation time. 

And here is the recipe - 

2 red applies - half and core - I used Pink Lady apples - and cut into thin slices. 
Put into a bowl of water with juice of half a lemon. Microwave for 3 minutes. 
Drain water.
Put 3 tablespoons of apricot jam with 2 tablespoons of water into a small bowl, and microwave for 1 minute. (You could try other sorts of jam too)
Thaw 1 or 2 sheets of puff pastry. (1 sheet will make 6 rolls, 2 sheets 12 rolls)
Roll the pastry out thin and cut into 6 strips.
Spread with jam. Place slices of apple on one half of the pastry strips. Sprinkle with cinnamon. 
Fold over the other half of the pastry strip and roll into rose shapes.
Put into muffin tin. (I put squares of baking paper into each muffin hole first).
Bake at 375F or 190C for 40-45 minutes. (I brushed over a little melted butter before cooking)
Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve. Enjoy! 

Do you have the grandies coming over to stay? I am sure they will love helping you make and eat these!   Usually I would do a bit better with my food photography styling, but everyone was waiting to eat!

  Last night I went to the first of four Spanish cooking classes conducted by my Spanish  friend Montse. We made two Tapas -  Potato Tortilla Espanola, Mushrooms with garlic and lemon sauce and finished with Churros. Oh my goodness those Churros are so delicious! and easy to make. Now I just have to find the little machine needed to push the mixture through. 
I'm looking forward to next weeks lesson. 

Have you a little easy recipe you enjoy making or been to cooking classes? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in the comments. Montse says the most important thing for the Spanish is to enjoy the food with friends.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday

Lifestyle Fifty Monday Linkup 
Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Worth Casing Wednesday
What's It Wednesday

Summer fruit sorbet

Have you ever made sorbet? I hadn't until the other day. 

I saw the food magazine - "Taste Summertime" -  on the shelves in the newsagent a couple of weeks agao and was attracted to the summery image of sorbet on the cover - yes covers do sell, because I bought the magazine, and made the recipe! 

Making the sorbet was a little fiddly as it was made in four parts over 2 days, but I think the result was worth it. The ingredients are super simple, you just need to be a little organized. Easy but fiddly but yummy! 
They served theirs in little white dishes with ice-cream sticks - think "summer beach days". I decided to serve mine in cocktail glasses for an elegant dessert.

 Please click on "read more" to keep reading and seeing more pics!

Lemon tarts for Mosaic Monday

This year I have been exploring food photography, and along the way I have been inspired by many wonderful food photographers on the web that I have found through Mosaic Monday and Flickr. I have learnt so much from these photographers.  Thank you also to Dario in Sydney for his food photography blog and critiques at - Food Pixels.com

So, with thanks to one of my favourite "foodies" - "Tartelette" for the recipe (and her amazing book on food photography - From Plate to Pixels - here is her link - Tartelette) here are lemon tarts I made last Thursday for my Dad for his birthday dinner.  First I had to go to the shop to by the little tart tins.

The pastry is a sweet short crust pasty (the most fiddly bit), with a simple lemon filling, with lemons straight from my lemon tree. I have never made this lemon tart before - they were delicious. 

and some beautiful yellow daisies from my garden. They are guaranteed to flower just about all year round.  In a cute little jug I brought recently from a garden shop.

I hope you have enjoyed my exploration of the lemon tart. I am linking up to Mosaic Monday - to see the work of Mary of other wonderful contributors - please click on the link here - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House