Ingredient

Blueberry

The blueberry is the sturdiest of the common berries. It travels, it keeps, it freezes without complaint, and it holds its shape in heat far better than a raspberry or a strawberry. It is also the blandest of them raw, which is why almost everything useful about it involves heat, acid or both.

The bloom is a good sign

The pale dusty film on a good blueberry is a natural waxy coating the fruit produces itself. It is a moisture barrier, it is why blueberries keep so much better than other berries, and it rubs off with handling.

A punnet of very shiny blueberries has usually been handled a great deal. It is not a fault, but bloom intact is a reasonable sign of fruit that has not been through too many hands.

Wash blueberries only when you are about to use them, for the same reason: washing removes the bloom and starts the clock.

Why they behave oddly in baking

Three common complaints, all with the same handful of causes.

They sink

Dense fruit in a loose batter. Tossing them in a spoonful of the recipe's flour before folding them in helps; a stiffer batter helps more.

They turn the crumb green

Anthocyanins go blue-green in alkaline conditions, and bicarbonate of soda is alkaline. Reduce the soda, or add a little lemon juice or buttermilk to the batter.

They bleed

Frozen berries bleed far more than fresh because the cell walls have ruptured. Fold them in frozen and straight from the freezer rather than letting them thaw.

They stay hard

Wild or very small blueberries have thicker skins and need longer. Cultivated ones burst readily.

They make the base soggy

Blueberries release a lot of liquid. A spoonful of cornflour tossed through the fruit in a pie thickens what comes out.

What actually makes them taste of something

Raw, out of the punnet, is the least interesting thing to do with a supermarket blueberry.

• Heat them. A pan with sugar and lemon for three minutes turns bland fruit into a proper compote. The flavour concentrates dramatically.
• Lemon. Blueberry has almost no acid of its own, and it is the single ingredient that makes the difference in a pie, a compote or a muffin.
• A pinch of salt, which does more for blueberry than for most fruit.
• Warm spice — cinnamon, cardamom, a scrape of nutmeg — or a bay leaf, which is unexpected and good.
• Roast them alongside pork or duck. They collapse into a sharp-sweet sauce.
• With thyme or rosemary, which sounds odd and works. The pairing is standard in North American cooking.

Storing and freezing them properly

1. Do not wash them until use. The bloom is doing a job.
2. Sort out any soft or split fruit on arrival, but expect far fewer casualties than with other berries.
3. Keep them in the fridge in a container with some airflow. Two weeks is realistic.
4. To freeze, spread on a tray and freeze solid, then bag. They separate cleanly.
5. Use them from frozen in baking. Thawed blueberries bleed and go slack.

Common questions