Summer Berries - cheesecake popsicle recipe !

I am glad to sit and take the time to write here. Life has been busy as it should be, but I was missing sharing my garden with you. In July I love to see the different berries maturing, we have black currants, raspberries and blackberries. Every day I can pick some for Chloe ( my 18 month old baby girl) and I collect extra to prepare some yummy treats like these popsicles for which I am about to share the recipe with you. 

It's really quick to prepare, just think that it has to sit in your freezer a minimum of 5 hours.

I harvested a bunch of different berries for this recipe but feel free to adjust quantities if you want to make more.

Summer Berries Cheesecake Popsicles

You will need: 

- 1 1/2  package of regular cream cheese

- 3/4 cup milk ( I used whole milk )

- 1/2 cup powdered sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

- 2 cups fresh or frozen berries ( I used a mix of blackberries, raspberries and blackcurrants from my garden)

In a food processor mix the berries together to obtain a thick juice, leave some chunks if you like, it could also be very smooth. 

Reserve the berry juice in the fridge and in a food processor or blender mix the cream cheese, milk, sugar and vanilla extract. 

Then you can start to fill your popsicle molds, I used Solo shot glass cups and mini popsicle sticks so I could make so many of them...

First fill it with the berries and then add the cream. You can also add some graham crackers like in this recipe.

Fresh blackberries and raspberries 

I like that the berries and cream are mixing together, these popsicles are so cute and so yummy !

I like to share these tiny treats with friends...

Enjoy !

u-pick farms and a simple fruit crisp

we recently spent an early morning at a blueberry u-pick farm. this is one of our favorite activities during the summer. we love spending time outdoors together at a local farm, picking gallons of berries to save for smoothies & desserts throughout the year. 

u-pick farms are much more affordable than purchasing a large amount of berries from the grocery store or farmers' market. we usually spend around $13 per gallon on u-pick berries versus the $26 per gallon at the farmers' market. it is also a wonderful activity to do with the entire family! we saw many families at the farm with each child holding a bucket while harvesting handfuls of berries.

when we harvest large amounts of berries, we usually only save a small basket of berries for fresh eating. we typically freeze the bulk of our berries. freezing berries is very simple. once the berries are cleaned, place them in one layer on a cookie sheet. place in the freezer & allow them to completely freeze. add your frozen berries to a plastic freezer bag & continue this process until you have frozen all of your berries! 

we also love a good, somewhat healthy fruit crisp. below is a favorite, simple recipe. you can use whatever berries you have on hand. raspberries, blueberries, blackberries & strawberries are all great choices. for this particular recipe, i used blueberries and strawberries.

simple fruit crisp

adapted from simply in season

6 cups of frozen or fresh berries

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

3 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons apple sauce

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup pecans or walnuts

preheat oven to 375F. mix berries together & pour into a deep pie dish. mix flour, rolled oats, coconut oil, applesauce, brown sugar, and nuts in bowl until mixture is crumbly. evenly sprinkle topping over fruit. bake in oven until the top is golden & berries are slightly bubbling, about 30 minutes. it might take a bit longer if fruit is frozen. serves 8.

backyard berries

is there anything better than stepping out your back door* and returning with handfuls of fresh berries?  i'm not quite sure there is. 

at our old apartment, we had a huge raspberry patch in the backyard and driveway.  enough to make multiple batches of jam and fill our freezer (with more than a few to spare for a tasty snack for a certain berry-loving dog of ours).  in fact, that raspberry patch is one of the things i miss most about that place.  our new home came with a very small patch of fall raspberries, but luckily our old landladies were kind enough to allow me to thin out their berry patch a bit last spring.  so i've been working to fill ours in.  slowly but surely transplanting about 10 plants last spring and another 10-15 volunteer raspberry canes that popped up in my community garden this spring and hoping, in a few years' time, to have enough for backyard jam.  raspberries transplant very easily and they spread pretty quickly too.  if you look hard enough, you probably have some friends or neighbors willing to thin out theirs come next spring.

until i have a great big raspberry crop, though, i'll be content with a few handfuls here and there to top of some ice cream or morning cereal.  (or, just straight in my mouth, if we're being honest here!)

how do you enjoy your berries?

{*full disclosure: the strawberries are actually in my community garden, so i have to walk a couple of blocks to pick those. close enough, though, i think}