Catching Up... (Krause Berry Farms, Langley, BC)

Since I didn't post much this summer, and in light of the downpour of rain the past two days, I'd thought I'd relive the excellent time we had berry picking at Krause Berry Farms in Langley. I've heard about Krause Berry Farms ever since I worked across the water in Maple Ridge. I'd heard about their mountainous pies, their fresh produce, and all the agri-tourism they had at their farm. Little did I know, though, how busy they actually got!





Krause farms offers something for everyone - there's a small petting zoo including a miniature horse (and a donkey that spits! some kids that were bugging the donkey while were there found out first hand. :). There is also a small refreshment stall selling scones, smoothies, and other beverages. We sampled a blueberry scone while waiting for the weather too cool down a bit, since we got there earlier in the afternoon. While other bakeries have scones with a couple pieces of fruit sprinkled on top or mixed into the dough, Krause Farms loads it up with a filling of berries - yum!



At the time we went (mid August), the strawberry season had ended, and could choose from blueberries or blackberries to pick - if I remember correctly, we were charged $1.60 per pound and the service everywhere on the farm / premises were excellent. Yes, there were a lot of high school and university students, but these kids were dillegent, professional, and well spoken. One person who stuck in particular was Zack - he told us about how line ups generally go out the door on busy days (totally believable! - I've heard stories about people getting into fights over their beautiful pies!). He also helped us out the door with all our purchases - two custard pies, a flat of blueberries, a flat of blackberries that we picked ourselves, bakers dozen of corn, and a bag of Krause farms' "corn nuggets". It was kind of like a home-made version of corn puffs!



The blackberry picking was wonderful - the field was well marked, and there were tons of magnificently sweet berries hiding under leaves and that other pickers had missed. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves. We shared some with family, and rinsed and dried our take before freezing them on shallow trays. I *know* that I'll appreciate the work once January / February rolls around and we can snack on berries from the freezer...you know, if they make it that long. :)

The piece de resistance were the custard pies. One may ask, what could possible be so interesting about a pie?

Well, Krause does not make any ordinary pie (I still want to go back for their pumpkin, blueberry, and peach pies!). I'll just let the photos speak for themselves, although they do not do the actual pies any justice.




We're talking a flakey crust topped with a sweet custard and piled (mile) high with a mountain of fresh strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, then topped with a berry glaze. Looking at the photos again, I have a real hankering for more pie. It was just that good!

Although the blueberry and blackberries are no long in season, Krause Berry farms is currently still selling (everbearing) strawberries, fall raspberries, and pumpkin pies, just in time for the fall season!



Krause Berry Farms

6179 - 248 Street [map]

Langley BC

P: 604-856-5757

Recipe: Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

This is rich stuff. Although we were full from dinner last night, we helped ourselves to some dessert at home in celebration of Ms big birthday. I love you baby!



I took some inspiration from OneOrdinaryDays' recent Daring Bakers blog about valentino cake accompanied by strawberry cheesecake ice cream, and adapted it to make some blueberry cheesecake ice cream.

Boy, was I glad I did!!!!

I borrowed my mothers manual Donvier ice cream maker and I have to say, it is definitely a great recipe for manual ice cream makers!!!

The cream cheese had a higher freezing point than the half & half and cream that I used, making for a nicer texture and churn. Food Technologists use terminology like "overrun" to describe and calculate the amount of air that is incorporated in the churning process.

While different regulatory standards (pdf) (i.e. milkfat / m.f. solids) define the different types of frozen treats (ice cream, ice milk, frozen yogurt), the different quality of ice cream is defined by the amount of overrun. Typically, the more overrun, the lower quality of ice cream.

I can tell you, the ice cream that I made would definitely fall into the "ice cream" category (tons of milk fat. yum!). And as for quality? M appreciated the birthday wishes and the gesture!

Ingredients
1/2 cup half & half
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg

1 250g container of Philadelphia spreadable cream cheese, softened
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Method
In a small bowl, beat together sugar and egg. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the half and half over medium-low heat until tiny bubbles start to form. Temper the egg mixture by adding a couple tablespoons of the hot cream to the egg, and mixing until incorporated. Slowly add the remaining hot cream and mix until uniform.

Return the mixture to the small saucepan, and heat over medium-low heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Cool down the mixture by plunging the bottom of the saucepan into a cool water bath and stirring the custard mixture. Transfer to refrigerator.

One hour later, beat the softened cream cheese in a food mixer until fluffy. Mix in cooled custard mixture. Mix in whipping cream. (Mixture will be lumpy.)

Pour mixture into ice cream machine; add blueberries on top, sprinkling to disperse. Process according to machine manufacturer instructions. Transfer to a suitable ice cream tub, and freeze overnight.

I served two quenelles of the ice cream (formed and froze them ahead of time) with a ginger snap, a candied hazelnut, and some of the sugar that I had formed ahead of time.

While the recipe was delicious, next time I would use less sugar (1/3 cup) and perhaps use a light cream in place of the half and half. Look forward to making this again!!!



More photos at my flickr photoset.