blueberry sour cream gratin

I had been promised twenty pounds of fresh blueberries and then my hopes and dreams of blueberry buckles, pies, jams and boy-bait all came crashing down when an obnoxious heat wave over ripened the blueberry supply, causing a sudden shortage for all of us blueberry enthusiasts. I moaned and I groaned and I sighed and slumped my shoulders dejectedly when I was told no blueberry pie! No blueberry cobbler! No blueberry muffins! No, no, no, no, no. I hate the word no. So I fitzed and fuzted around trying to pacify myself until I finally got my hands on some blueberries.

Just a pint, or two, or three, not the twenty pounds promised me then taken from me without so much as an apology from mother nature! Yes, I am bitter, very bitter about this one, you just can’t do that to a gal. And with all the grand plans of making blueberry studded goodies, I decided to do a plain-jane and gratin it. That’s right, I said gratin – didn’t think blueberry and gratin went in the same sentence? Well it does people! You’ve got the tang from the sour cream, the plump bursts of blueberries and the crusty caramelized sugar burnt on the top like creme brulee.

With five ingredients, five minutes of assembly and four minutes under the broiler this is one of the fastest dishes you can whip up for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert – I say it belongs in all meal categories. And suffice to say if I did get my promised twenty pounds of blueberries and made this first, I still would not be having pies, bluckles, scones or anything else but gratin, twenty pounds of blueberry gratin! It is the best thing I have ever done with blueberries.

Blueberry Sour Cream Gratin
Adapted generously from Classic Stars Desserts

There are lots of ways you can play with this recipe – swap the vanilla extract with almond extract, substitute the sour cream with crème fraiche, or even flavor your sour cream with lemon zest or for extra decadence add some vanilla bean; you can even use different berries – but it is perfect the way it is.

Don’t have a gratin dish? Just use ramekins and make individual servings, believe me, you won’t want to share.

1 pint blueberries
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Preheat broiler. Stir together the sour cream, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl. Spoon half of the sour cream mixture on the bottom of your gratin dish. Spread blueberries on top in an even layer. Spoon the remaining half of the sour cream mixture over the blueberries. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on top (Don’t worry about trying to push it through a sieve; it doesn’t work).

Place dish on a baking sheet, and slip under the broiler about 4-inches from the heat source and broil until the sugar is melted and turned dark brown, about 2 — 4 minutes.

Keeping: When you pull the leftovers out of the fridge it might look sketchy, but I can assure you, it certainly won’t taste like it.