This year, I brainstormed what do I think of when I think of spring? And three things came to my mind:
Flowers
Bees
Berries
Very general, right?
I decided I would make a delicate, almond-flavored cake filled with blueberries and finished off with honey buttercream.
Here's the recipe for the filling.
Blueberry Jam
2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup + 3 Tbsp 100% blueberry juice
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
Dash allspice
Arrowroot powder? Whatever happened to gelatin or pectin?
Honestly, I just didn't have any gelatin or pectin. But what I did have was some arrowroot powder left over from some black forest cupcakes I made a while back. Arrowroot powder is typically used as a vegan alternative to gelatins. And let me tell you, it works.
Begin by bringing your blueberries and 1 cup of the juice to a bowl in a medium sauce pan.
Once boiling, add the honey and stir to mix it in.
Allow your mixture to boil until the berries start to look shrivelly. Much like your fingers when you've boiled in a hot tub for too long.
While waiting for this to happen, mix the remaining 3 tablespoons of juice and the 1/4 cup of arrowroot powder together. I suggest putting the juice into the bowl first then slowly mixing the arrowroot powder in. If you don't, it'll clump up at the bottom and make big, chewy blobs when you pour it into your otherwise nice, uniform jam. Once homogenized, add the mixture to the pot with the berries, stirring the entire time. If you don't, again, big gummy globs will appear. The mixture will begin to thicken immediately. Allow it to simmer for an additional 5 minutes, then remove from heat and store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. It will not be a wobbly brick of blueberry-studded jello. Rather, it will be a nice, slightly thick, spreadable jam.
