Let me lay out some facts for you:

My bed has an electric blanket on it this winter.  My fears of spontaneous combustion are usurped by my complete inability to actually get out of my warm bed.  

Yes… I’m totally writing this from bed.  Try and stop me.  This cozy just won’t quit. 

I have exactly zero interest in turning on my oven for the next week… mostly because my oven isn’t in arms length of my bed.  I really don’t want to get out of bed.  

Yes… I’m talking a lot about my bed right now.  Maybe I’m obsessed.  Maybe this is unhealthy.

But!  There is one reason I’m getting out of bed tomorrow.  Vacation.  Holy hell!  I’m going on vacation!  I’m going to a gorgeous spa/ bed and breakfast situation in San Luis Obispo… all by myself.  There’s a bathtub.  Not just any bathtub… but a soaking tub… next to a fireplace.  Oh.  My.  God.  I only plan on leaving that soaking tub in an extreme prune state.  

If you’re in San Luis Obispo and you think you can lure me out of my soaking tub… we should totally have lunch!

Before all the soaking begins… here’s a deep purple Blackberry Granita.  I suggest eating in in bed, under the covers, while watching your third Netflix romantic comedy.  Don’t worry.  No judgements.  This granita just tastes better that way.  

This recipe was inspired by two things:  the need to put a stop to my Christmas cookie binge, and my desire to have a dessert without actually having to turn my oven on.  

The result is surprisingly comforting.  Sweet blackberry ice combined with lightly sweetened soft whipped cream.  It’s uncomplicated, refreshing and simply delicious.  

Blackberry Granita with Whipped Cream

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3 cups water

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 heaping cups frozen blackberries (un-thawed)

juice of 1 lime

2 teaspoons vodka (optional)

whipped cream (sweetened as much as you like)

In a medium saucepan heat water and sugar until sugar dissolves.  Add frozen blackberries and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes over medium heat.  Stir to break blackberries up a bit as they cook.  

Once blackberries are broken and cooked, place half of the blackberry and liquid mixture in a blender.  Pulse and blend until a berries are broken down into a puree.  Place a fine mesh strainer over the pot containing the other half of liquid and berries, and strain the puree into the pan.  The end result is berry pieces, whole berries, blackberry liquid and the juice from the puree.  

Add lime and vodka (is using).  The vodka helps the mixture not freeze so solid, but is not entirely necessary. 

Place mixture into a 9×13-inch pan and place in freezer.  Set timer for 1 hour.  After 1 hour, scrape any ice crystals that have formed towards the center of the pan.  Set timer for another hour and again scrape the ice crystals towards the center of the pan.  Continue until all of the liquid has formed ice crystals.  

Serve with soft whipped cream.  Yum!

I’ve been struggling for the past few hours with what to tell you in conjunction with these Blackberry Pie Bars.

I thought maybe we could talk about how I’m still totally dragging my feet about going to my ten year high school reunion.  No… that’s been done.  Boring.

Maybe we could talk about how I sat around a campfire with Andrea Zuckerman… a character from that show Beverly Hills 90210, but that was actually just a dream I had last night.  Not real.

We could chat about the weather?  Seen any good movies lately?

No?  Ok… let’s not fight this.

Let’s get on to the bars.  They’re good.  Really good.  Good enough to not need a silly introduction.

Think of these bars as your escape from the land of pie baking.  Maybe you don’t need an escape, but let’s be honest… putting together a pie crust can be a pain in the rear sometimes.  Problem solved.  Just press this crust into the bottom of a pan, top it with creamy fruit filling, sprinkle it with more crust bits and you’re in business.

The result is pure summer blackberry goodness.  The recipe includes directions for either frozen or fresh fruit.  If you’re using frozen berries, just be sure to defrost the berries and drain the excess juices.  What about raspberries or blueberries instead of blackberries?  Those would probably work too!  Just stay away from strawberries.

Blackberry Pie Bars with Lemon Sugar

adapted from The Pastry Queen

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Crust and Topping

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

zest of two lemons

Blackberry Filling

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2  (16-ounce) packages frozen blackberries, defrosted and drained

(You can also use 6 cups of fresh blackberries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen blackberries and 3 cups of fresh blackberries)

To make the crust and topping-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 13-inch backing pan with butter or cooking spray and set aside.  Zest two lemons.  Measure out the sugar onto a clean work surface.  Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with a bench scraper or the back of a spoon.  Rubbing the zest into the sugar will release oils from the zest and create a lemon scented sugar.

Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment.  Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping.  Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown.  Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

To make the filling-

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl.  Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt.  Gently fold in the blackberries.  Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust.  You may have to distribute the blackberries evenly around.

Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling.  Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned.  Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

**If you’re using frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain the excess liquid.  Place the frozen berries on a plate in the refrigerator overnight.  They’re defrosted and ready for bar baking!

Bread pudding exists in the sweet space between breakfast and dessert.  With all of the milk in the recipe, bread pudding feels like eating the most ridiculously rich breakfast cereal.  I suppose for most people, it’s a bonafide dessert.  Perhaps I’m just trying to find as many ways as possible to eat dessert for breakfast.

I’ll admit, I only recently warmed up to bread pudding.  My Dad absolutely loves the stuff, so I was inspired to create my own.  I think I had this conception that bread pudding was simply soggy bread mixed with cinnamon, milk and raisins.  Not so!  This dish can be made with as many combinations as you can dream up.  With this recipe, I wrestled my preconceived notions of bread pudding to the ground.  I decided to combine bread pudding and cobbler.  I know… pretty awesome!   Now we’re getting into the realm of respectable breakfasts… or desserts.

Blackberry Peach Bread Pudding combines the delicious fruit I love in cobblers, with loads of the bready goodness that I crave everyday of my life.  Throw in some Grand Marnier and toasted pecans, and it’s pure heaven!

This is a great dessert because you can very easily throw it together in a pan, wrap it up and let it sit in the fridge over night to soak.  The next morning, pop the whole tray in the oven, and delicious cobbler bread pudding is ready to eat (after proper cooling time) in about two hours.

Blackberry Peach Bread Pudding with Toasted Pecans

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1 1/2 – 2 loaves stale French baguettes

3 eggs

3 cups whole milk

1 cup half and half

1/3 cup butter

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier

2 cups sliced peaches, fresh or frozen

1 cup blackberries, fresh

3/4 cup pecan halves

dash of cinnamon

Begin by tearing the stale french bread into bite sized pieces.  This can be done by hand, because pieces do not have to look perfect, just need to be roughly the same size.  Place all of the bread pieces into a 9×13-inch baking pan and top with peaches and berries.  Using your hands, toss the fruit into the bread pieces so they are evenly distributed through the pan.  Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat butter and 3 cups milk.  Heat just until butter melts, but milk should not boil.

While milk and butter are heating, whisk together eggs, half and half, sugar, vanilla extract and Grand Marnier.  Slowly whisk the warmed milk and butter mixture into the eggs and half and half mixture.  Pour the entire mixture on top of the bread pieces and fruit.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Remove the plastic wrap from the bread pudding, sprinkle with cinnamon  and place in the oven for 45-55 minutes.  The bread pudding will still wiggle when shaken, but will set during the cooling process.   Let set for at least 30 minutes, once removed from the oven.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

I love this served warm with vanilla ice cream!

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