“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Cooking with fresh berries is so much fun!! I am having a whale of a time here discovering new flavors and experimenting with new ingredients, some of which were quite difficult to access back home in India.
Nowadays its a visual treat for me to go to the supermarket. Inside the store, what lures me is the attractive display of neatly stacked boxes of fresh Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries and Blackberries in the fresh produce section, just dying to be picked up. Except for the strawberries, which now are easily available in India, the rest of the berries are quite commonly uncommon. Seriously, the only place you are likely to find them are in Gourmet supermarkets stacking imported food products and even then they cost a bomb. So even if you did feel like cooking with them, your heart always skipped a beat looking at the astronomical price.
By now, I think you would have guessed that my current passion is cooking with fresh berries - and eating them too :). I just cannot have enough of them. I love adding them to anything and everything or even just enjoying them as it is. Recently for Valentine's day I made a Red velvet cake with strawberries and this time I thought of trying my way with fresh blueberries as I had never tasted them before.
Fresh and plump, I love the way the fresh blueberries add a bit of drama to my muffins, sensually oozing out their sweet blue nectar, leaving vivid indigo blue streaks all over the muffins. They look so delectable that it just makes you want to grab one and stuff one in your mouth. Rich and buttery with a moist tender center bursting with blueberries, not only are they delicious but are simple and quick to make.
Don't believe me? Try out for yourselves and then let me know how much you loved them!!

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened to room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
23/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups fresh blueberries

Method
Preheat oven to 325 F.
Grease a muffin tin or line the cups with paper liners.
In a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
Add the eggs in one by one and beat thoroughly till fully incorporated.
Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
Sieve the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Alternately add in the sieved flour and buttermilk, till all is used up.
Gently stir in half the blueberries.
Use an ice cream scoop or spoon to fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
the batter into a greased muffin pan.
Then sprinkle rest o the blueberries on top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes till the top has a beautiful golden brown crust and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.