Almond Custard with Blueberry Sauce and Candied Almonds

Lots of steps, but worth it. I'm definitely making this again, not just for us, but for company.
Easy to make ahead and a great presentation.
Very light tasting.
Sauce was amazing.....I could have used lots more sauce! 

Day 10: Something blue

Thicken 1 1/2 C almond milk, 2 T cornstarch, 2 T brown sugar, pinch salt, 1/2 t almond extract.

Cool the milk mixture in an ice bath, stirring frequently to avoid a nasty skin. Find 1 C blueberries from the freezer. 

Cook the berries with 2 t sugar, 1 T water. Strain.  Add 1 T liqueur. Amaretto would have been perfect, but Hazelnut wasn't bad either. Continue cooking to reduce the sauce to a syrupy   consistency. 

This can cool in an ice bath also. 

1/2 C slivered almonds, 1 T agave, 1 T sugar, 1 t cinnamon, pinch salt. Cook LIGHTLY over low heat. (This amount of nuts is way too much for the amount of custard.... reduce amounts or plan to have leftovers to munch. ) 

These break apart easily. 

Put it all together in a logical way. Chill completely in the fridge. The custard will really firm up. 

blueberry pound cake

Blueberry Pound Cake

Pound cake has to be the most satisfying of cakes. It is dense. It is rich. It is sweet. And it is ridiculously buttery. I think original (and maybe current) recipes are made with a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of flour - hence the name....

I use a recipe that has much less of all that at no cost to the flavor. You will need a bundt pan that's in pretty good shape if you want it to come out nicely. The best product I have found for preparing a cake that you want to unmold is Pam for Baking. It works great! I think there is flour in the spray along with the oil..... I've never had that frustrating moment when your cake splits in two because half of it is sticking in the pan if I use that product.

Here's what you need:

1 C butter

3 C sugar (today I used only 2 C and it was fine)

6 eggs

3 C flour

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 C sour cream (today I used fat free - seems great to me! Why not cut a few calories?)

2 t lemon extract

2-3 C blueberries
Here's what you do:

Mix the butter and the sugar for a full 5 minutes. See how light and fluffy it gets?

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Add the lemon extract.

Add 3/4 of the flour, soda and salt mixture.

Add the sour cream.

Mix the remaining flour with the blueberries and gently fold them in to the batter. Gently. Pour batter into a greased bundt pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes at 325 degrees. Today I made mine in small decorative molds and they turned out very pretty. I had to watch them closely toward the end. My small pans were done in about 50 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Turn it out with great confidence! Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Pound cakes will serve up to 20 people - they are very rich. You can serve them with fresh fruit or even toast slices of the cake.