When I was a child one of my favorite things to do in the summer was to head up to the mountains and pick huckleberries. So last week, I drove five and half hours up to Northern Idaho to pick these berries. Huckleberries are truly special, they are a seasonal berry that is only available for a couple weeks mid-summer. They grow at higher altitudes, in limited places, and often in bear country. Their flavor offers a perfect blend of sweet and tart!
Antelope Lake (near my favorite berry spot)
This trip I spent about five hours handpicking these berries and was only able to harvest about a gallon. (This years berry is smaller than usual and the mosquitos were unbearable)
Besides eating these berries raw, I love to use them in various recipes, like; huckleberry pancakes, and muffins, I add them to my morning smoothies, make homemade jams, but my favorite is to make a huckleberry topping for my favorite cheesecake recipe.
This cheesecake recipe is the best one that I have found, I have made some minor adjustments to make it just the way I like it! It is rich in flavor but light in texture. The berry topping is sweet and tart with a touch of cinnamon.
Getting started:
Ingredients for crust-
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter
Ingredients for cheesecake-
2 pounds cream cheese, room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temp
1 1/4 sour cream
Zest of lemon
Ingredients for topping-
1 cup huckleberries
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch & equal parts water
Supplies needed:
Mixing bowl
Mixer
Measuring utensils
9 by 3 inch springform pan
Large roasting pan
To make the crust, (preheat oven to 350 degrees) butter springform pan and wrap bottom in tin foil. Mix together crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. Pour over melted butter and stir until all ingredients are evenly mixed. Press mixture into bottom of cheesecake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
To make cheesecake, (turn oven down to 325 degrees) in mixing bowl beat cream cheese at low/medium speed until soft and creamy. Add sugar and salt, mix several minutes until cream cheese is light. Beat in vanilla. Add eggs one by one, mixing each time. Lastly, add sour cream and lemon zest, mix on low speed. Batter should be light and well- aerated.
Place springform pan in roasting pan that is large enough to hold pan and allow space for water around pan. (I used a glass 9 by 12 pan)
Add batter to springform pan, batter will fill pan all the way to top. Add an inch of hot water to roasting pan. Bake for a hour and a half, cake will be browned on top.
Turn off oven and prop open oven door with wooden spoon, allow cheesecake to rest and cool slowly for an hour.
Place cheesecake in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving. (It is important not to rush cooling process)
To make huckleberry topping, put berries, water, lemon juice, sugar, salt and cinnamon into a small sauce pan. Bring mixture to a slow boil until berries are popping. In a seperate bowl mix together 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and equal parts water to create a slurry. Add slurry to huckleberries to thicken. Remove from heat and set aside topping until cheesecake is cooled.
To serve cake, gently run knife around the top edge of pan, remove side of springform, spoon huckleberry topping onto cake and smooth out toward edges.
I hope you enjoyed my favorite huckleberry cheesecake recipe! If you have any questions or huckleberry ideas, please share!
My dad had a little rhyme he used to say when we'd go picking huckleberries. It goes like this:
h u uckle
b u uckle
h u uckle y
h u uckle
b u uckle
huckleberry pie
Thanks for the memories of good times with my dad. He passed away 12 years ago but I still pick huckleberries and recite his rhyme.
Thank you for sharing! It was often my dad who took us to pick huckleberries too.
Can I come by and pick some up! That looks amazing.
I can't believe you drove 5 1/2 hours, that's some dedication! I love huckleberries too, but I usually just find them as a special treat when I'm hiking backcountry, I never bring them home and turn them into other goodness.
After this post though I might have to give it a try next time. Problem is it'd never come out looking like that :P
Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you for sharing ! looks delicious
That looks sooooo delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I'm going to have to try make this one day. Great job on the post.
Thank you for the positive feedback!
I thought your cover picture was an image for colour change Saturday - Indigo. Really nice colours.
I've never tasted Huckleberries before, they don't seem to have made it to this side of the Atlantic. The only touch point we have is Mr. Twain's book.
I hope you get the chance to eat huckleberries they are an amazing berry. They taste like a blueberry but with a tartness!
Oh, I love blueberries. Next time I'm stateside, I'll go out of my way to acquire some...
Wow it looks amazing.i like huckleberry so much!!!the cheesecake appear tasty yummy!!!!thank you for sharing the recipe.iwill follow your page @mygypsysoul
@creativewoman
Thanks for this wonderful post. Takes me back to when I was a kid and I would go blueberry picking with my brother and cousins. We'd fill a couple of buckets and take them to my grandmother. Our family would have pie, cake , or muffins for a week.
That's the same reason I drive 5 and half hours to pick them, childhood memories! :) Thank you for sharing!
That cake look so yummy! The fruits are awesome! Thanks you for sharing your great post! Upvoted! :D
Thank you for the positive feedback! I'm so glad you enjoyed the post! 😀
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STOPIt was an interesting food story. Sounds so yummy. ^^ See you! @mygypsysoul
Im sure, this huckleberry pie has a soul...
I like that you are very creative and you share this with us @mygypsysoul! I am following you!
Nothing like cooking up hand picked ingredients :) If I ever get my hands on some huckleberries I'll be trying this. Thanks!
Aaargh you make me crave this delicious looking cheesecake! Unfortunately I'm on a paleo diet, which is also great. Picking berries from those beautiful surroundings might be so relaxing :-)
I feel you! I usually eat low carb or paleo but this cheesecake got the best of me! I think I ate half of it to myself! :/
I'll have a cheat day and try out your recipe. At least you ate half of it, not the whole haha
Nice. You could name it Huckleberry Fine!
Yeah!
thanks for sharing.. looks yummy can i have a little bite?
I love huckleberry hunting. I live in Montana and I'm a chef, so, every year we hunt and pick huckleberries and chokecherries. Chokecherries are harder to deal with though as they have to wait longer on the vine and getting them before the birds is difficult, to say the least but they are worth it when they are ripe enough. Thanks so much for the beautiful foods.